See 'Fixed Docks' , was 'Slip & mooring costs'

Thanks Jim - I knew someone would be able to explain this
better than
I could. What is a griping board in American English?

A plank, laid over your fenders (Bumpers?), which takes all the
chafe against the Quay (Dock?) wall or piles.

When we are moving from marina to marina on a daily basis, we
have
been told by a dock person that we should give the dock person
the
looped end of the line so that they could just drop it over the
cleat
or piling and wouldn't have to tie it off.

Good practice for him - he knows loops can be used at his dock,
but it doesn't work if the attachment points are loops of metal -
common in Europe.

But coming into an unknown (or even a known) transient slip,
Bob
usually has lines rigged on all four corners and in the middle
(with
additional lines on the pin rail and accessible

I guess without loops.

I can NOT understand
these people who come into a slip and after they get INTO the
slip,
they go diving into lockers after the lines like they've never
tied up
in a slip before and didn't realize that they'd need lines.

Ah, but it's great entertainment, a tremendous recipe for passing
the dock rope *over* the rail by mistake, then scrambling to
re-tie the lot, dropping it into the sea just as the skipper
gives a great burst of reverse. That loud shriek of rope over
stainless, and the sudden engine silence, the shocked faces -
eyebrows shooting skyward, the sudden loud voices.

usually he puts the loop end on a cleat in the boat and gives
the free
(bitter?) end to the dock person. That's so that we know the
line is
attached to something on the boat, and that the boat person
handling
the lines (me) won't have to let go of the line due to excess
pressure
from wind and/or current.

I do a small variation on that idea; I make the rope up on the
boat cleat with a round turn and a figure of eight with some
spare on board. Then it's ready to be surged (slipped out under
friction if surge isn't American English) or pulled in as needed.
Very useful when you can't get up to the quay level at low tides.
One hopes the shore guy to ties off only the bitter end with a
good knot . . . which can't always be arranged in a foreign
language.

In any case, when we get more or less secured to the dock, Bob
adjusts
the lines so that they loop around the pilings and return to
the boat
so we have control of both ends of the line. That way, we can
cast
off again without getting off the boat to untie the line, plus
the
lines can be adjusted from the boat if necessary.

Great practice when distances are short - ie, there's not too
much tidal range and plenty of mooring posts.

In the case of cleats on the dock (which is often the case with
floating docks), just before we leave, Bob loops the line off
the
cleat and gives me both ends so that when we are ready to go I
can
(hopefully) flip it off the cleat.

At our home slip, we have the loop end on the dock, and chafe
protection on the line where it goes through the chock or
whatever so
that I know where to cleat it off in the boat.

In our home slip, with only about 2 feet of tide, we normally
have at
least 10 lines rigged.

2 on the bow
2 bow spring lines to amidships
2 stern lines
2 stern spring lines to amidships
2 breast lines

I conclude your home dock has a finger pontoon each side, and
floats with the tide; or has four piles, nose to the dock.

Snipped the lovely descriptions of good seamanship. You obviously
sail a lot. Recently I've been sailing a lot in an area fairly
dense with charter vessels. The evening's entertainment is
fabulous. Most people in Greece moor bows or stern to the dock,
dropping an anchor to hold them off the quay. Anchors often
aren't properly dug in, so when the night breeze comes in onto
the quay there's a lovely scramble to action as the boats start
to chew the quay up. At 2am the action is well lubricated with
earlier jugs of retsina and pretty blurred. Morning departures
are even better as all the crossed anchors are lifted. It's a
great way to learn - by watching other people's mistakes!

JimB
Yacht Rapaz, sadly for sale, to help pay for that lovely Greek
seaside house we've just bought.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jim.bae...cification.htm
jim(dot)baerselman(at)ntlworld(dot)com

x-no-archive:yes


"JimB" wrote:

See 'Fixed Docks' , was 'Slip & mooring costs'

Thanks Jim - I knew someone would be able to explain this
better than
I could. What is a griping board in American English?

