Getting off a pontoon finger berth solo - with wind blowing off

[jimi]

A side wind is good for me;-) cos it helps turn the boat when i leave the berth as the bow has a lot of windage (38ft no bowthruster). I tend to moor stern to and the problem for me when leaving the berth with a strong wind behind is getting the bow to turn in a narrowish aisle . With crew i can put a slip on the bow and the friction when slipping helps the bow come round, Solo, its an issue I have'nt had to deal with yet, but suspect it will involve the midships cleat, a slip,lots of fenders, a critical audience and fast footwork!

 

[Neil_Y]

I have a made-up line with a loop at one end to cow hitch onto the midships cleat. At the other end is a large loop stiffened with plastic tube which I drop over the cleat near the end of the pontoon on my approach.

When leaving I rig the line and motor against it while I remove the other warps. When I'm ready to go I knock the engine briefly into neutral, lift the stiffened loop off the pontoon cleat with the boathook as the tension comes off the line, and reverse out.

Exactly my method

 

[Sniper]

just fender up, release your lines and blast straight out with confidence.

as I know you also have a Twister, I can recognise this as ‘tongue in cheek’. The idea that you can blast straight out with confidence going astern is a dead give away!

 

[dunedin]

Yes its a Maxpower thruster and matching remote, as I recall it was not cheap, but still good as new after 10 years. Justified to myself knowing I would be single handing in & out of marinas & wanted to keep stress down, its got me out of several scrapes.

Thanks, I will research that remote control option, though as you say the prices (only found USD so far) for the branded solution are quite steep. But definitely want it to be very dependable

 

[dunedin]

4. If the wind is up, momentum is you friend. Ask the bowman (or wife ?‍) to pull in the bow just before departure to create a bit of momentum towards the pontoon (to be honest I usually do this bit with her).​

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Thanks. Useful generic points, but think you missed the key bit about doing it solo ! ​

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It’s one of these things like fitting a very long shelf to a wall, much easier to do with an extra person, but the challenge was when blowing off and no other person available.​

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[dunedin]

To be in the cockpit whilst releasing the bow line and backing out ,with a strong wind tending to blow you on to the neighbour,particularly the bow, I maintain a small dyneema line running taut along the jetty.A small diameter bow line is passed through a block on a stainless snap hook which slides freely on the jetty line.The bow line is long enough to reach the cockpit but short of the prop .The line is held until the jetty is nearly cleared and then allowed to run thro ,as is the shorter stern line.The bow line is retrieved when clear.Yes ,a line in the water but it works.

Another great idea. I noticed a similar approach is often used in the Baltic box moorings, where on a home berth they often rig a line from the pontoon to the posts and attach the bow line to a pulley or eye which slides back, keeping the bow in control till exited the posts (solo berthing / leaving Baltic box moorings, there is another whole thread - though definitely getting a bow thruster remote before going back there !).

 

[dunedin]

Get a crew, or get a boat appropriate to your staffing budget?

That’s a bit unfair on the boat. Not sure there is any boat bigger than around 24 feet (other than one with both bow and stern thrusters, aka gin palace) which won’t blow to leeward slightly in time taken to walk from bow to stern and will then reliably reverse astern. Can you name one? Certainly would rule out every long keeler. So not a boat issue methinks.

But I am still a learner. Compared to some of the experts on this forum I have barely got a half century of boating experience. And yes most of my 30k or so miles have been done with crew. Can’t have done more than about 3k miles solo, and as prefer anchor or moorings, probably less than 100 solo pontoon berthings. So keen to learn.

 

[dunedin]

So Neptune’s solution of course was to go sailing when the wind is Northerly, blowing onto the pontoon. Tis a dawdle!

Then walking in the hills above a lovely remote loch mooring, and reflecting on all of these ideas I had a Eureka moment!

