Get out of this .... marina berth.

[BlueSkyNick]

SWMBO was out all day and it occured to me to go out single handed .... well with Dave the Dog as well. As it happens gusts up to 25kts put me off, and I had better things to do while the forum was down.

I got as far as thinking about how to get the boat out of our berth. It is port side to, bows in, heading almost SE. Next door (only 2 feet away) is a 48foot Grand Banks of which the owner is mighty careful. It overhangs his pontoon finger, by about 4 feet, with the anchor most prominent.

Normally I can slip out astern, take off power and turn the stern to starboard so the bow swings round in the direction I want to go ( ie to NE). Or I can use the prop kick to port, once the bow is clear of the neighbour, and leave the fairway backwards. I can also use the wind to help me turn - there is approx one and a half boat lengths back to the row of boats on the next pontoon.

Today the wind has been NW'ly, ie straight onto my stern. So it would have been very difficult to get the bow to swing through the wind either way - I have no bow thruster.

What does the panel think?

 

[Boat44]

Any tide go through your mooring?

If just wind, (and assuming I have the correct picture in my head), stern into the wind, reverse out, use the prop walk and motor out in reverse. With wind on the beam the bow will have a tendancy to fall away, but the stern won't due to the rudder and position of the prop.

Standing to be corrected!

 

[graham]

With 1 and a half boat lengths to play in you could have backed up until 10 feet from boat astern then used prop walk to gradually move out sideways.Engine dead slow astern or neutral just enough power to overcome the wind . Doubt you would safely get enough way on for the bow to follow the same track as the stern.

PS Which is much the same as boat44 s reply now I have read it :grin:

 

[Blue5]

Here you go Nick, all you need to know with graphics as well

http://www.cruising.sailingcourse.com/docking.htm

:smirk:

 

[jimi]

go out the berth full speed astern, rudder middle, halfway out berth , spin wheel hardover to reverse out fairway, eas throttle (even if have to spin hardover the other way and apply full throttle in forward momentarily to straighten up. In these circumstance I find treating the throttle and rudder as on/of switches rather than poncing around rtends to work well.

 

[robp]

Nick if she handles like my CC with high topsides, (except mine kicks to stbd). The wind will not influence the astern movement, so hard astern using both prop walk and steering to get the turn on to port when you're able to clear the bow. Or the bow may not come round into the wind. You need to be near the opposite row so as not to be blown back beam on before getting way on astern, so hope the gearbox doesn't play up. The prop walk will want to take you back to your neighbours with the wind assisting! Is there enough room to take her forwards then to straighten up and keep off your neighbours and that gert big anchor?
Sound any good?

 

[rwoofer]

Nick, with my old M44 I would have done pretty much what Jimi described. I know yours is shoal draft, so may not respond quite as well, but with a NW wind at worst case you can hold position indefinitely whilst you figure out some kind of back/forwards shuffle to get out.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

thanks all, I had been thinking about the back/forwards shuffle depending on how it worked out. The last thing I wanted was to be pinned alongside the ends of three other boats!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Warp her out, with lines to boats or pontoons on t'other side. Get one of the dockies to cast you off when you've got her where you want her.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

In our old boatd/old berth with similar geometrics, we used to tie a line to 1/3rd of the way from the stern... reverse out and use the warp to take the bow around, then slip it...

 

[Ubergeekian]

Warp her out, with lines to boats or pontoons on t'other side. Get one of the dockies to cast you off when you've got her where you want her.

Totally agree, though I'd forget the dockies and use lines there and back which can be pulled through when not needed. It's amazing the contortions people will go through - and the damage they'll do - trying to leave berths under power. Just because you've got an engine doesn't mean you have to use it!

 

[Heckler]

Jimi
tend to agree, big burst of power to get her moving, out of gear to lose the prop kick, as you say use it as an on off switch.
Stu

 

[pyrojames]

There speaks a longkeel owner. I completely agree, using warps to get out, works very well and keeps everything nicely under control.

 

[rwoofer]

Problem is that OP said singlehanded. Having owned a sistership, warping out was the option of last resort when singlehanded. I always found it less risky to execute a finely judged manoevre.

Current boat is much smaller and lighter and therefore I'm much more comfortable relying on highwaymans hitch to release warps.

 

[Twister_Ken]

"Having owned a sistership, warping out was the option of last resort when singlehanded."

That's why I suggested having a dockie around to cast off the lines.

 

[jhr]

<<That's why I suggested having a dockie around to cast off the lines.>>

I expect they charge extra for that at LYH!

 

[BlueSkyNick]

You guys are having a laugh.

Gap between the end of my pontoon finger and those across the fairway is probably 70ft min. warp there and back would be 50m+ - would need to get the dinghy out just to rig it! Then recover it all to the boat while getting plenty of way on to avoid drift - a recipe for a prop wrap. Pulling round 15tons of boat with high free board, turning into 15-20kts of wind ? Yeah right !!

Dockies are nowhere to be seen on the pontoons. All too busy hoisting boats in and out at high fees. Pretty young ladies behind the desk wouldn't want to damage their nails, and if I could get them down to the boat I wouldnt bother to go out sailing !!

I'll stick with the engine - it's there to do the work, so might as well use it.

 

[Bilgediver]

I'll stick with the engine - it's there to do the work, so might as well use it.
*************************************************

I don t take my warp to the other side.....I run it from the cockpit down the offside of the boat to the main pontoon and drive against it in astern. Can take some power if the wind is strong even with 5 tons but better than nothing and helps keep me of the leeward boats on their fingers.

My propwalk goes the wrong way though sometimes I just go for it in astern and as the boat swings through 90 degrees and the rudder becomes effective(2/3) knots straighten out and leave the marina in astern.We have a few 40 footers that do like wise. This gets hairy with a dirty prop as then the prop walk seems to get worse.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Did I suggest doubling (=50 metres)?

If the wind is blowing from the boats across the way, float a line down on a fender, not a tender.

I've never had difficulty asking a dockie for help - after all if they don't provide it when requested and you subsequently tonk a neighbour, they could find themselves in front of the boss's desk. Generally, they're only too happy to have an excuse to get out of the office (unless it's raining). Especially if there's a tenner on the end of it.