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New boat owner here. I'm having some anxiety about backing out of my slip, after failing to get enough momentum for steerage on a recent attempt and having the prop walk and wind spin my boat clockwise when I was attempting to turn her counter-clockwise.
Ideally, I'd like a fool-proof (anxiety proof?) way to reverse out of the slip, against the prop walk, particularly while I'm still a novice. This method of using a stern spring line looks appealing, but I'm worried that I don't understand how it could go wrong, and what to do if it does. Is it really as simple as this video makes it look?
So far I haven't had much problem getting her back in the slip (fatal last words, I'm sure) although I'm still a little uncertain which lines to use to completely stop the boat while we tie her up. Any tips?
Yes, and I saw that issue. Genius I thought. Since my slip has finger piers on both sides, is narrow, and my prop walk is strong and my bowsprit windage great, I often end up sideways trying to snap my bowsprit off like a great chopstick on the pilings at the end of my slip as I exit.
I keep meaning to rig up such a line. Seems like it would work a treat for my situation...
It's been a little over a year since I posted about my docking woes, and I thought I would update this thread, for any others in similar circumstances.
I did get a little better at docking during my first season with the boat. The 'This Old Boat' article on bannister line docking helped. I was able to use a line on the bannister line to keep the bow under control as I backed out of my slip. That was usually enough control to back out, shift to forward, and turn toward the exit of my fairway. If it seemed like wind coming in the direction of my fairway exit would put me in danger of not making the turn, I just drove out the fairway backwards; fortunately my boat really does back quite well.
But docking still made me pretty nervous, and I was sick of my palms sweating every time I contemplated untying from the slip, so this summer I enrolled in Maryland's School of Sailing two-day docking course*. That was maybe the best idea I've had since buying the boat and it was worth every penny. Now I back in my slip fairly easily, and I use spring lines and the throttle to keep the boat in place during tying up and untying, which makes leaving and departing so much less stressful.
So those of you who are new at docking - don't be afraid to get some help. I found it was much easier to try new techniques on someone else's boat with someone guiding me through what to do. Even my wife was like "I wouldn't have let you try that thing with the warps if you told me you read about it in an article, but knowing someone had taught you to do it made me more comfortable."
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*Disclaimer: I have no connection with the school. But I thought they were great, so I'm naming them here.
But docking still made me pretty nervous, and I was sick of my palms sweating every time I contemplated untying from the slip, so this summer I enrolled in Maryland's School of Sailing two-day docking course*. That was maybe the best idea I've had since buying the boat and it was worth every penny. Now I back in my slip fairly easily, and I use spring lines and the throttle to keep the boat in place during tying up and untying, which makes leaving and departing so much less stressful.
I took the same class a couple of years ago and also thought it was well worth the money. I learned a lot in the two days. Unfortunately, I do not get to practice all of those skills as much as I'd like to because I have a side-tie slip.
I really liked the single lever control for throttle and gear shift on the IP that we used for the class. Seemed to be much easier than my twin levers. Also, the IP had quite a bit of prop walk, which was used to good effect in the class. My boat has very little prop walk.
Since this thread I also discovered that the steering locks on my Pearson 28-2 were incorrectly installed and preventing me from being able to turn the rudder as hard over as I should have been able to. Learning how to properly use prop-walk to turn the boat in place helped compensate for that, but fixing the rudder stops made a bigger difference.
Since you and I have the same boat it is something to check out. The wheel should turn two revolutions from lock to lock (or just under). My boat had been setup to allow it to turn about 1 revolution, meaning my rudder was only turning half as far as I should be able to.
Thanks for the head's up about the steering locks. My wheel turns about 1 and 1/2 times from lock to lock (3/4 of a complete wheel turn from center to lock on either side) so something to keep in mind.
Now that I understand the theory better, I understand that one of my earlier problems was that I'm in a challenging slip for going bow in. With both my exit and the wind to port I had to fight my prop walk and keep the bow from being blown off by the wind when backing out, with a very tight 180 degree turn in a narrow fairway (or driving out backwards) if anything went wrong. Docking stern-in makes a lot of sense in my particular slip.
I also installed a mid-ship cleat and use a forward spring line and reverse power to keep the boat pressed against the finger pier and forward piling while tying and untying. That really makes getting underway so much calmer, and I'm no longer trying to both get lines on a piling while simultaneously backing out of the slip while my sailing partner keeps the bow under control.
Of course, my main problem was I didn't know what I was doing. Also, my lack of knowledge made me nervous. When very nervous, I had a tendency to confuse the throttle and the shifter, and forget which way my rudder was turned. I'm just grateful I never hit anything the first few attempts getting out of my slip.
3/4 turn is close enough to good that I'd leave it along. That little bit of extra rudder is probably not huge. I was a little under a full turn, which was pretty bad.