A plank, laid over your fenders (Bumpers?), which takes all the
chafe against the Quay (Dock?) wall or piles.

OK is that tied to the fenders or to the dock, or how is it attached?
I've seen a thing that someone made up which was a section of PVC pipe
on a lines attached with swivels which you suspend outside the fenders
which rolls up and down the fenders along the wall. It seems like a
good idea to me and I think Bob made one up, but I don't know that
we've ever used it.

We have what Bob calls a fender board with metal insets lengthwise
with little rubber half rounds on the inside which I guess is your
griping board. We use it mostly when the place on the dock is
restricted to bearing point so that we could be sure that the fenders
would hold us away from the dock.

When we are moving from marina to marina on a daily basis, we
have
been told by a dock person that we should give the dock person
the
looped end of the line so that they could just drop it over the
cleat
or piling and wouldn't have to tie it off.

Good practice for him - he knows loops can be used at his dock,
but it doesn't work if the attachment points are loops of metal -
common in Europe.

This guy was quite annoyed to be expected to tie a knot. Bob always
checks and says that most dock people can't tie a proper knot or cleat
off properly (and he also says that I always do it wrong. But
although I do have trouble with getting the second loop on the cleat
going the right direction, I can do it if I'm not too fussed).

But coming into an unknown (or even a known) transient slip,
Bob
usually has lines rigged on all four corners and in the middle
(with
additional lines on the pin rail and accessible

I guess without loops.

I can NOT understand
these people who come into a slip and after they get INTO the
slip,
they go diving into lockers after the lines like they've never
tied up
in a slip before and didn't realize that they'd need lines.

Ah, but it's great entertainment, a tremendous recipe for passing
the dock rope *over* the rail by mistake, then scrambling to
re-tie the lot, dropping it into the sea just as the skipper
gives a great burst of reverse. That loud shriek of rope over
stainless, and the sudden engine silence, the shocked faces -
eyebrows shooting skyward, the sudden loud voices.

Yes - we were at a dock in Georgia (US) where a shrimp boat had
apparently run out of fuel, and another boat was towing them in on the
hip to a fuel dock. The first line they threw wasn't attached to the
boat at all. When the dockmaster threw it back, they couldn't catch
it. They got 200 gallons which was as high as the pump went.

usually he puts the loop end on a cleat in the boat and gives
the free
(bitter?) end to the dock person. That's so that we know the
line is
attached to something on the boat, and that the boat person
handling
the lines (me) won't have to let go of the line due to excess
pressure
from wind and/or current.

I do a small variation on that idea; I make the rope up on the
boat cleat with a round turn and a figure of eight with some
spare on board. Then it's ready to be surged (slipped out under
friction if surge isn't American English) or pulled in as needed.
Very useful when you can't get up to the quay level at low tides.
One hopes the shore guy to ties off only the bitter end with a
good knot . . . which can't always be arranged in a foreign
language.

Well currently we are only cruising in the US and Bahamas and have not
had to deal with a foreign language problem.

In any case, when we get more or less secured to the dock, Bob
adjusts
the lines so that they loop around the pilings and return to
the boat
so we have control of both ends of the line. That way, we can
cast
off again without getting off the boat to untie the line, plus
the
lines can be adjusted from the boat if necessary.

Great practice when distances are short - ie, there's not too
much tidal range and plenty of mooring posts.

Sometimes he waits until we leave to arrange the lines that way for
casting off. But he always checks on the dock workers knots and
cleatings of the lines and fixes them over again as soon as we tie up.

At our home dock, and here where we are for the fairly long term, he
has the lines tied or the loop end around the pilings with the bitter
end on board so when we cast off we leave the lines there. Then we
can pick them up when we come back. The avoids a lot of the "can I
lasso this piling" stuff which he's better at than I am, but it still
provides more amusement for the bystanders watching us try to do that.

