Do you offer to take lines?

[Nina Lucia]

We always offer to help, and I really appreciate when somebody take our line or stop the bow whacking straight into pontoon

 

[Angele]

[snip]

We sail a moderately large boat two up and our first line ashore is nearly always a mid ships line which is rigged as a spring and we motor against it to hold us alongside while we sort the lines fore and aft out. The real problem is that the average 'line taker' doesn't have a clue about this technique. They invariably want to take the line forward and you have to gently and then sometimes firmly tell them which cleat to put it on PLEASE. It's often much easier to ask them to hold the bow while we sort things out...

[snip]

When shorthanded, my preferred approach is the same, with a large loop tied in the spring that my crew member drops over the cleat at the end of the pontoon, using the assistance of the boathook to do so. Then, when the line comes tight I am held beautifully against the finger as I sort out bow and stern lines.

I have not yet had anyone daft enough to try to take the line off the boathook and try to do something else with it, but I guess it will happen one day. To reduce that possibility, however, I always rig the bow line so that any potential helper can grab it whilst stood on the pontoon and provide assistance. Sometimes they do so and tie it off helpfully, sometimes (as happened on the Saturday just gone when someone tried to make it into another spring) they do not. I thank them either way.

I DON'T offer to help!
I just go and hold their bow so they can tie up how they wish.

The problem with doing that with my preferred shorthanded berthing manoeuvre is that I need the spring to come tight and for the bow to pin itself against the finger in order to bring my stern in (at least until I have made off the other lines). The good news is that your pushing my bows away from the pontoon won't succeed against my donk in forward gear with 2000+ revs and 10 tonnes of boat. My boat will win every time.

I would still thank you though ......

 

[JSYmartini]

That is not my experience. Instead of tying the boat up for me once i've stopped it they invariably have a burning desire to do it the other way around. Not just yotties used to the vaguaries of folding props either.
I can't see the cleats from the helm, so the boat just does something I'm not expecting when a line goes tight. And without knowing where the line is it's hard to know how to react to put it right.
If there is a shore helper, my crew know not to throw the line until I have stopped the boat. Unless of course there is an exceptional circumstance.

Been there, done that! Here's a video of me fighting loads of wind and even more tide to get alongside. I thought my crew attached a spring to midships so I went ahead to pin it alongside, what happened next was not what I expected and 2 seconds later its all gone horribly wrong! Not helped of course by the fact that a couple of yards down tide is a £9m tug with crew stood on deck laughing and videoing me!

 

[prv]

I thought my crew attached a spring to midships so I went ahead to pin it alongside, what happened next was not what I expected and 2 seconds later its all gone horribly wrong!

Plus, when he does go to release the stern, he chucks the line in the water in disgust, ready to catch round your prop

Pete

 

[JSYmartini]

Hadn't noticed that before, was a bit of a stroppy throw!

 

[mcframe]

I must admt that there are times when, for whatever reason, I don't want others taking my lines and I do find it difficult to decline the offer without feeling that I'm being rude or churlish. I certainly don't mean it that way; an offer is always appreciated.

"Thanks for offering to help, let me see if I can get it right first time; if I cock up, I'd appreciate your help second time round."

 

[mcframe]

The single handed sailors nearly always appreciate a hand.

Singlehanders will always have APlan, so are most likely to appreciate a nonchalant single hand (your pipe/gin/beer in the other) steadying a shroud, while they get on with TheMooringPlan

 

[davidpbo]

We usually offer to take lines and try and stop errant bits of the boat getting damaged or causing damage. In the absence of instruction to the contrary I will tie them off so the boat is parallel to the Quay/Pontoon close enough for people to get on and off then usually leave them to sort out the detail.

 

[nortada]

We usually offer to take lines and try and stop errant bits of the boat getting damaged or causing damage. In the absence of instruction to the contrary I will tie them off so the boat is parallel to the Quay/Pontoon close enough for people to get on and off then usually leave them to sort out the detail.

+1