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Jiffylube,
Unfortunately, I believe your situation is probably a frequent situation. My wife will come sailing if I press the point, but she does not like sailing and will not try to learn....that's ok, I won't do somethings she does (yes, I know we should strive for things that we like to do together, and we do, but not on everything). She doesn't mind if I have boats and spend time on them. For a time, if she or other persons were not available, I just did not go sailing. And, it seemed that often when we planned sailing in advance so as to fit into other people's schedules, the weather often didn't cooperate on the appointed day...no wind, too much wind, too hot, too cold, stormy, etc., and when conditions were right, crew was not available. After a time, I decided that the solution for me was to be able to single hand the new boat (Catalina 320)...I did so on the older, smaller boat, but the new one was bigger, the prevailing wind is always a cross wind, the slip is narrow, and I really didn't (and still don't) want to ding the boat. In my case, I have put in a number of assists that ease the issue of dock/undocking singlehanded. Now, if someone (wife or others) can go on short notice, great, and if they can't, I still go. Granted, in single handing, I miss out some good sailing because I'm not going in higher wind conditions that would be great for sailing, but which would complicate the docking. Purists will turn up their noses at this, but assists help. Maybe similar things would help in your situation. I've put buddy lines between the pier and outside pilings. I back into the slip since that puts me in position at the helm to make fast lines to pilings as I enter the slip, I lock down the wheel brake partially so I can take my hands off the wheel to handle lines, I've rigged a bow line through a snatch block to the cockpit so I can tend it from there. I use a carabiner hook tied to the bow line (pre led outside the life lines back to stern) to hook on the bow line and a similarly carabiner equipped stern line for the stern cleat. When I come into the slip, as I pass the windward outer piling, I hook the bow line carabiner onto the windward buddy line first, then the stern line carabiner and cleat the stern line off tight. Now, the stern is secure, so boat continues to back into the slip as the stern carabiner slides down the buddy line, and I tend the bow line without leaving the helm. By backing into the slip, if I need to abort, the position with the most power to correct for an error is the going ahead orientation. I start my backing outside the fairway to allow all the competeing forces to work themselves out where there's plenty of room. Now, once I'm going down the fairway in reverse, the boat is fully in control, and I have only to calculate my turn correctly....looks funny, works great if cross wind or down wind isn't too great. If you don't want to use the carabiners and buddy line, then same idea works with putting a bow line and spring line on piling. If you are on a floating dock, perhaps a bracket at the end of the dock is appropriate to hold the lines within easy grasp as one approaches. For marginal docking conditions, I've installed a safety line at hull level from the outboard piling to the pier (on the lee side) that I tighten (before going out) when things look dicey...in those conditions, I have to come in bow first and this line will keep me from dropping down on finger pier or neighbor. For departure, I have a loop in the windward buddy line at the stern boat cleat to which a temporary stern line is attached, and a breast line secured by a line with a toggle between buddy line and boat's midship cleat. The toggle line and this stern line are handled from the cockpit at the instant that I'm ready to go. This temporary arrangement allows me all the time in the world to remove normal dock lines without being blown around in the slip. Training wheels....perhaps so, but they allow me to single hand without beating the daylights out of my boat and neighbor's boat. Each situation is different, but some similar arrangements probably can be arranged for each person's (and your) docking situation. Looks funny...ok. Now I can come and go with or without crew. If there is someone available to go sailing, great, and if not, I can still go. Just a suggestion to consider to get more sailing into one's life.
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A Bay Area sailing magazine recently showed a picture of a string of 10 or 15 boats being towed from a marina to the wrecker. They all had no takers at auction. Come to think of it, its been a long time since my marina held an auction. With all this inventory, that seems strange. Maybe they know it's futile, and are giving the responsible boat owners a grace period, as their boats would probably be the only ones snapped up.