They do sell extensions which keep the loop open on the line to make
dropping the line over a piling easier, but he's not willing to pay
for something like that.

In the case of cleats on the dock (which is often the case with
floating docks), just before we leave, Bob loops the line off
the
cleat and gives me both ends so that when we are ready to go I
can
(hopefully) flip it off the cleat.

At our home slip, we have the loop end on the dock, and chafe
protection on the line where it goes through the chock or
whatever so
that I know where to cleat it off in the boat.

In our home slip, with only about 2 feet of tide, we normally
have at
least 10 lines rigged.

2 on the bow
2 bow spring lines to amidships
2 stern lines
2 stern spring lines to amidships
2 breast lines

I conclude your home dock has a finger pontoon each side, and
floats with the tide; or has four piles, nose to the dock.

No it is a fixed wooden dock, which has a short finger pier on one
side and a full length dock on the other. Most of the slips do not
have the full length dock, which is why we like this particular slip.
The finger piers are almost always too short to reach the gate in the
lifelines, and we almost always dock bow in because we have a dinghy
on davits on the stern and because the boat does not back reliably or
well especially against current (modified full keel, very heavy boat
and small engine) or wind.

If the finger piers are short, I have to climb over the lifelines at
the bow, and I end up with massive bruises on my inner thigh. Once I
even ripped open a big gash on my thigh when I was stepping off and
there was a nail in the piling I was holding onto. I still have the
scar.

So I much prefer having a slip with full length finger piers or being
on a face dock which is more of less the same thing.

At our home marina, there are only cleats on the dock (two at the end
of the slip and several more down the dock side) but on the finger
pier side there are three pilings spaced about 10 feet apart, and
there's at least one more piling at the dock side.

Here we have one piling amidships and several at the end of the slip
so we can do a four point tie and have breast lines on each side.
This is a fixed concrete dock with concrete pilings, but the free
standing pilings are wood.

Snipped the lovely descriptions of good seamanship. You obviously
sail a lot. Recently I've been sailing a lot in an area fairly

Thank you - this is our third winter but we just go up and down the
ICW so sometimes it is just motoring and occasionally a bit of motor
sailing.

dense with charter vessels. The evening's entertainment is
fabulous. Most people in Greece moor bows or stern to the dock,
dropping an anchor to hold them off the quay. Anchors often
aren't properly dug in, so when the night breeze comes in onto
the quay there's a lovely scramble to action as the boats start
to chew the quay up. At 2am the action is well lubricated with
earlier jugs of retsina and pretty blurred. Morning departures
are even better as all the crossed anchors are lifted. It's a
great way to learn - by watching other people's mistakes!

I've always wondered how that worked, but been glad I didn't have to
find out. Before we bought this boat, we chartered twice in the
Virgin Islands with a skipper, and I was glad I was with someone who
knew what they were doing. I'd love to go to Greece sometime - I've
never been.

JimB
Yacht Rapaz, sadly for sale, to help pay for that lovely Greek
seaside house we've just bought.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jim.bae...cification.htm
jim(dot)baerselman(at)ntlworld(dot)com



grandma Rosalie
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 13:40:54 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:


Sometimes he waits until we leave to arrange the lines that way for
casting off. But he always checks on the dock workers knots and
cleatings of the lines and fixes them over again as soon as we tie up.

At our home dock, and here where we are for the fairly long term, he
has the lines tied or the loop end around the pilings with the bitter
end on board so when we cast off we leave the lines there. Then we
can pick them up when we come back. The avoids a lot of the "can I
lasso this piling" stuff which he's better at than I am, but it still
provides more amusement for the bystanders watching us try to do that.

They do sell extensions which keep the loop open on the line to make
dropping the line over a piling easier, but he's not willing to pay
for something like that.

