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(SAIL LOCO) wrote:

So why should we have to back into a slip?

Because you were talking about having to climb over bow pulpits to get off a
boat.

When I park a car, I usually go into the space head first. My husband
backs in. I'd rather back out into a big space than back into a small
space. He feels that he'd rather see out where he's going, and I feel
that the hood (bonnet) of the car keeps you almost as far back in the
space as going in forward does. (In actual fact I often find a place
in the lot with two spaces and pull all the way through.)

Then there was the bowsprit thing. Personally I'd like to keep a chainsaw
at my marina to take care of the dimwits who park their bowsprit equiped boats
with the bowsprit protruding half way over the pier.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"No shirt, no skirt, full service"

We don't have a bowsprit, but neither do we ever allow the bow to
overhang the pier because we have an anchor with sharp edges on it and
we don't want people running into it and getting hurt. Also I think
there's too much chance of the bow coming down on the pier especially
if there are fixed docks and some tide.

The people with bowsprits and the people who climb off over the bow
are not me. I've just seen it done (and visited those people) so I
know it's possible. In Elizabeth City the concrete city docks (fixed)
are about on the level with our bow, and the finger piers are very
short and are much lower down. I have to have a step on the finger
pier or I can't reach from the deck of the boat to the dock. There's
an iron railing on the shore so one couldn't protrude over even if one
was big enough. I've never seen a sailboat back into those slips.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/44933/#TL next to last picture and
http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/c96b6/ first two pictures.



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

One good reason to go bow first into a slip
is vessel control.

Before docking, we all determine whether this is wind and/or current running
(which is stronger if both are in play) and how it is going to effect the
handling of the boat.

Once that is determined, if a skipper has a choice of berths he is more likely
to select one where he is motoring *into* the prevailing variable, (wind or
current) to help stop the boat. It's normally easier to add a little throttle
to overcome an opposing force
than to be swept along like helpless flotsam. Most vessels are more efficiently
propped to move forward, rather than in reverse. Most vessels have more
positive steering control moving forward than when backing up.

When the wind is up, the light bow is more likely to blow off than the heavy
stern. Tucking the bow in first may get it out of a crosswind if there are
vessels berthed to either side. Backing in with a cross wind leaves the
vulnerable bow hanging out in the fairway, while the muscle and brains of the
vessel, (the prop and rudder) are squuezed into a confined space with less room
to correct the situation.

Since we steer with the stern, not the bow, it makes sense (to me) to have the
greatest amount of flexibility possible to steer the vessel. That means having
the stern in the fairway with some wiggle room available rather than jammed in
the slip with less. Maybe a twin screw powerboat with a bow thruster has plenty
of control backing up when it's windy- but for any other vessel my own
preference would be to go into the slip bow first.

I one *must* back up to the float yacht club cocktail style and conditions are
less than completely benign, the lost art of using a spring line can allow a
boater a chance to substitute gracefully for a "proper" (big grin) bow-first
appoach

One good reason to go bow first into a slip
is vessel control.

Before docking, we all determine whether this is wind and/or current running
(which is stronger if both are in play) and how it is going to effect the
handling of the boat.

Once that is determined, if a skipper has a choice of berths he is more likely
to select one where he is motoring *into* the prevailing variable, (wind or
current) to help stop the boat. It's normally easier to add a little throttle
to overcome an opposing force
than to be swept along like helpless flotsam. Most vessels are more efficiently
propped to move forward, rather than in reverse. Most vessels have more
positive steering control moving forward than when backing up.

When the wind is up, the light bow is more likely to blow off than the heavy
stern. Tucking the bow in first may get it out of a crosswind if there are
vessels berthed to either side. Backing in with a cross wind leaves the
vulnerable bow hanging out in the fairway, while the muscle and brains of the
vessel, (the prop and rudder) are squuezed into a confined space with less room
to correct the situation.

Since we steer with the stern, not the bow, it makes sense (to me) to have the
greatest amount of flexibility possible to steer the vessel. That means having
the stern in the fairway with some wiggle room available rather than jammed in
the slip with less. Maybe a twin screw powerboat with a bow thruster has plenty
of control backing up when it's windy- but for any other vessel my own
preference would be to go into the slip bow first.

I one *must* back up to the float yacht club cocktail style and conditions are
less than completely benign, the lost art of using a spring line can allow a
boater a chance to substitute gracefully for a "proper" (big grin) bow-first
appoach

When you stern to the dock, you can't leave your companionway open without
dock walkers peering in.

So put the magazine away.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"No shirt, no skirt, full service"

When you stern to the dock, you can't leave your companionway open without
dock walkers peering in.

So put the magazine away.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"No shirt, no skirt, full service"

When I park a car, I usually go into the space head first. My husband
backs in. I'd rather back out into a big space than back into a small
space. He feels that he'd rather see out where he's going, and I feel
that the hood (bonnet) of the car keeps you almost as far back in the
space as going in forward does. (In actual fact I often find a place
in the lot with two spaces and pull all the way through.)

Women are the reason why manufactures are now putting those back up warning
alarms on cars now. People have always said Women park by feel.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"No shirt, no skirt, full service"

When I park a car, I usually go into the space head first. My husband
backs in. I'd rather back out into a big space than back into a small
space. He feels that he'd rather see out where he's going, and I feel
that the hood (bonnet) of the car keeps you almost as far back in the
space as going in forward does. (In actual fact I often find a place
in the lot with two spaces and pull all the way through.)

Women are the reason why manufactures are now putting those back up warning
alarms on cars now. People have always said Women park by feel.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"No shirt, no skirt, full service"

When I park a car, I usually go into the space head first. My husband
backs in. I'd rather back out into a big space than back into a small
space.

Backing a car into a parking stall is justified by the same physics that
indicate
a bow-first docking. :-) You keep the steering end where it has the most room
to
swing while you accurately position the pivot point into a confined space.

Leaving a parking stall front axle first gives a greater number of early
options to incorporate a useful angle to the departure.
When the front axle exits the parking stall last, the front (steering) end of
the vehicle is constricted by proximity to other cars.

One major difference between docking a boat and parking a car. On a boat, it's
perfectly acceptable to bounce off a few fenders.

When I park a car, I usually go into the space head first. My husband
backs in. I'd rather back out into a big space than back into a small
space.

Backing a car into a parking stall is justified by the same physics that
indicate
a bow-first docking. :-) You keep the steering end where it has the most room
to
swing while you accurately position the pivot point into a confined space.

Leaving a parking stall front axle first gives a greater number of early
options to incorporate a useful angle to the departure.
When the front axle exits the parking stall last, the front (steering) end of
the vehicle is constricted by proximity to other cars.

One major difference between docking a boat and parking a car. On a boat, it's
perfectly acceptable to bounce off a few fenders.

Gould 0738 wrote in message
...
One major difference between docking a boat and parking a car. On a boat,
it's
perfectly acceptable to bounce off a few fenders.

You may be on to something........a flatter type of fender to hang from your
new auto in mall parking lots.
How do you get a patent?