finestgreen
Well-Known Member
Duncan Wells in "stressfree sailing" recommends a bridle running from eg midship cleat forward to a snatch block or similar
Berthing Suggestions
- Thread starter Snowgoose-1
- Start date
Leslie frank
Well-Known Member
In which case we lasso the bow then motor slowly astern until the other ropes are on. It helps if we are in a stbd side berth as the stern kick pins us to starboard. Personally I would ask for a better berth
Roberto
Well-Known Member
oldmanofthehills
Well-Known Member
I bless our midships cleat when berthing, and wonder why all these racing cruisers nowadays seem to omit them
Is it the expectation of large crew to leap ashore athletically and or run with fenders to inevitable points?
Is it the expectation of large crew to leap ashore athletically and or run with fenders to inevitable points?
Martin&Rene
Well-Known Member
I decided to make a combined mid-spring and stern line that I could use as our "parking lines" which I could just slip over the cleat at the end of the finger pontoon as we came in.
· I made a loop of rope about 40cm dia of 10mm rope with a small section of plastic tube (ex vacuum cleaner hose) to keep it slightly open. To this loop I attached two lines. (Yellow line on diagram)
· The first line, 10-12mm thick, should not be too elastic and is rigged so that it goes through a mid fairlead in the toe-rail and then onto a mid cleat. This line is marked so that it can be easily set so that when the yacht is moored at the pontoon, it is held about 0.5m from the walkway. (Red line) (white rope in picture below)
· The second line, also around 10-12mm dia., goes from the loop, under the guard-rails, to the genoa winch with one turn and then into the self-tailer and is marked so that when taut it would just allow the yacht to go fender to fender alongside our partner boat. (Green line)(red rope in picture below)
So, our mooring procedure is when we approach the berth, I can stand near the shroud with the loop in my hand and also holding the line that will become our bow spring which has been looped over the yacht’s bow cleat. I step off the yacht onto the pontoon and just slip the "parking line" loop over the pontoon end cleat. If we are coming in fast (ie if the wind is strong) then the helm may apply a small amount of reverse, but then they start winching in the stern line to keep the stern near the pontoon and the yacht still moving forward. As the mid-spring line comes tight, it stops the yacht going forward and the yacht swings into the pontoon. We normally have a fender right at the bow, but I can also just move down the pontoon and steady the bow. I then normally just put the bow spring line temporarily onto the forward cleat on the far side of the pontoon to secure the yacht to act as a bow line.
For a single hander, I think you could try dropping the loop over the end pontoon cleat as you come in. Once the yacht has stopped, then a small amount of forward power would keep the yacht alongside, whilst you put the other lines on.
To depart, we then take off the springs and the proper stern line. Then it is just a case of un-looping the bow line of the pontoon cleat and then slipping the "parking line" loop off the pontoon end cleat as the yacht starts to move back. Actually, we often will just set the loop on the outer horn of the cleat, so it just slips of on its own as we reverse out and the initial tension on it counteracts the prop-walk. So a single-hander, could put the boat in forward, take the main mooring lines off and then just reverse out and the parking lines will slip off.
· I made a loop of rope about 40cm dia of 10mm rope with a small section of plastic tube (ex vacuum cleaner hose) to keep it slightly open. To this loop I attached two lines. (Yellow line on diagram)
· The first line, 10-12mm thick, should not be too elastic and is rigged so that it goes through a mid fairlead in the toe-rail and then onto a mid cleat. This line is marked so that it can be easily set so that when the yacht is moored at the pontoon, it is held about 0.5m from the walkway. (Red line) (white rope in picture below)
· The second line, also around 10-12mm dia., goes from the loop, under the guard-rails, to the genoa winch with one turn and then into the self-tailer and is marked so that when taut it would just allow the yacht to go fender to fender alongside our partner boat. (Green line)(red rope in picture below)
So, our mooring procedure is when we approach the berth, I can stand near the shroud with the loop in my hand and also holding the line that will become our bow spring which has been looped over the yacht’s bow cleat. I step off the yacht onto the pontoon and just slip the "parking line" loop over the pontoon end cleat. If we are coming in fast (ie if the wind is strong) then the helm may apply a small amount of reverse, but then they start winching in the stern line to keep the stern near the pontoon and the yacht still moving forward. As the mid-spring line comes tight, it stops the yacht going forward and the yacht swings into the pontoon. We normally have a fender right at the bow, but I can also just move down the pontoon and steady the bow. I then normally just put the bow spring line temporarily onto the forward cleat on the far side of the pontoon to secure the yacht to act as a bow line.
For a single hander, I think you could try dropping the loop over the end pontoon cleat as you come in. Once the yacht has stopped, then a small amount of forward power would keep the yacht alongside, whilst you put the other lines on.
To depart, we then take off the springs and the proper stern line. Then it is just a case of un-looping the bow line of the pontoon cleat and then slipping the "parking line" loop off the pontoon end cleat as the yacht starts to move back. Actually, we often will just set the loop on the outer horn of the cleat, so it just slips of on its own as we reverse out and the initial tension on it counteracts the prop-walk. So a single-hander, could put the boat in forward, take the main mooring lines off and then just reverse out and the parking lines will slip off.