We tie up on pilings every year when we go to Nantucket. I made a line
for that purpose that you might want to try. I cut a loop of
transparent plastic tubing, Tygon or the like, big enough to fit very
loosely over the largest pilings.

I threaded laid nylon dockline through it and made an eyesplice. Now I
have a ring that stays open. I can hold it out on a boat hook and drop
it over a pile on the way in.

Brion Toss gives an alternative beginning for an eyesplice that is
supposed to be wide. I hadn't seen his book when I did it but I would
use his method if I made another.

It can be used to hook other things, like cleats, but is mainly for
piles.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Biologists think they are chemists, chemists think they are phycisists,
physicists think they are gods, and God thinks He is a mathematician." Anon

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 13:40:54 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:


Sometimes he waits until we leave to arrange the lines that way for
casting off. But he always checks on the dock workers knots and
cleatings of the lines and fixes them over again as soon as we tie up.

At our home dock, and here where we are for the fairly long term, he
has the lines tied or the loop end around the pilings with the bitter
end on board so when we cast off we leave the lines there. Then we
can pick them up when we come back. The avoids a lot of the "can I
lasso this piling" stuff which he's better at than I am, but it still
provides more amusement for the bystanders watching us try to do that.

They do sell extensions which keep the loop open on the line to make
dropping the line over a piling easier, but he's not willing to pay
for something like that.

We tie up on pilings every year when we go to Nantucket. I made a line
for that purpose that you might want to try. I cut a loop of
transparent plastic tubing, Tygon or the like, big enough to fit very
loosely over the largest pilings.

I threaded laid nylon dockline through it and made an eyesplice. Now I
have a ring that stays open. I can hold it out on a boat hook and drop
it over a pile on the way in.

Brion Toss gives an alternative beginning for an eyesplice that is
supposed to be wide. I hadn't seen his book when I did it but I would
use his method if I made another.

It can be used to hook other things, like cleats, but is mainly for
piles.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Biologists think they are chemists, chemists think they are phycisists,
physicists think they are gods, and God thinks He is a mathematician." Anon

Rosalie B. wrote in message
news
x-no-archive:yes
A plank, laid over your fenders (Bumpers?), which takes all
the
chafe against the Quay (Dock?) wall or piles.

OK is that tied to the fenders or to the dock, or how is it
attached?

Tied to rail/guard wire so it hangs over a bunch of fenders.

I've seen a thing that someone made up which was a section of
PVC pipe
on a lines attached with swivels which you suspend outside the
fenders
which rolls up and down the fenders along the wall. It seems
like a
good idea to me and I think Bob made one up, but I don't know
that
we've ever used it.

Same idea.

We have what Bob calls a fender board with metal insets
lengthwise
with little rubber half rounds on the inside which I guess is
your
griping board. We use it mostly when the place on the dock is
restricted to bearing point so that we could be sure that the
fenders
would hold us away from the dock.

Yes, same thing. I'm just using the the fenders to do the job of
your half rounds. Also my board is multi-functional - with bits
of shock cord and rope attached to suitable points it turns into
a poor man's passarelle.

This guy was quite annoyed to be expected to tie a knot. Bob
always
checks and says that most dock people can't tie a proper knot
or cleat
off properly

Each of us has our favourite knot or cleating method. As long as
they work; OK. Some people swear by bowlines, but they can't be
untied (or tied) under strain. Others prefer round turn and two
half hitches. Some like to cleat with one round turn, one figure
of eight and one locking hitch. Others (me included, very much a
minority) never use locking hitches, since they sometimes slip
and jam making them hard to cast off quickly. Others use heaps of
locking hitches. Yuk.

(and he also says that I always do it wrong. But
although I do have trouble with getting the second loop on the
cleat
going the right direction, I can do it if I'm not too fussed).

In my opinion, not wrong, but differently from his style.

