Many times we forget about the use of lines and engine to bring a vessel into
or out of a berth. The use of a spring to swing the bow or stern out into the
channel, or around an obstacle is a common practice with large vessels and
works equally well with small ones. A mid ship’s spring will often make you
look like an expert bringing your boat into a difficult berth or slip. Warping
yourself into a tight slip is an art form. Too often boaters think they have
to do every thing with the engine alone. That’s the hard way.

Thanks again for all the replies. Sometimes you don't have a crew to
assist! or the crew is temporarily unfit to assist with lines (as was the
case with me last time)


"Wwso149874" wrote in message
...
Many times we forget about the use of lines and engine to bring a vessel
into
or out of a berth. The use of a spring to swing the bow or stern out into
the
channel, or around an obstacle is a common practice with large vessels and
works equally well with small ones. A mid ship's spring will often make
you
look like an expert bringing your boat into a difficult berth or slip.
Warping
yourself into a tight slip is an art form. Too often boaters think they
have
to do every thing with the engine alone. That's the hard way.

Thanks again for all the replies. Sometimes you don't have a crew to
assist! or the crew is temporarily unfit to assist with lines (as was the
case with me last time)


"Wwso149874" wrote in message
...
Many times we forget about the use of lines and engine to bring a vessel
into
or out of a berth. The use of a spring to swing the bow or stern out into
the
channel, or around an obstacle is a common practice with large vessels and
works equally well with small ones. A mid ship's spring will often make
you
look like an expert bringing your boat into a difficult berth or slip.
Warping
yourself into a tight slip is an art form. Too often boaters think they
have
to do every thing with the engine alone. That's the hard way.

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 05:47:15 GMT, "John Smith"
wrote:

Thanks again for all the replies. Sometimes you don't have a crew to
assist! or the crew is temporarily unfit to assist with lines (as was the
case with me last time)

Try using a single line docking system.
-Find a point about one quarter of the distance from the stern to the
bow. (You may have to experiment a bit)
-Attach a line to this point.
-Tie this line to the dock, opposite your transom.
-Put the engine in forward.
-With the rubber centered, the boat should pull itself into the dock.
-Adjusting the rudder will move the bow into or away from the dock.

When you need to dock single-handed (or with incompetent crew)
-Attach bow and stern breast lines.
-Attach the single as above.
-After you dock, put the boat in neutral.
-Tie the single line opposite the transom.
-Engage forward gear - no throttle.
-Adjust rudder until boat sits in desired position.
-Attach breast lines and stern lines.
-Disengage transmission.

Voila - this works bow or stern to.

When leaving dock (stern to) use the single line.
-Run it around the dock or cleat back to aft mooring cleat.
-Engage forward.
-Adjust rudder for angle to leave dock.
-Uncleat line.
-Leave the dock.

I have used it bow-to and stern-to single-handed in tight conditions.

I like it (if you cannot tell).

Jack





"Wwso149874" wrote in message
...
Many times we forget about the use of lines and engine to bring a vessel
into
or out of a berth. The use of a spring to swing the bow or stern out into
the
channel, or around an obstacle is a common practice with large vessels and
works equally well with small ones. A mid ship's spring will often make
you
look like an expert bringing your boat into a difficult berth or slip.
Warping
yourself into a tight slip is an art form. Too often boaters think they
have
to do every thing with the engine alone. That's the hard way.

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 05:47:15 GMT, "John Smith"
wrote:

Thanks again for all the replies. Sometimes you don't have a crew to
assist! or the crew is temporarily unfit to assist with lines (as was the
case with me last time)

Try using a single line docking system.
-Find a point about one quarter of the distance from the stern to the
bow. (You may have to experiment a bit)
-Attach a line to this point.
-Tie this line to the dock, opposite your transom.
-Put the engine in forward.
-With the rubber centered, the boat should pull itself into the dock.
-Adjusting the rudder will move the bow into or away from the dock.

When you need to dock single-handed (or with incompetent crew)
-Attach bow and stern breast lines.
-Attach the single as above.
-After you dock, put the boat in neutral.
-Tie the single line opposite the transom.
-Engage forward gear - no throttle.
-Adjust rudder until boat sits in desired position.
-Attach breast lines and stern lines.
-Disengage transmission.