So this is needed for a home berth, where I can leave a short rope on the pontoon. Going back to my original mad idea of using charges to “blow” the ropes simultaneously from the helm, I realised something similar is possible (and safer, without pyrotechnics!).
I already have short “final departure” ropes at bow and stern, with loops in the end. Instead of looping over the cleats, I can thread the loops through the holes in the middle of the cleats - then insert short “spike” to hold them. Bit of light string back to the spinnaker blocks and we have a potential ideal solution. When ready, a quick tug and the very short ropes drop clear (and too short to reach any props). The release / trip string and “spike” is safely inside toenail and can’t fall in the water - can store at leisure when left the marina (unlike the scary long lengths of rope to handle solo in the video example).

Could also use the suggestion above of a dyneema rope between two cleats, to create a better location for a single mid breast rope to use prior to departure (as the pontoon cleats are not ideally situated). Creating an eye right beside the mid cleat on the boat, a single tight rope would hold position entirely, and one tug on the trip line and off we go.
What could possibly go wrong

 

[TernVI]

I wasn't being entirely serious, but there are berthing situations which are really not compatible with retirement age singlehanders and medium sized boats with poor control astern, no bow thruster etc.

I don't like the way some people assume it's Ok to fall onto other people's boats and scrape your way in and out of berths, so long as you've got a few fenders out. I used to have a slight reputation for 'knowing my rights' racing around the cans, this did far less damage to my gel coat than I got from inept people 'cruising'.

Back on topic, my approach would be, ensure control of the boat with mooring lines until its maybe part way out of the berth, then use a line to control the turn of the boat as you leave. It's easy to move the boat back so the midships cleat is on the end of the finger, beyond that you need to know how the boat will respond. Can you take a line from anywhere which will do what's needed?
If you can't do it under control, don't do it.

 

[doug748]

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Thanks. Useful generic points, but think you missed the key bit about doing it solo ! ​

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It’s one of these things like fitting a very long shelf to a wall, much easier to do with an extra person, but the challenge was when blowing off and no other person available.​

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I think, solo, you really need to have the motor actually running in reverse, before you let go. With a brisk wind any switching from forward to reverse can be too slow, esp if prop kick is against you as well

Reversing against a stern bridle lets you do this (to be fair I think this is one of dom's tactics as well) but I would not trust it in gusty conditions. Making the bridle off short on the quarter means you can detach quickly with only a short length of line streaming forwards as you depart, bullet like, with steerage courtesy of the prop stream.

To be fair, when I had to do this last week, I didn't. Much easier to ask a neighbour to hold up the bow till I was nearly out, then throw the line on the foredeck.
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[dom]

Thanks. Useful generic points, but think you missed the key bit about doing it solo ! ​

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It’s one of these things like fitting a very long shelf to a wall, much easier to do with an extra person, but the challenge was when blowing off and no other person available.​

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For sure there’s a wind and boat size combination above which s/h departure is no longer feasible. But up to say 25kts in the marina and say 50’ should be fine. You will however be confined to a single spring which needs to be in front of the pivot point - most likely the front of the keel. If there’s not a handy cleat then a snatch block can be connected to an aluminium toerail, or any other strongpoint.

Then just proceed as described and I can honestly say that dozens of racing boats move around like this with no probs every w/e. Or if someone friendly is prowling the pontoon one can save the setup faff and ask them to hold a line. Either is cool.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

The situation described suggests to me that reversing in would be miles better. A single stern line on the pontoon cleat, engine in ahead to hold you in. Wheel and throttle is on pontoon side. Bow thruster can control any waywardness if needed. When ready, neutral; bow thruster in if needed; drop the stern line; go.

 

[cherod]

BIG ball fenders on the collision side.

I would have thot that obvious , also how many “ new “ crew , even “ new “ crew positioned along the rail to fend off

 

[Hadenough]

Get a swinging mooring and stop fecking about with string. Of course you will have to learn to row!

And then when you need to come into a berth you have no idea of what to do?

 

[awol]

And then when you need to come into a berth you have no idea of what to do?

Au contraire! If you can stop your boat on a mooring under sail, under engine, cross tide, tide against wind, and any combination I've missed - and pick up the mooring single-handed, a pontoon berth is a dawdle to park in. Getting out again without hitting the downwind boat, that's another thing altogether.