Catching the trots

[Balbas]

Most of the time I sail I'm going to be singlehanding (or effectively so - young kids or inexperienced crew) and I keep my boat on trots. Leaving is relatively simple - work out which way the boat wants to go and cast off the other side, picking up I'm less convinced about - what hints and tips are there which might help me?

I'm thinking

1) Stem the tide
2) Tickle up to the trot and ferry glide across to it - going well forward so that I'll get the bow line on
3) Select neutral
4) Dash forward with the boathook, grab the line and get it onto a bow cleat before I drift away
5) The stern should then come broadly in line with the trot and I should be able to work my way back with the pickup line.

4a) If 4) doesn't work then dash back to the helm, select reverse and go around for another try.

Is there a secret trick which I'm not aware of (apart from 'berth in a marina'...)?

 

[UMCorps]

I guess it depends on how fast the tide can run on your trot but on mine I always aim to pick up the tide most line first. If I pick up the bow line on an outgoing tide the stern usually kicks round too fast to grab that line and I spend the next 10 mins as the cabaret act for interested bystanders as I struggle to haul the stern back round to where it should be.

So on an outgoing tide I aim to get parallel to the trot a few boat lengths uptide of my mooring, and drift down grabbing the stern line as I go past. The bow line is then just there waiting to be picked up when you are ready for it. On the incoming tide I aim roughly for the stern buoy, luff up sharply just before I get there and then grab the bow line as the tide slows the boat. She then falls back and, again, picking up the stern line is reasonably a relaxed process.

When it all goes right....

A slight complication for me is that I'm not on the outermost trot so I also have to thread my way through that, avoiding other folks pickup lines while looking out for the inevitable kayaker bowling along down the trots just as I'm trying to make my way across. On busy days, having an air horn to hand is useful.