Voila - this works bow or stern to.

When leaving dock (stern to) use the single line.
-Run it around the dock or cleat back to aft mooring cleat.
-Engage forward.
-Adjust rudder for angle to leave dock.
-Uncleat line.
-Leave the dock.

I have used it bow-to and stern-to single-handed in tight conditions.

I like it (if you cannot tell).

Jack





"Wwso149874" wrote in message
...
Many times we forget about the use of lines and engine to bring a vessel
into
or out of a berth. The use of a spring to swing the bow or stern out into
the
channel, or around an obstacle is a common practice with large vessels and
works equally well with small ones. A mid ship's spring will often make
you
look like an expert bringing your boat into a difficult berth or slip.
Warping
yourself into a tight slip is an art form. Too often boaters think they
have
to do every thing with the engine alone. That's the hard way.

Jack,

Excellent information, thank you. A few things:

-you will probably need a well-fendered bow for these maneuvers. Docking and
especially undocking as you describe can entail sitting at quite an angle to
the dock, pushing into that dock with the curve of the bow rather the "flat"
of the topsides;

-I find in my past planing and semi-planing hulls that if you're talking
about winds in the 15 kt plus range, that even the techniques you describe
can get pretty hairy. By the time I get close enough to attach my lines, and
then put the throttle to idle and the tranmission in neutral, go and attach
the line, and return to the helm (just a few steps), all hell can have
broken loose. There are clever ways around this (viz. a fascinating thread
with Karen from Australia last year), but it's a bit of an advanced
procedure, and I hesitate to recommend it to beginners, for fear of being
complicit in causing them some grief. What are your limits for being able to
do this?

-for the undocking sequence you favour, I have a question about uncleating
the line: you say to push the stern away from the dock with power, forward
gear, rudder turned towards the dock, and I can see the boat yawing, the
after amidships spring holding the bow in to the dock and the stern swinging
out - then how do you get at the cleat, on the dock, now out of arm's length
from the stern, to uncleat it?

-some of the docks I frequent use rings rather than cleats, and I haven't
decided on the best way to attach quickly (and temporarily) to a ring in
heavy weather, for the "power spring" techniques you're extolling, although
I always figure something out, but it's a bit of an impromptu affair every
time, with many variables coming into play. An old trick that I don't use
very much any more but is handy to have in my armamentarium, is a line
attached to the boat at both ends - a bight of this could be passed through
a ring, quickly secured by a knot (or back over a transom cleat), and made
to function as a variation of the after amidships spring you describe.

Any of that gel with you?

Charles

P.S. This and various other techniques have allowed me to go boating on
windy days when lots of other boaters stand at their bow rail, gazing
wistfully out at the open water.

P.S. If you twist my arm, I'll tell you how I'm working on getting out of my
slip in a heavy wind, single-handed - a variation on the Karen method.

====

Charles T. Low
- remove "UN"
www.boatdocking.com
www.ctlow.ca/Trojan26 - my boat

====

"Jack Dale" wrote in message
...
Try using a single line docking system.
-Find a point about one quarter of the distance from the stern to the
bow. (You may have to experiment a bit)
-Attach a line to this point.
-Tie this line to the dock, opposite your transom.
-Put the engine in forward.
-With the rubber centered, the boat should pull itself into the dock.
-Adjusting the rudder will move the bow into or away from the dock.

When you need to dock single-handed (or with incompetent crew)
-Attach bow and stern breast lines.
-Attach the single as above.
-After you dock, put the boat in neutral.
-Tie the single line opposite the transom.
-Engage forward gear - no throttle.
-Adjust rudder until boat sits in desired position.
-Attach breast lines and stern lines.
-Disengage transmission.

Voila - this works bow or stern to.

When leaving dock (stern to) use the single line.
-Run it around the dock or cleat back to aft mooring cleat.
-Engage forward.
-Adjust rudder for angle to leave dock.
-Uncleat line.
-Leave the dock.

