Another scenario

Phoenix of Hamble

Phoenix of Hamble

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mishapsandmemories.blogspot.com
Given Claymore's fondness for scenarios, heres an interesting one for you....

This is a pretty accurate representation of my berth....

After much calamity and trial and error, I have now worked out how to get on and off it....

A few weekends back, it was particularly windy, with the wind in the worst possible direction.....

What would be your strategy for getting off and then back on this berth? You have only two people on board... and the engine is perhaps very slightly underpowered... shes got a tiller, and is average in astern in terms of steerage, but doable.... she kicks very very gently to port in reverse, but is a heavy old gal, so takes some stopping.... especially as she's slightly underpowered...
The boat sharing your slot with you is a 30' mobo, and has very high topsides that would take out your stanchions if you hit her, or at the very least you'll mark his boat pretty badly...

MagnaCarter_berth.jpg
 
Put every available fender out to starboard, go in at a good clip, hit reverse as you enter the berth and drift down onto your berth-mate, then winch yourself into your own berth. Chances are that whatever you do you're going to hit your neighbour so do it gently and make it look deliberate /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Snowleopard,

tried that (ish).... his toe rail is about 10cm from the top of my stanchions...... fended off OK, but a bit high risk!.... perhaps the only viable approach in a real hooley, but not ideal.... besides the engine would struggle to stop her at a 'good clip'.... also the boat alongside is a bit shorter, and along with the angle of the berth, the rear third is hanging out, and in a strong wind of this direction the stern gets blown off causing a corner impact... not easy to fend off.... would be a lot easier with three or more people on board.... also there's not room to straighten after the turn so momentum puts you in at a bit of an angle, also causing a less than idealcoming together on his rear quarter....

so... its not the approach I am using..... any other suggestions...?

PS getting off is a whole load easier than getting on!
 
If you are not happy to lean on your stbd fellow, you have no other option than to use a spring on the end of your pontoon taken to a convenient point on the midships (different position for different boats, the use the spring to slow you down and eventually stop, while keeping engine going ahead, with stbd wheel on, this will keep the stern tucked into the berth.

I use this method all the time using a bosco boat hook to lasso the cleat on the end of the pontoon, then I can happily take as long as I want to get the ropes on. (very useful if you are singlehanding.)
 
No 2 on the right? .. no? .. otherwise, prepare warp with loop and bring it through amidships back to a winch, come in close enough to your pontoon to lassoo the end cleat with enough speed to keep steerage control (if this fails and you're carrying too much speed .... yuk!), pull the warp in on the winch and use engine and tiller to pull her round to port and into berth ....

getting off in that wind ought to be OK. her stern will want to go into the wind and if you go out with a squirt of power and then knock her into neutral, the bod at the front should be able to keep her bow off the motor boat. wot you do after that depends how controllable she is going backwards ....
 
Prize for getting 'on' goes to Steve(sorry talbot, he just beat you too it!).... I do go in forward.... not enough steerage astern in a blow... too risky....

I stick the bow in, and SWMBO takes a spring ashore from the bow.....

I then motor gently forward taking up the slack on the spring....

As the momentum turns the stern round further, I gradually push the tiller more and more to port, and motor onto the spring pulling the stern back in..... then left with the helm hard over, she holds nice and tightly on the pontoon while we get bow and stern lines on....

Now what about getting off?
 
Para,

your not far off in getting off..... the bow does tend to come round... just not quite quick enough... so we put a running line on the stern, slip the bow,,, walk her back, and as the bow clears the mobo next to me, SWMBO hops aboard, I brake the stern line to acellerate the rotation, and then motor out backward.... its easy in the shown wind direction.... not tried it yet with the wind blowing 180deg opposite... might be a tad more difficult! although i've only got to clear the boats immediately by me, and then there is probably room to turn..... albeit a little bit tight... I would probably try motoring backward the whole way, and if she starts to misbehave, then assist rather than fight the turn.....
 
i9f a turn is needed into a berth the key is to turn INTO the wind. else everything has to happen too quickly.

So best wd be go into the hole beyons the berth, then come back into it. Reverse down would begin to turn you a bit for fwd into the berth. Or, or fwd down the fairway and reversing into the hole means the props walk would take you to port anyway, and that wd be okay too.

In hight wind i think i wd hold wind on nose for long as poss, and reverse down the fariway, giving lots of options incluing ooer dang someojnes nicked my berth! which means you wd have to get all the way out...
 
can I try?
-- with bow pointing toward berth no. 6--
with the wind up my chuff - as you have depicted -
prepare slip lines , leading back to boat and reverse along fenders, easing slips - more so bow - reverse slowly allowing boat to weathercock, let go bow, reversing out gently.
getting back in,
go backwards? engaging fwd. only to stem way and crew ready with lines at stbd.bow, hold station with fwd gear - ferry glide the nose over, 1 crew step ashore with lines, slip over cleat and pass back if poss, put them to a winch and bingo. Otherwise nudge forward a touch and turn ever so slighty to port, using turn on cleats and a touch of reverse when necessary - presuming there's room?
 
TCM.... with the wind in this direction reversing into the hole would be v risky... not only is the hole very small.... (if a larger boat is on the pontoon, its too small full stop), but my boat would fight me the whole way about swapping ends in this wind direction.... she would naturally want to sit stern to.... its alright for you mobo guys with the power to defy the wind... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
What a clever bunch you all are!

It took me quite a while to suss this one out....... its a lot less fraught now than it was!.......

Its also interesting that while I asked about getting on AND off, everyone immediately tried to solve the getting on problem, which is far more the challenging of the two..... lots of experience me suspects..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I recognise the plan. I have used that berth and I have also used the one right tucked in the corner as a visitor. When I first saw the one in the corner I thought they were having a laugh - mine is a long keeled boat with a keel hung rudder and not much water flow over the rudder from the prop. In 'astern' it travels more or less where it wants. It's surrounded by tall buildings and gets flukey winds. I feel for you! Both times I went there it went in all right because the wind was kind. Coming out both times I simply warped it using the port side cleats on the vessels outside the marina office and plenty of fenders. I was single handed both times. If the wind was foul I expect I would go in the same way. Look on the bright side - at least there's no tide!
 
Getting in there single handed is a superhuman feat... I am in awe!

Actually, you'd struggle to warp in now..... I cheated a little, in that the boats alongside the office that I depicted alongside a pontoon are now actually replaced with finger pontoons.... uses no less water, but they are now all stern showing, so bit more difficult to temporarily tie up to.... but possible to use to warp off.....
 
Re: Me too.

Peppermint, there isn't room to back past the berth..... the distance between my berth and the main pontoon is less than my hull length, especially when a boat is tied up there.... also I would be backing downwind, and at high risk of losing control, and the boat trying to swap ends in a gap not wide enough to do so!

Also, surely if the bow is going to blow off downwind, in this scenario it would be blown onto my neighbour, not away from him....
 
The most difficult bit was spinning the boat round and going out into the open area of the dock once I'd had a gander at how difficult it was going to be to berth. Why go back out to the dock? Because the thing you don't have single handed is time, so you need a bit of drifting room for the boat while you scuttle up and down it putting your ropes and fenders in the right places. I think if it was very windy and I wasn't confident, crewed or not, I'd get them out of that office to come and take my lines... it's not exactly a long way and they have a responsibility to you and your berthing neighbour. Otherwise Snowleopard's suggestion is the best.
 
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