A first today for Full Circle

FullCircle

FullCircle

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We returned from a barbecue at Fambridge celebrating the Artemis' departure next week.

I got the boat off pontoon, and then immediately handed over to Lynn, who sailed the boat with no assistance at all back to Bridgemarsh. We rolled away and started the engine. and gently motored into Bridgemarsh, and Lynn worked her way past the mooring, spun the boat round and gently motoring uptide, with the wind blowing us off the pontoon, lined it up into our mooring space, ferry glided in and a quick blip of reverse caused a perfect landing, down to the inch.
I gently stepped off and threw a loop round the mid cleat on the pontoon, job done.

Excellent work, and her confidence went up enormously.
Chuffed.
 
Well done Lynn.

I want to get Molly to do that, she's excellent helming under sail and navigating, but gets nervous motoring in confined spaces like marinas - I will use Lynn as an example to get her to practice when we are again afloat.
 
With our previous boats, SWBBO used to helm in close quarters and I was the big lummox that used BF&I to stop us hitting things or grab lines etc.
With Mermaid, I seem to be chief helm as I had a week on board practising before she got a chance to have a go (and I'm still doing it).
She still has to be in total charge when I'm calling for Bert and Huey over the side (like for 6 hours through the shipping lanes on the way back from Belgium last summer) :o
 
Well done, Lynne.

Pats slowly gaining confidence helming alongside, especially since I adopted the outlook that 'good enough is good enough' and since we discovered that 'White Magic' drives backwards very nicely.

wingdiver said:
With our previous boats, SWBBO used to helm in close quarters and I was the big lummox that used BF&I to stop us hitting things or grab lines etc.
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That's alway seemed sensible to me. Pat's not very strong, can't swim and finds the first step out of the cockpit awkward due to the narrow side deck at that point. She doesn't like jumping onto a wobbly pontoon, either, so it makes sense that she helms and I do the rest.
 
Slow_boat said:
Well done, Lynne.

Pats slowly gaining confidence helming alongside, especially since I adopted the outlook that 'good enough is good enough' and since we discovered that 'White Magic' drives backwards very nicely.



That's alway seemed sensible to me. Pat's not very strong, can't swim and finds the first step out of the cockpit awkward due to the narrow side deck at that point. She doesn't like jumping onto a wobbly pontoon, either, so it makes sense that she helms and I do the rest.
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We've also always used this approach. Patrick has longer legs, longer arms and is stronger than me so it makes more sense for me to helm. We have to keep remembering though to let him have a go or he gets rusty!
 
My SWMBO will only take strategic command. This consists of concise, crisp directions generally associated with the way she feels about things viz:

"You are not thinking of mooring there are you?"
"You are NOT going to moor there".
"Hadn't you better put the anchor down."
"You can get this side of the boat out of the water, NOW."
"If you want something to eat, you better make it flat"
"Your book didn't show you how to do that, did it"
"Why haven't you got one of those rolly things"
 
Kioni said:
Well done Lynn.

I want to get Molly to do that, she's excellent helming under sail and navigating, but gets nervous motoring in confined spaces like marinas - I will use Lynn as an example to get her to practice when we are again afloat.
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If she's nervous, find a nice piece of open water and drop in a dan buoy. Now try coming alongside that. You can change the apparent wind direction just by changing the approach course, so you can practise with leeward or windward berths, and berthing with head or tail winds, all on the same buoy. Change to pontoon berths only once she finds the buoy too easy.
 
peterb said:
If she's nervous, find a nice piece of open water and drop in a dan buoy. Now try coming alongside that. You can change the apparent wind direction just by changing the approach course, so you can practise with leeward or windward berths, and berthing with head or tail winds, all on the same buoy. Change to pontoon berths only once she finds the buoy too easy.
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Banging into a Danbuoy doesn't make the satisfying scrunching noise of whacking the pontoon. Also, although finger pontoons are getting shorter, a Danbuoy is not very long.:p
 
Crunching of the pontoon? Try the crunching of Pyro's foot when he got it wrong the other week. Now I'm doubly scared of bringing the beast that is CdG alongside myself in any but the most benign conditions. Top marks to Lynn indeed.
 
Sailing Widow said:
Crunching of the pontoon? Try the crunching of Pyro's foot when he got it wrong the other week. Now I'm doubly scared of bringing the beast that is CdG alongside myself in any but the most benign conditions. Top marks to Lynn indeed.
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The simple expedient of not using your OWN foot as a fender should suffice.

Are you providing succour to the poor lamb, or is he being brave?:p
 
Master_under_Dog said:
This is all very encouraging. Any tips on how to get SWMBO to set foot on board first?

Michael :(
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Any tips on getting any female on board would be welcome :/

Very good effort though. I'm still wondering how I'd handle a big boat. A friend, this evening, landed his 49footer on the debris boom outside the lock. He's put a bloody big dent in it. His boat, I mean. If it wasn't made out of steel it would probably have been terminal.

Big boats scare me. Kudos to all that navigate them.
 
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