Not preparing ropes before docking
Ah, but it's great entertainment, a tremendous recipe for
passing
the dock rope *over* the rail by mistake, then scrambling to
re-tie the lot, dropping it into the sea just as the skipper
gives a great burst of reverse. That loud shriek of rope over
stainless, and the sudden engine silence, the shocked faces -
eyebrows shooting skyward, the sudden loud voices.

Yes - we were at a dock in Georgia (US) where a shrimp boat had
apparently run out of fuel, and another boat was towing them in
on the
hip to a fuel dock. The first line they threw wasn't attached
to the
boat at all. When the dockmaster threw it back, they couldn't
catch
it. They got 200 gallons which was as high as the pump went.


Sometimes he waits until we leave to arrange the lines that way
for
casting off. But he always checks on the dock workers knots
and
cleatings of the lines and fixes them over again as soon as we
tie up.

Sounds like Bob's as paranoid as I am.

Greek Mooring
I've always wondered how that worked, but been glad I didn't
have to
find out. Before we bought this boat, we chartered twice in
the
Virgin Islands with a skipper, and I was glad I was with
someone who
knew what they were doing. I'd love to go to Greece sometime -
I've
never been.

Well, If I don't sell Rapaz this season . . .

JimB
Yacht Rapaz, sadly for sale, to help pay for that lovely Greek
seaside house we've just bought.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jim.bae...cification.htm
jim(dot)baerselman(at)ntlworld(dot)com

Rosalie B. wrote in message
news
x-no-archive:yes
A plank, laid over your fenders (Bumpers?), which takes all
the
chafe against the Quay (Dock?) wall or piles.

OK is that tied to the fenders or to the dock, or how is it
attached?

Tied to rail/guard wire so it hangs over a bunch of fenders.

I've seen a thing that someone made up which was a section of
PVC pipe
on a lines attached with swivels which you suspend outside the
fenders
which rolls up and down the fenders along the wall. It seems
like a
good idea to me and I think Bob made one up, but I don't know
that
we've ever used it.

Same idea.

We have what Bob calls a fender board with metal insets
lengthwise
with little rubber half rounds on the inside which I guess is
your
griping board. We use it mostly when the place on the dock is
restricted to bearing point so that we could be sure that the
fenders
would hold us away from the dock.

Yes, same thing. I'm just using the the fenders to do the job of
your half rounds. Also my board is multi-functional - with bits
of shock cord and rope attached to suitable points it turns into
a poor man's passarelle.

This guy was quite annoyed to be expected to tie a knot. Bob
always
checks and says that most dock people can't tie a proper knot
or cleat
off properly

Each of us has our favourite knot or cleating method. As long as
they work; OK. Some people swear by bowlines, but they can't be
untied (or tied) under strain. Others prefer round turn and two
half hitches. Some like to cleat with one round turn, one figure
of eight and one locking hitch. Others (me included, very much a
minority) never use locking hitches, since they sometimes slip
and jam making them hard to cast off quickly. Others use heaps of
locking hitches. Yuk.

(and he also says that I always do it wrong. But
although I do have trouble with getting the second loop on the
cleat
going the right direction, I can do it if I'm not too fussed).

In my opinion, not wrong, but differently from his style.

Not preparing ropes before docking
Ah, but it's great entertainment, a tremendous recipe for
passing
the dock rope *over* the rail by mistake, then scrambling to
re-tie the lot, dropping it into the sea just as the skipper
gives a great burst of reverse. That loud shriek of rope over
stainless, and the sudden engine silence, the shocked faces -
eyebrows shooting skyward, the sudden loud voices.

Yes - we were at a dock in Georgia (US) where a shrimp boat had
apparently run out of fuel, and another boat was towing them in
on the
hip to a fuel dock. The first line they threw wasn't attached
to the
boat at all. When the dockmaster threw it back, they couldn't
catch
it. They got 200 gallons which was as high as the pump went.


Sometimes he waits until we leave to arrange the lines that way
for
casting off. But he always checks on the dock workers knots
and
cleatings of the lines and fixes them over again as soon as we
tie up.

