Ever done this?

[Twister_Ken]

 

[Aardee]

Looks like one of those that's great in theory...

 

[AIDY]

No... It's normally blowing hard and if i'm at that angle to get the boat in it's gone very pearshaped.

 

[beancounter]

Looks good, but a bit tricky on the short finger pontoons found in a lot of marinas, where the adjoining boats will be overhanging by a good few feet...

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

There is not enough space in my berth for the stern to swing round like that if my neighbour is present.....

Nice theory though

 

[Seven Spades]

I have never seen a finger long enough for that.

 

[chrisc]

I would have headed into wind and allowed the boat to be blown in.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

But many boats would weather cock if you did that, and get themselves in a right old pickle...

 

[Victorious]

Fingers that are as long as the boats in the berths?.....It is a novel idea

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

It could be a more useful trick for when the wind is blowing in the complete opposite direction, and you want to go in stern first for some reason, and probably a bit easier too

 

[john_morris_uk]

I agree. Why on earth would you make life complicated for yourself? Going in bow first, the bow will weathcock in the direction you want to go in. Fenders both sides if you want some insurance if it goes to rats and get a spring and a stern line on sharpish.

 

[silver-fox]

I have done it several times - but never deliberately /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[dom]

Boring

Allow the stern to seek the wind and under control slide onto the finger. Not forgetting that whilst manouvering ..... yawn /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I think it is a great idea. How about using a mizzen sail and a storm jib to balance on the finger end then take down the jib? You could do it without an engine?

 

[graham]

Most boats would end up scraping paint/gelcoat all the way around the corner of the finger.Maybe pontoons are more user friendly in the USA?

 

[tome]

There's barely room for a fender tween us and our neighbour, no way would this work in any MDL marina

 

[claymore]

Oh we do that every time - though I see they suggest using the engine .

 

[dom]

What are those big black dots at the end of the pontoon? If they are non marking oversize fenders that is a really good idea.

How many people - if propkick is onto the pontoon - have not ever damaged gel coat when leaving a leeward pontoon? I have.

 

[Sans Bateau]

What is more likely to happen is, boat arrives at end of pontoon ( assumes here that pontoon is long enough), get warps on, then, oh bugger! the wind has blown the bow onto the stern of the boat in the next berth! Try to reverse, damage to safety gear/wind steering gear on other boat, scratches down the side of 'our' boat, lots of swearing, shouting at crew, people watching, having a right old laugh!

 

[johnalison]

My boat (saildrive) weathercocks and it's much easier to approach downwind, in fact, I prefer it to a windward approach as I can control my speed with reverse gear and hold it in idle as we tie up.

 

[FullCircle]

We have red mooring lines on FC, but they are not self positioning like those in the example.
Does anyone know where I can buy this Intelli-Moor system? I presume this is the latest enhancement of Chartplotter driven aids?
I think it is a splendid idea not to have any fenders out on the port side in this example. With the savings made on fenders, I can afford a bigger BBQ to hang on the stern rail.

I also note from the example, that the transom hung rudder appears to impact the pontoon across the stern. Is this part of the intention, or do you think they do that to assist wedging the boat in position while the Intelli-Moor alters the lines?