65-70ft Fly docking-mooring with only 2 persons?

[TonyR123]

and with ropes usually I get someone to roughly tie them up and I go around after to do them properly. Although for our home mooring all the ropes are marked (some thread glued on) so they can see roughly how far to pull them in

 

[Hooligan]

I can understand that. On my boat, because I can see the stern from the flybridge helm, I dont go downstairs to use the cockpit helm until the boat is almost in its moored position. I prefer to stay upstairs for as long as possible so I can see whats going on at the bow as well as the stern

I just upgraded from a S58 to a S65. The difference in size is substantial and on the new one I can not see the back of the transom from the helm. I agree with Mike. Better one good crew than a few useless ones. I docked fine with just my daughter. I do not think not being able to see the rear end of the boat - i have a camera but frankly don’t use it - is that big of a deal provided your crew is loud and clear. There is no need anyway to get too close at the back and as others have said, get the rear lines loosely on and get the forward line on. Then easy to adjust from the cockpit. Of course much easier with boats either side. The real problem is when the wind is howling across the port with no boat starboard. That’s when the thrusters really help. One of the things that always made me nervous on the 58 when using the rear cockpit was some unknowing person leaning or somehow bumping the throttles as one adjusted and finding oneself in full reverse. That made me nervous especially with a full boat. Luckily never happened!!

 

[BartW]

10y ago I upgraded from a 28ft boat to our curent 75ft boat,
I never helmed a boat bigger then the 28ft before,

from the beginning, with a brief introduction, me and my wife managed very well, (lucky my wife is a very handy person)
during the years, and with occasional advice, tip and tricks on here, you get more experience, and build up more confidence,

one of the first rules I tell to guests onboard, is "Don't do anything during the mooring, unless my wife instructs you to"
occasionally , in certain conditions, I instruct a guest to stay prepared with a fender, in a defined position on the deck, or hold it over the bulwark...

 

[BartW]

The first seeson on Blue Angel we used walky talkys, but zfter that my wife dropped 2 of them in the sea, we installed a camera on top of the radar arch, so that I could see the swimplatform from the flybridge helm.
Without the camera I can’t see anything on the back of the boat.

My fb helm is on the SB side, and During mooring I observe that side, while my wife observes port side. Last few years We communicate with headset intercom.

 

[Hurricane]

And one thing to add.
I do everything slowly.
If I'm going to have a crash, I make sure that it is a slow crash!!
And with a fender protecting the boat.
I never put the throttles faster that the first position click (astern or forward) - there's always enough power in the first click.
Very often the process is just put one engine in gear for a second or so and then take it out again.
It is all about momentum - you don't want too much momentum.

 

[MapisM]

Very often the process is just put one engine in gear for a second or so and then take it out again.

Good point.
With planing boats, whose idle speed is too high for maneuvering, some folks engage gear and wait till the boat actually starts reacting, before disengaging. Which can be a mistake, because by the time they go back to neutral, the boat is already moving too fast.
For fine adjustments, it's sufficient to engage and then immediately disengage, the boat reaction will follow.

 

[vas]

Good point.
With planing boats, whose idle speed is too high for maneuvering, some folks engage gear and wait till the boat actually starts reacting, before disengaging. Which can be a mistake, because by the time they go back to neutral, the boat is already moving too fast.
For fine adjustments, it's sufficient to engage and then immediately disengage, the boat reaction will follow.

true, things are slightly better going in reverse due to the shape of the transom and the resistance in water
I also always apply the engine in-out of gear only for 1-2sec at a time and wait and see what I've done
Also important to note, if for some odd reason or miscalculation, you're not coming right in your berth, it rarely works out nice and clean trying to save it. Much better to just pull out in fwd, move far away to re-set the boat and reverse back in. OK, talking about med mooring and assume enough space to do all that...

 

[Kubcat]

The first seeson on Blue Angel we used walky talkys, but zfter that my wife dropped 2 of them in the sea, we installed a camera on top of the radar arch, so that I could see the swimplatform from the flybridge helm.
Without the camera I can’t see anything on the back of the boat.

My fb helm is on the SB side, and During mooring I observe that side, while my wife observes port side. Last few years We communicate with headset intercom.

The first seeson on Blue Angel we used walky talkys, but zfter that my wife dropped 2 of them in the sea, we installed a camera on top of the radar arch, so that I could see the swimplatform from the flybridge helm.
Without the camera I can’t see anything on the back of the boat.

My fb helm is on the SB side, and During mooring I observe that side, while my wife observes port side. Last few years We communicate with headset intercom.

We have a boat around 70ft and have found the same. With headsets, two of us have no issues docking.

 

[hkikis]

I have bought finally an Azimut 68 Evolution 2007
But I haven't tried yet to travel because until now I had to fix a lot of things
I hope to be easy for me too.