Sounds like Bob's as paranoid as I am.

Greek Mooring
I've always wondered how that worked, but been glad I didn't
have to
find out. Before we bought this boat, we chartered twice in
the
Virgin Islands with a skipper, and I was glad I was with
someone who
knew what they were doing. I'd love to go to Greece sometime -
I've
never been.

Well, If I don't sell Rapaz this season . . .

JimB
Yacht Rapaz, sadly for sale, to help pay for that lovely Greek
seaside house we've just bought.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jim.bae...cification.htm
jim(dot)baerselman(at)ntlworld(dot)com

x-no-archive:yes


"JimB" wrote:

See 'Fixed Docks' , was 'Slip & mooring costs'

Thanks Jim - I knew someone would be able to explain this
better than
I could. What is a griping board in American English?

A plank, laid over your fenders (Bumpers?), which takes all the
chafe against the Quay (Dock?) wall or piles.

OK is that tied to the fenders or to the dock, or how is it attached?
I've seen a thing that someone made up which was a section of PVC pipe
on a lines attached with swivels which you suspend outside the fenders
which rolls up and down the fenders along the wall. It seems like a
good idea to me and I think Bob made one up, but I don't know that
we've ever used it.

We have what Bob calls a fender board with metal insets lengthwise
with little rubber half rounds on the inside which I guess is your
griping board. We use it mostly when the place on the dock is
restricted to bearing point so that we could be sure that the fenders
would hold us away from the dock.

When we are moving from marina to marina on a daily basis, we
have
been told by a dock person that we should give the dock person
the
looped end of the line so that they could just drop it over the
cleat
or piling and wouldn't have to tie it off.

Good practice for him - he knows loops can be used at his dock,
but it doesn't work if the attachment points are loops of metal -
common in Europe.

This guy was quite annoyed to be expected to tie a knot. Bob always
checks and says that most dock people can't tie a proper knot or cleat
off properly (and he also says that I always do it wrong. But
although I do have trouble with getting the second loop on the cleat
going the right direction, I can do it if I'm not too fussed).

But coming into an unknown (or even a known) transient slip,
Bob
usually has lines rigged on all four corners and in the middle
(with
additional lines on the pin rail and accessible

I guess without loops.

I can NOT understand
these people who come into a slip and after they get INTO the
slip,
they go diving into lockers after the lines like they've never
tied up
in a slip before and didn't realize that they'd need lines.

Ah, but it's great entertainment, a tremendous recipe for passing
the dock rope *over* the rail by mistake, then scrambling to
re-tie the lot, dropping it into the sea just as the skipper
gives a great burst of reverse. That loud shriek of rope over
stainless, and the sudden engine silence, the shocked faces -
eyebrows shooting skyward, the sudden loud voices.

Yes - we were at a dock in Georgia (US) where a shrimp boat had
apparently run out of fuel, and another boat was towing them in on the
hip to a fuel dock. The first line they threw wasn't attached to the
boat at all. When the dockmaster threw it back, they couldn't catch
it. They got 200 gallons which was as high as the pump went.

usually he puts the loop end on a cleat in the boat and gives
the free
(bitter?) end to the dock person. That's so that we know the
line is
attached to something on the boat, and that the boat person
handling
the lines (me) won't have to let go of the line due to excess
pressure
from wind and/or current.

I do a small variation on that idea; I make the rope up on the
boat cleat with a round turn and a figure of eight with some
spare on board. Then it's ready to be surged (slipped out under
friction if surge isn't American English) or pulled in as needed.
Very useful when you can't get up to the quay level at low tides.
One hopes the shore guy to ties off only the bitter end with a
good knot . . . which can't always be arranged in a foreign
language.

Well currently we are only cruising in the US and Bahamas and have not
had to deal with a foreign language problem.

