does anyone reverse into marina berths?

Burnham Bob

Burnham Bob

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The prop walk on my boat is quite pronounced. Recent PBO articles often advise reversing in to difficult moorings such as hammerheads etc. Once you get underway with a flow over the rudder you can steer okay , and they say that a boat in reverse in more amenable to forward motion if you're going too quickly and just blip the throttle.

Getting out of a berth would be easier going forward, so bearing in mind that getting going in reverse would be quite easy in the marina entrance, why not back into a berth?

After all we think nothing of reversing a car in. What's the forum's views?
 
Burnham Bob said:
The prop walk on my boat is quite pronounced. Recent PBO articles often advise reversing in to difficult moorings such as hammerheads etc. Once you get underway with a flow over the rudder you can steer okay , and they say that a boat in reverse in more amenable to forward motion if you're going too quickly and just blip the throttle.

Getting out of a berth would be easier going forward, so bearing in mind that getting going in reverse would be quite easy in the marina entrance, why not back into a berth?

After all we think nothing of reversing a car in. What's the forum's views?
Click to expand...

Its all about confidence i would say. if its practicle i allways reverse, i have an over powered boat and my prop walk is rather strong, however i allways use it to my advantage, and having such a strong prop walk is great in close quarters, i can spin my 38 footer around on the spot with ease. downside is i need to go in reverse at a min speed of 1 kn in order to retain stearing, but this is not normally a problem.
 
My boat steers like a super market shopping trolley with one duff wheel when going astern..Prop walk..Ha!Ha! well it depends whether it's a Wednesday in a leap year or not and if Venus is in the ascent, as to whether prop walk is evident when I need it.
I usually close my eyes, select one third revs and aim bow first for the gap..:D :D :D
 
Definitely NOT with a long keel. It is bad enough backing out a short way into a wide area, reversing into a narrow berth would be very dodgy.
 
marina berthing in reverse with a Hanse 43 was a complete nightmare until I got a Max prop. Being able to stop quickly makes all the difference. That. plus practice of course.
 
Where you won't bump into anything?

Watch out for reversing downwind. In most boats there will be a tendency for the bows to blow off the wind (turn away from the wind). To overcome this usually requires a higher speed to maintain steerage.

Why not consider practising in open water?
 
Most fin keel / spade rudder boats are fine in reverse once you get going... I do it all the time... no issues... but long keel boats I wouldnt want to!

Advantage of going in backwards is that if you need to change your mind and escape... then that is easier still..
 
Burnham Bob said:
The prop walk on my boat is quite pronounced. Recent PBO articles often advise reversing in to difficult moorings such as hammerheads etc. Once you get underway with a flow over the rudder you can steer okay , and they say that a boat in reverse in more amenable to forward motion if you're going too quickly and just blip the throttle.

Getting out of a berth would be easier going forward, so bearing in mind that getting going in reverse would be quite easy in the marina entrance, why not back into a berth?

After all we think nothing of reversing a car in. What's the forum's views?
Click to expand...

I've got a long keel,and I try to do it when I can.,but only with light wind and without another boat in the same "pen" .Makes life easier leaving!:cool:
High bow,Duogen on the blunt end,loads of windage ,BIG engine---

Illustration attached!
 
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Ubergeekian said:
Long keel, small engine, high bows, windvane dangling off the back ... erm, no, I don't think so.
Click to expand...

Despite having a similar setup, my priority is comfort - I tie up with the bow pointed towards the prevailing wind, irrespective of how I get in to the berth.

Alisdair
 
Occasionally used to do it when we were in Wooverstone, where the tidal stream under the walkways, and into the pen was so strong at certain states of the tide the only way to keep any control was to reverse in. You never actually engaged reverse, it was more of a ferry glide. What I should have done was top-line a warp off a cleat on the end of the finger opposite and backed in by paying that off.

After a couple of times doing this scary maneuver we starting timing our entry to avoid the strongest flows.
 
Although there may be occasions when it is desirable, it seems to be something that beginners are taught to do on their courses and continue to do whatever the conditions. I regularly see alarming manoeuvres with people determined to reverse into berths, and not a few ending in tears.
 
I often reverse into my berth as I think it evens things up a bit not to always have the fenders and UV working on the same side and it is easier to wash down the hull and perform other mantainance tasks from the pontoon. However, I have a spade rudder and the boat is quite controlable in reverse and goes more or less where she is pointed. The main things to watch for is that the centre of pivot will be behind you so the bows tend to move sideways rather than the stern, and not to be over cautious and go too slow and loose steerage way.
 
Always..... except in a blow and when the berth is so tight that pointed end is easier. Confidence and practice is the thing, once moving the flow over the rudder will be considerable to tight hold of wheel ( or tiller of course), take revs off once moving and keep momentum up until heading for the berth then into neutral then a last bust of ahead to stop adjacent to the finger. Occasionally misjudge it or someone pulls out in front of you to give you a scare. simply burst of ahead and motor out for next attempt.
Practice will tell you if it is too blowy or current is too strong no points for hitting anything so dont try it.... go in bows first.

good luck
 
Yes almost always. The marina don't like me parking with the long pointy thing at the pavement end of the berth.

However, with a long keel, steering in reverse is pretty non existant. The wind will blow the bows off. So what we do, in the absence of a bow thruster is to attach a line to the bow around the post at the end of the berth on the windward side. Then reverse a bit, tighten the line, and then when getting a bit close to the leward side of the berth, give a jab of forward thrust, using the propwash over the rudder to push the stern to where it needs to go and let the line pull the bows around. Then bit by bit we can get in and parked without scratching anybodies paint - just takes a while.

We always end up with a big audience when doing this who all seem to go away disapointed afterwards:)
 
I like to reverse in, much easier for stepping on and off. But with twin rudders and a long drop keel and no prop wash, escaping again is a lottery. If I go for high acceleration straight so that the rudders can get a bite at 2 knots plus, I am running out of space on the opposite side of the aisle to turn, so I sometimes end up backward and forward zig zagging down the aisle until I can make the turn fully.
I must try tying the bow to the end of the pontoon and waiting for it to pull me round, that might work if the crew is on the ball.
 
Yes, we've always done it with our single screw Nimbus - the bow thruster is a big help of course.

Moreover our fellow same bay neighbour - also a Nimbus owner, likewise backs in. So much easier for us both to board, after all the entrance is at the stern.

I assume a doddle with a twin screw of course, and a fly bridge even better to provide the clear view.
 
Yep, reverse in. However, my problem is that I need about one & a half boat lengths to get steerage astern & the gap between pontoons is about one & a quarter :eek:
There is a fair amount of guesswork & bravery involved :D
 
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