Tender is on fly so it needs some time to fall it on water.
So in the case that I want to put rope on rocks (yellow rope) i don't know how easy will be to do it with only my SWMBO.
I have SeaDoo RS1 sea scooter so i hope that she can go with that to put the rope...

For docking because I don't like to trust anyone from headsets I prefer to trust my eyes so I bought a new Raymarine AXIOM 12" with rear camera.
I thing that it will help me

 

[kashurst]

Congratulations - I am sure you and your wife will be fine mooring up.

 

[Portofino]

I have bought finally an Azimut 68 Evolution 2007
But I haven't tried yet to travel because until now I had to fix a lot of things
I hope to be easy for me too.

Tender is on fly so it needs some time to fall it on water.
So in the case that I want to put rope on rocks (yellow rope) i don't know how easy will be to do it with only my SWMBO.
I have SeaDoo RS1 sea scooter so i hope that she can go with that to put the rope...

For docking because I don't like to trust anyone from headsets I prefer to trust my eyes so I bought a new Raymarine AXIOM 12" with rear camera.
I thing that it will help me

Congratulations, did you manage to get rid of the overheating D12 squadron 58 ?
Which engines has this one got?Can it maintain normal running temps at or near wide open throttle?

 

[Hurricane]

Tender is on fly so it needs some time to fall it on water.
So in the case that I want to put rope on rocks (yellow rope) i don't know how easy will be to do it with only my SWMBO.
I have SeaDoo RS1 sea scooter so i hope that she can go with that to put the rope...

Congratulations on the new boat.

I think that the Seadoo would be too much to worry about when rigging a shore line.

We usually have friends on board when we tie back to the rocks.
So, if you are doing it with just the two of you, you will need to work out a system.

I think I would make sure that the anchor is set well first.
A long chain will help - you can set the anchor a long way from the shore and let chain out to get back to the rocks after you have tied to the rocks.
After setting the anchor on a short chain, there will be two of you to set the shore line.
A good floating rope can be pulled along by a swimmer but because the boat is well anchored, there would also be time to launch the tender.
Our tender is also kept on the flybridge but we also have the option of keeping it on the bathing platform - might be worth considering that option for you as well.
Once the rope is tied, it is easy to set the position of the boat by letting out the anchor chain and pulling in the floating rope.
Stern docking winches help with the floating rope.
These comments work well if you gave a long floating rope and lots of chain.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

So, if you are doing it with just the two of you, you will need to work out a system.

During our 4 yrs cruising in Croatia we did a lot of anchoring and tying back to the shore because thats how they do it there. To be honest I found it a PITA with just myself and the SWMBO onboard. The first problem was always judging how far from the shore to drop the anchor; too far and you run out of chain before the boat gets near the shore or too near and you have too little chain out for the depth/wind forecast. MYAG who used to be of this parish had one of those distance measuring scopes to judge his distance off the shore and I think thats a good idea. The other problem we found was keeping the boat at roughly 90deg to the shore when taking the lines to the shore, especially in a cross wind situation where the boat wants to swing sideways of course. I always preferred for my SWMBO to take at least the first line ashore so I could control the position of the boat. We did it the other way round a few times but to put it bluntly my SWMBO is a bit hamfisted with the gears/throttles/thrusters which scared me a bit especially if I was in the water swimming with the shore line

The whole thing is so much easier if you have friends or kids on board who are willing to swim to the shore with the lines whilst you control the boat. Yes we used to launch the tender sometimes but I was always concerned about damaging the tubes on the rocks. I must admit that in our last couple of seasons in Croatia with just the SWMBO and I on board, I looked for larger anchorages where we could swing to the hook as normal instead of taking lines ashore

Couple of other points. I was always worried about a shore line looped around a rock chafing so I had a couple of loops made up of lightweight chain but then they were more difficult to handle when swimming ashore. The other point is that in Croatia at least, sea urchins are common on the rocks near the shore just under the water. You do not want to step on one of those so wear some water shoes

 

[hkikis]

Congratulations, did you manage to get rid of the overheating D12 squadron 58 ?
Which engines has this one got?Can it maintain normal running temps at or near wide open throttle?

Never... VOLVO distributor told me that the temp in the engine is right, at the computer is right, at the gauge is wrong. Maybe the problems is on the cables. So it is very difficult to solve it.
Open throttle the same temps. Starboard engine was hotter.

 

[hkikis]

Congratulations on the new boat.

I think that the Seadoo would be too much to worry about when rigging a shore line.

We usually have friends on board when we tie back to the rocks.
So, if you are doing it with just the two of you, you will need to work out a system.

I think I would make sure that the anchor is set well first.
A long chain will help - you can set the anchor a long way from the shore and let chain out to get back to the rocks after you have tied to the rocks.
After setting the anchor on a short chain, there will be two of you to set the shore line.
A good floating rope can be pulled along by a swimmer but because the boat is well anchored, there would also be time to launch the tender.
Our tender is also kept on the flybridge but we also have the option of keeping it on the bathing platform - might be worth considering that option for you as well.
Once the rope is tied, it is easy to set the position of the boat by letting out the anchor chain and pulling in the floating rope.
Stern docking winches help with the floating rope.
These comments work well if you gave a long floating rope and lots of chain.