In any case, when we get more or less secured to the dock, Bob
adjusts
the lines so that they loop around the pilings and return to
the boat
so we have control of both ends of the line. That way, we can
cast
off again without getting off the boat to untie the line, plus
the
lines can be adjusted from the boat if necessary.

Great practice when distances are short - ie, there's not too
much tidal range and plenty of mooring posts.

Sometimes he waits until we leave to arrange the lines that way for
casting off. But he always checks on the dock workers knots and
cleatings of the lines and fixes them over again as soon as we tie up.

At our home dock, and here where we are for the fairly long term, he
has the lines tied or the loop end around the pilings with the bitter
end on board so when we cast off we leave the lines there. Then we
can pick them up when we come back. The avoids a lot of the "can I
lasso this piling" stuff which he's better at than I am, but it still
provides more amusement for the bystanders watching us try to do that.

They do sell extensions which keep the loop open on the line to make
dropping the line over a piling easier, but he's not willing to pay
for something like that.

In the case of cleats on the dock (which is often the case with
floating docks), just before we leave, Bob loops the line off
the
cleat and gives me both ends so that when we are ready to go I
can
(hopefully) flip it off the cleat.

At our home slip, we have the loop end on the dock, and chafe
protection on the line where it goes through the chock or
whatever so
that I know where to cleat it off in the boat.

In our home slip, with only about 2 feet of tide, we normally
have at
least 10 lines rigged.

2 on the bow
2 bow spring lines to amidships
2 stern lines
2 stern spring lines to amidships
2 breast lines

I conclude your home dock has a finger pontoon each side, and
floats with the tide; or has four piles, nose to the dock.

No it is a fixed wooden dock, which has a short finger pier on one
side and a full length dock on the other. Most of the slips do not
have the full length dock, which is why we like this particular slip.
The finger piers are almost always too short to reach the gate in the
lifelines, and we almost always dock bow in because we have a dinghy
on davits on the stern and because the boat does not back reliably or
well especially against current (modified full keel, very heavy boat
and small engine) or wind.

If the finger piers are short, I have to climb over the lifelines at
the bow, and I end up with massive bruises on my inner thigh. Once I
even ripped open a big gash on my thigh when I was stepping off and
there was a nail in the piling I was holding onto. I still have the
scar.

So I much prefer having a slip with full length finger piers or being
on a face dock which is more of less the same thing.

At our home marina, there are only cleats on the dock (two at the end
of the slip and several more down the dock side) but on the finger
pier side there are three pilings spaced about 10 feet apart, and
there's at least one more piling at the dock side.

Here we have one piling amidships and several at the end of the slip
so we can do a four point tie and have breast lines on each side.
This is a fixed concrete dock with concrete pilings, but the free
standing pilings are wood.

Snipped the lovely descriptions of good seamanship. You obviously
sail a lot. Recently I've been sailing a lot in an area fairly

Thank you - this is our third winter but we just go up and down the
ICW so sometimes it is just motoring and occasionally a bit of motor
sailing.

dense with charter vessels. The evening's entertainment is
fabulous. Most people in Greece moor bows or stern to the dock,
dropping an anchor to hold them off the quay. Anchors often
aren't properly dug in, so when the night breeze comes in onto
the quay there's a lovely scramble to action as the boats start
to chew the quay up. At 2am the action is well lubricated with
earlier jugs of retsina and pretty blurred. Morning departures
are even better as all the crossed anchors are lifted. It's a
great way to learn - by watching other people's mistakes!

I've always wondered how that worked, but been glad I didn't have to
find out. Before we bought this boat, we chartered twice in the
Virgin Islands with a skipper, and I was glad I was with someone who
knew what they were doing. I'd love to go to Greece sometime - I've
never been.

JimB
Yacht Rapaz, sadly for sale, to help pay for that lovely Greek
seaside house we've just bought.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jim.bae...cification.htm
jim(dot)baerselman(at)ntlworld(dot)com



grandma Rosalie
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/