Amateur Parking

[cliffdale]

Anyone out last Sunday? It was blowing about 4 to 5 in Falmouth harbour. I eyed up the visitors pontoon and thought the best line of attack was to park between two boats and to let the wind blow me onto the pontoon.

This is going be easy I thought as i stopped the boat about 15 feet off the pontoon and spot on in between the two boats. A twitch of the engines and a hint of bow thruster kept me paralled to the pontoon as the wind broad beamed me towards the parking spot.

The only problem was that I did not expect my boat to go sideways so fast.

At 10 feet, wifey screamed from the bow SLOW DOWNnnnnn!!

Well, this would have been easy with stern and bow thrusters, but not on my boat.

Abort mission I thought. Opposite bow thruster and forward/ reverse engines to turn and get away. Bollocks I thought this is making no difference and a turn was now impossible.

At 5 feet off the pontoon we must have been making 4 knots sideways towards the pontoon with wifey screaming even louder slow down and I wasn't taking any notice As i was too busy praying, Please God Im a good person, dont hole my boat.

On impact the fenders made a strange rubbery rubbing noise, I thought they were going to pop.

By now, Falmouth must have heard "I told you to slow down","darling"

Fortunately, Someone up there liked me and no damage was done.

My question is, Why dont they make motor boats with lifting keels, I didnt have this problem with me sailing boat.

How do you slow the sideways motion down???


Cliff

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[DepSol]

When you get close to the pontoon jump on to it quickly turn round bend knees straighten back and push like **** to slow down the impact. The bigger the boat the bigger the person who jumps off and fends off is required.

<hr width=100% size=1>Dom

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.soltron.co.uk>the website</A>
MMS - Discount Chandlery

 

[cliffdale]

Ah Hum, try telling that to Judith and live.

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[DepSol]

Ok next time you are over I will but I wil also tell her its your idea /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<hr width=100% size=1>Dom

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.soltron.co.uk>the website</A>
MMS - Discount Chandlery

 

[cliffdale]

She's actually very good for doing as she is told. The first sailing boat I bought was a Jaguar 22. I said to her as she was helming, "sheet in and sail across the wind, lets see how far she will heel"

As the mast head approached the water, I screamed "for Christ sake , let the sheet off" We nearly had a full knockdown.

On sailing back to the pontoon, I asked her jump onto the pontoon and tie off the bow. (I was explaining carefully as this was the first time she had been on a boat). About 8 feet off the pontoon, she gave an almighty LEAP, and only just made it. I had to tell her, "no, we usually wait to get to the pontoon first before jumping"

That night there was a horrific thunder storm and the gales were bouncing us around and snatching at the ropes. J said, "is it always like this"?



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[hlb]

Bloody bow thruster wuzzy!! Must admit i've occasionaly got more speed up sideways than intended!! Hardest problem is getting the bugger to go sideways when it dont want to. Try stopping a bit closer to the pontoon in big winds. Dont forget, I will be there next week and prefer some semblance of order!! Not a smashed up Pontoon../forums/images/icons/laugh.gifJust another thread about inapropriout??? use of bow thrusters IMHO../forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

<hr width=100% size=1> Flags Solly MFBR</font color=red>
Haydn

 

[cliffdale]

I like my bow thruster so much that I changed the poxy 60 Ahr bow battery to a 120Ahr one. I wondered whether to wire it as 24 volt with 2 batteries to get it to spin twice as fast.

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[powerskipper]

Try putting both throttle forward a touch, just enough to make her move but not go ahead, this slows the movement down , it works in astern to /forums/images/icons/wink.gif but only if you have a little room bow and stern, i.e. more than a foot or so.

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Julie

 

[Althorne]

Don't the pro's make it sound so easy./forums/images/icons/frown.gif


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[tcm]

i don't think you did anything wrong. Letting it drift from a controllable point, half a boat length is about the point of no returnish without monster throttle violence, drift on to the fenders, using bowthruster/engines to keep it parallel so it lands squarely on all the fenders simultaneously - which is what they're for, no? Main point is to ensure that nobody gets feet/legs when it comes on at speed in wind. Feels fast but really bet it ain't 4 knots.

I did the same most notably when 33 knots in a smal med harbour meant no chance of safely slotting into our berth, so went out to have a think, got every single fender on that side, and let it go same as you did. Hardly needed any lines to tie it on for two days as we stayed pinned on the visitors pontoon.

Actually yerdo need a line from outboard stern side of boat ashore to hold the bow out agin the wind.

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[powerskipper]

ERERE a Point


Make sure helm is strait FIRST

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Julie

 

[jfm]

All boats handle a bit differently but both engines and bowthruster all 3 simultaneously should make it go sideways. Frexample, if you were mooring starboard side on, then try bowthruster to port (so trying to turn the bow anticlockwise) and port engine forward, stbd engine reverse (so trying to turn the stern clockwise), and it should move sideways, away from the quay, even into some wind. If you're lucky

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[robind]

Dont forget that some bow thrusters can only have limited spurts of use before they "burn out" 20 seconds is it ? in the case of some Vetus models. They are not "continuously rated" so bigger batteries, more power, maybe shorter spurts.
what do you think?
Rob

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[andyball]

engine/thruster at the same time certainly works with our single engine....steer hard away , thruster towards & she moves nicely sideways, at the cost of a foot or two forward.

Think it might work better with two engines, since no forward movement.

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[duncan]

I am somewhat surprised that you suggest using human fenders...........

I am on a hamerhead at 90 degrees to the ebb flow (without a bow thruster!) and the only way in (single handed) is stopping parrallel as near as possible and letting the fenders do their work.

I found out by accident (trying to keep parallel in position!) that back and forward touches seem to slow the progress, as recomended by Julie, but had never read it anywhere.
People should be used as fenders, and furthermore 'last resort' is the very worst time to involve them!

<hr width=100% size=1>madesco madidum ..../forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[[2068]]

Hopefully, he wasn't being serious.

O-Level physics tells me that the human fender vs 5500 kilos of chopped strand mat and green metal travelling at any speed is going to have a predicable result.

Of course, if it was someone you were trying to get rid of...

dv.

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[SpiderDiver]

A bit confused on this one (JFM & 'port engine fwd' as well ?). Doesn't this just counteract the bowthruster to port? Sounds like a bit of practise required for this one.

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by SpiderDiver on 19/10/2004 12:43 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[powerskipper]

the idea is to get the stern moving in the direction you want and use the bow thruster to keep the boat level so that you create a sideways drift.

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Julie