tom3987
New member
Im looking for some advice on the best way to approach this particular pontoon. I know there are multiple ways to skin a cat and each boat is different etc but I would like to hear how others would approach this berth.
I had a bit of a disaster in to a new marina and im re-evaluating what I did and what I should have done etc to improve. Im very new to big boats and of course I need more practice and experience.
Ive not long bought this boat so im still getting used to how it handles, I bought it in Scotland and I have just arrived back in Liverpool - This happened in Liverpool Marina. Nothing was damaged but I almost hit the finger side on. We arrived just as the sunset as we had 13 hours from the IOM to Liverpool and we had just enough daylight..... For our first attempt...
I called through to get my visitor berth a couple of days before, they said VB3. I checked on the map they have on their website and I couldn't see this berth, i called back up and we both checked the map at the same time (Both on the website. same page etc) which she then said it was BI (See image below) then Berth 3. The lock entrance is just on the right-hand side of this. So I thought Great - We can come in do a U-turn and come starboard side too as we have plenty of room.
This all went very smoothly. No issues at this point, We just put all the lines on and then the lock keeper said we were in the wrong berth, It was all the way to the other end. So now im a little unprepared as to where im going. We took the lines off and made our way to the end, Turns out it's BB3.
There is a gap in the building where the car park is and we only had a slight breeze but enough to slide the boat. It seemed very tight to turn into this bay due to other obstructions. Also by now, it's about half 9 at night so it's getting very dark.
This is what happened:
I attempted to do the same as before, come around and do a U-turn, but the breeze slid the boat over towards 5, i put it in reverse but the prop walk kicked the bow over more than 5. I tried a couple of times to get it back out but it was too late, luckily we got a fender in the gap and the lock keeper was a great help and managed to keep us off it.
This is how we ended up:
My brother managed to get off on 1 with a line and pulled us in, I managed to throw a line over a cleat and pull the boat in. So now we are in.
Below in Green is what currently is in the marina, The one I have circled is anchors or something, the fella told me not to get close to this as I was approaching as I was trying to take it wide to do my U-turn. The boats in Green were also in the births just to give you an idea of what I was working with. The blue with the dots in the width, its saying 16m. My boat is 11.4m.
As mentioned above I know it's inexperience but I do need to know how I could have handled this better.
Should I have tried to reverse it like this?
Would the bow come across in time with the wind? As mentioned it wasn't much, about 8-10kts.
I spoke with Liverpool Marina on the confusion with berths, the fella said he will speak to someone to get the Map updated. I think the original pontoon I went to was the original visitor berth but they are getting work done on it so this is the new one and the map hasn't been updated.
Any help or suggestion you may have would be greatly appreciated.
I had a bit of a disaster in to a new marina and im re-evaluating what I did and what I should have done etc to improve. Im very new to big boats and of course I need more practice and experience.
Ive not long bought this boat so im still getting used to how it handles, I bought it in Scotland and I have just arrived back in Liverpool - This happened in Liverpool Marina. Nothing was damaged but I almost hit the finger side on. We arrived just as the sunset as we had 13 hours from the IOM to Liverpool and we had just enough daylight..... For our first attempt...
I called through to get my visitor berth a couple of days before, they said VB3. I checked on the map they have on their website and I couldn't see this berth, i called back up and we both checked the map at the same time (Both on the website. same page etc) which she then said it was BI (See image below) then Berth 3. The lock entrance is just on the right-hand side of this. So I thought Great - We can come in do a U-turn and come starboard side too as we have plenty of room.
This all went very smoothly. No issues at this point, We just put all the lines on and then the lock keeper said we were in the wrong berth, It was all the way to the other end. So now im a little unprepared as to where im going. We took the lines off and made our way to the end, Turns out it's BB3.
There is a gap in the building where the car park is and we only had a slight breeze but enough to slide the boat. It seemed very tight to turn into this bay due to other obstructions. Also by now, it's about half 9 at night so it's getting very dark.
This is what happened:
I attempted to do the same as before, come around and do a U-turn, but the breeze slid the boat over towards 5, i put it in reverse but the prop walk kicked the bow over more than 5. I tried a couple of times to get it back out but it was too late, luckily we got a fender in the gap and the lock keeper was a great help and managed to keep us off it.
This is how we ended up:
My brother managed to get off on 1 with a line and pulled us in, I managed to throw a line over a cleat and pull the boat in. So now we are in.
Below in Green is what currently is in the marina, The one I have circled is anchors or something, the fella told me not to get close to this as I was approaching as I was trying to take it wide to do my U-turn. The boats in Green were also in the births just to give you an idea of what I was working with. The blue with the dots in the width, its saying 16m. My boat is 11.4m.
As mentioned above I know it's inexperience but I do need to know how I could have handled this better.
Should I have tried to reverse it like this?
Would the bow come across in time with the wind? As mentioned it wasn't much, about 8-10kts.
I spoke with Liverpool Marina on the confusion with berths, the fella said he will speak to someone to get the Map updated. I think the original pontoon I went to was the original visitor berth but they are getting work done on it so this is the new one and the map hasn't been updated.
Any help or suggestion you may have would be greatly appreciated.