I have used it bow-to and stern-to single-handed in tight conditions.

I like it (if you cannot tell).

Jack

Jack,

Excellent information, thank you. A few things:

-you will probably need a well-fendered bow for these maneuvers. Docking and
especially undocking as you describe can entail sitting at quite an angle to
the dock, pushing into that dock with the curve of the bow rather the "flat"
of the topsides;

-I find in my past planing and semi-planing hulls that if you're talking
about winds in the 15 kt plus range, that even the techniques you describe
can get pretty hairy. By the time I get close enough to attach my lines, and
then put the throttle to idle and the tranmission in neutral, go and attach
the line, and return to the helm (just a few steps), all hell can have
broken loose. There are clever ways around this (viz. a fascinating thread
with Karen from Australia last year), but it's a bit of an advanced
procedure, and I hesitate to recommend it to beginners, for fear of being
complicit in causing them some grief. What are your limits for being able to
do this?

-for the undocking sequence you favour, I have a question about uncleating
the line: you say to push the stern away from the dock with power, forward
gear, rudder turned towards the dock, and I can see the boat yawing, the
after amidships spring holding the bow in to the dock and the stern swinging
out - then how do you get at the cleat, on the dock, now out of arm's length
from the stern, to uncleat it?

-some of the docks I frequent use rings rather than cleats, and I haven't
decided on the best way to attach quickly (and temporarily) to a ring in
heavy weather, for the "power spring" techniques you're extolling, although
I always figure something out, but it's a bit of an impromptu affair every
time, with many variables coming into play. An old trick that I don't use
very much any more but is handy to have in my armamentarium, is a line
attached to the boat at both ends - a bight of this could be passed through
a ring, quickly secured by a knot (or back over a transom cleat), and made
to function as a variation of the after amidships spring you describe.

Any of that gel with you?

Charles

P.S. This and various other techniques have allowed me to go boating on
windy days when lots of other boaters stand at their bow rail, gazing
wistfully out at the open water.

P.S. If you twist my arm, I'll tell you how I'm working on getting out of my
slip in a heavy wind, single-handed - a variation on the Karen method.

====

Charles T. Low
- remove "UN"
www.boatdocking.com
www.ctlow.ca/Trojan26 - my boat

====

"Jack Dale" wrote in message
...
Try using a single line docking system.
-Find a point about one quarter of the distance from the stern to the
bow. (You may have to experiment a bit)
-Attach a line to this point.
-Tie this line to the dock, opposite your transom.
-Put the engine in forward.
-With the rubber centered, the boat should pull itself into the dock.
-Adjusting the rudder will move the bow into or away from the dock.

When you need to dock single-handed (or with incompetent crew)
-Attach bow and stern breast lines.
-Attach the single as above.
-After you dock, put the boat in neutral.
-Tie the single line opposite the transom.
-Engage forward gear - no throttle.
-Adjust rudder until boat sits in desired position.
-Attach breast lines and stern lines.
-Disengage transmission.

Voila - this works bow or stern to.

When leaving dock (stern to) use the single line.
-Run it around the dock or cleat back to aft mooring cleat.
-Engage forward.
-Adjust rudder for angle to leave dock.
-Uncleat line.
-Leave the dock.

I have used it bow-to and stern-to single-handed in tight conditions.

I like it (if you cannot tell).

Jack

"Charles T. Low" wrote in message
...


P.S. If you twist my arm, I'll tell you how I'm working on getting out of
my
slip in a heavy wind, single-handed - a variation on the Karen method.


One hammerlock, suitably applied... :{))

L8R

Skip

--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin

"Charles T. Low" wrote in message
...


P.S. If you twist my arm, I'll tell you how I'm working on getting out of
my
slip in a heavy wind, single-handed - a variation on the Karen method.


One hammerlock, suitably applied... :{))

L8R

Skip

--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin

If you are single handing or need to keep everyone onboard while
undocking, set you lines up as "bights".
Put the eye on the cleat on you boat and run a "bight" through the
chock, around the cleat on the dock and back to your cleat (make fast) .
When ready to let go, disconnect from cleat on your boat and flip off
from dock cleat.

otn