I have a Capri 22 that I have tied up alongside my dock (port side to dock) with 2 spring lines (attached to bow and stern cleats), mooring whips, and breast lines - all of which work very well. In an effort to make single-handed docking/undocking a possibility for even my low-level skills, I purchased a midships cleat that attaches on the genoa rail. I then attached a a spring line to the dock at a point just behind where the transom comes to rest - I attached the other end to my new midships cleat when docking/undocking. Theoretically, this should make single-handed docking/undocking easier even me, right?. The trouble is, I back the boat in alongside the dock which means I am going backwards when I attach the spring line to the midships cleat. I then have only about 2 nanoseconds to go from the genoa rail to the outboard to put it in forward before I crash into the wires that hold the dock to the shore. This makes things a little too exciting for my taste. So, could I make this work in reverse by attaching my spring line to the dock forward of where the bow will come to rest and attaching the other end to my midships cleat when I am backing in to the dock? I've never heard of using a midships cleat like this but with a light boat, do not see why it would not work. I realize my problem would be greatly simplified by simply heading alongside my dock bow-first. However, because of boat wake, I really prefer to back it in so that the bow is to weather when it is docked.
Any thoughts from this salty bunch would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Jeff
Any thoughts from this salty bunch would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Jeff