Thank you!! Yes I think that I can be familiar with that by the time. If it isn't windy day it is easier.
The difficult thing is that my SWMBO dont want to drive neither the tender haha. Also she isn't good swimmer.
Last year I did everything alone. Put the tender on the water... Get the floating yellow rope to go to the rocks with the tender and leave the boat ALONE!!
I had only the remote controller of bow-stern with me on the tender to can keep it as much as I can stable until to grab it in the rock .
Leave the boat alone (with my SWMBO I mean) I know that it isn't a safe way.
Ofcourse I hadn't do that in a very windy day haha.

I am thinking to find some more easy ways to do all that. For example I am thinking to buy electric SUP and send her go with that !

 

[hkikis]

During our 4 yrs cruising in Croatia we did a lot of anchoring and tying back to the shore because thats how they do it there. To be honest I found it a PITA with just myself and the SWMBO onboard. The first problem was always judging how far from the shore to drop the anchor; too far and you run out of chain before the boat gets near the shore or too near and you have too little chain out for the depth/wind forecast. MYAG who used to be of this parish had one of those distance measuring scopes to judge his distance off the shore and I think thats a good idea. The other problem we found was keeping the boat at roughly 90deg to the shore when taking the lines to the shore, especially in a cross wind situation where the boat wants to swing sideways of course. I always preferred for my SWMBO to take at least the first line ashore so I could control the position of the boat. We did it the other way round a few times but to put it bluntly my SWMBO is a bit hamfisted with the gears/throttles/thrusters which scared me a bit especially if I was in the water swimming with the shore line

The whole thing is so much easier if you have friends or kids on board who are willing to swim to the shore with the lines whilst you control the boat. Yes we used to launch the tender sometimes but I was always concerned about damaging the tubes on the rocks. I must admit that in our last couple of seasons in Croatia with just the SWMBO and I on board, I looked for larger anchorages where we could swing to the hook as normal instead of taking lines ashore

Couple of other points. I was always worried about a shore line looped around a rock chafing so I had a couple of loops made up of lightweight chain but then they were more difficult to handle when swimming ashore. The other point is that in Croatia at least, sea urchins are common on the rocks near the shore just under the water. You do not want to step on one of those so wear some water shoes

I am familiar with that. Last year only one time I was too far from the rocks so I tried again.
Yes you need water shoes!!
About damaged the tender tubes on rocks I have it my mind but I am careful.
I have a very good way to catch the rock. The floating rope is ready wrapped in a big "ring" of "car tow rope"... I will attach foto to explain you better.
The ring is over 2 meter diameter so i just leave it in the rock. It is quite easy. In the foto of Hurricane I think that they do something quite difficult...
Also this type of tow rope is very strong and it isn't damaged from the rocks!!!
If you use floating ropes in the ropes soon it will damaged hard.
Mediterranean rocks are very very sharp!! I think that Hurricane isn't in Mediterranean in this foto. They don't look very sharp the rocks.
Anyway if you have ready ring you just let it hug the rock and you are ready.

 

[vas]

hkikis,

good suggestions by the other med boaters here.
I'd just add that this year the extra "bonus" is the bloody jellies both brown and pink that infest our waters, so getting the line out is not that simple as diving in and swimming out.
We also v.often are the two of us on a 43ft f/b mobo, wife is not happy (make that completely not interested in) helming the boat, so she has to dive Cannot be bothered to lower the rib, so she has sea shoes and gets the yellow floating rope out.
To make it easy I've bought a largish ss carbiner and a 3m long by 60mm wide flat belt sort of lifting strop type of thing with eyes on both sides. doesn't really float but it's not chain, much easier to handle and she loops it at trees or rocks and clips it with the carabiner job done.
If there's a side wind (80% of the time!) I'm between aft deck feeding rope and lower helm engaging the right engine in reverse to keep the boat in the right direction.
Now due to jellies, I've "improved" the technique a bit by deploying a small Fortress with 5m chain and some rode on the right side of the aft deck and securing it on the aft cleat. This way the boat will more or less stay put whilst we sort out the rope to the rocks/trees. I recon it pays to get a slightly undersized FX16 and keep it at the aft lockers for that alone. Also useful if wind changes and you didn't get your ropes right and boat moves dangerously towards other boats. Through the fortress in and with silly scope will keep the boat where it should. Assume sandy bottom there

enjoy the new boat!

V.

 

[Hurricane]

Just for the record
This is the floating rope that we use:-



And this is where we keep it:-



Actually, we have two of them.
It came on a 110m long roll so I cut it in half so 2 x 55m long.
55m long covers us for most of our uses.