The class sounds useful. I've got my slip figured out well, but have been in some trickier situations. The hardest for me is when wind is pushing me hard onto a linear dock, and I need to turn away from the dock quickly to clear the boat in front of me. It's worse if I'm rafted to someone else and can't use spring lines.
Agreed. When backing in or doing a back-and-fill on my own boat, I pin the wheel with my knees and use two hands to shift and adjust the throttle. But every now again, I forget to reduce the throttle with one hand before shifting with the other when going back and forth, and I really miss that single-lever control on the IP.
Apparently quite a few people buy Island Packets after taking courses with them, and I can kind of see why. I never really considered them when I was searching but I liked quite a few things about that boat.
You can get single lever controls for the Edson wheel. There are multiple companies making throttle controls that work, and nothing changes at the engine end. I like the implementation simplicity of dual-lever controls, but understand why single lever could be better. It's not a cheap upgrade (about $1000 if using new parts), but it is a lot cheaper than a new boat.
Did you sail the Island Packet in the class? Boats that behave nicely around the marina are great, but ultimately I want a boat that sails well and my impression (from reading reviews) is that I'd be disappointed with an Island Packet.
Nope, I didn't sail her. I have heard they aren't suited to the light winds we often have on the Chesapeake, but it really did make my Pearson feel like a camper. And I love my boat.
It's true I spend much more time just hanging out on my boat than I ever thought I would when I was looking for a boat. It's my county-house-escape-from-the-city even when I don't plan to sail. I'm glad I didn't go shorter than 28 feet and I can already see myself fighting a case of 5-foot itis in a few years.
I try to avoid having to use both levers when I dock. If all is going well, just putting it into forward, neutral, or reverse should do the trick with the throttle at its minimum. Occasionally, a little "goosing" the throttle might be required, but the aim should be to let the wind, current, and momentum do the work, with the prop walk assisting.
On most boats I find that I need to use a good amount of reverse to get the boat moving, then go into neutral to stop the prop spin to minimize prop walk. Leaving the boat at idle speed in reverse doesn't give me enough control.
This is my experience on the 3 or 4 boats that I've sailed that have inboard engines. I'm sure that others do behave differently.
Same here. I need to kick the throttle some when changing direction (stopping the boat from moving forward and then getting some momentum in reverse) and getting the bow through a stiff wind when turning the boat using a back and fill. That's true on my boat and on the Island Packet 32 I took the docking course on.
emcentar! I bought my boat in Deale! (was at Sherman's up by the bridge)
Guess this discussion has me wondering where I fit in all this.
I've not pulled into many slips over the past 9 years but when I have, I've always used the "only go as fast as you want to hit" rule and have done ok.
I've had lots and lots of practice with wind water and current docking, port or starboard on our club's floating docks, the Chessey.s docks with pilings (pilings bother me) (Port on my boat is always easier)
I've practiced quite a bit going into/out floating finger docks that are only about 18" wide and floating, where the river current is always running north or south giving the boat's keel a big push N or S when she's turned 90 degrees to the flow. I've done ok with that quite a bit, and the restaurant patrons ( 15 ft above the dock) sometimes applaud LOL
So, I guess I'm ok with slips. I do practice reverse quite a bit and can really steer my boat in reverse, but like we all know, she has to be moving for rev rudder to work.
All the above sound like good advice. The only thing (I might have missed) is to get out there and practice, practice, practice. I like to go out to where there is a mark of some sort and practice approching it in forward, reverse, upwind, downwind, different speeds, etc. etc. Do it over and over in all types of wind. After a while you'll get in sync with the movement of your boat. I'ts also fun. It's really fun during crab season when I pick up my traps. Yumm!!
By the way, be sure not to get your prop wrapped in a line! If you're new to this, use a pole like a man-overboard pole - or shorter - to practice with. No line to get fouled. I've seen sailing schools use a baton about 3 feet in length for this purpose.
Last May (2013) I took ASA 104 I was lucky enough to be in a half-full marina. We spent two mornings driving around the marina and she'd just point and say "That one, pull in there," and we'd rapidly have to figure out a docking plan. I think it might have been the most valuable part of the class.
I rented my first big boat this May, a 39' Jeanneau, and successfully if not gracefully docked it three times. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but I was grateful for the experience from the year before. Especially when I had to dodge this berg when coming in
In a couple weeks I'm renting another 39' and although the plan is to anchor out every night, I'm going to make sure I get some docking practice in too. I think practice and keeping up on the practice is the key to feeling comfortable.
After taking the ASA sequence up through 104 I hired the instructor for a half day to just focus on learning to dock my new to me boat. Some of the best money spent. We worked through a range different warping and docking scenarios. Drilled through probably 20-30 iterations just to get reps in. Has made me much more comfortable when new or unique situations arise.
Josh
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