Getting out of a berth

[Daydream believer]

No never entered my head,Really my posts about y quest or in common parlance “journey” are general ramblings about my boat search,I suppose I could not publish but my wandering seem to amuse and the replies help me assemble my thoughts

But you have to admit. Other people's confessionals do cheer one up now & then

 

[Wansworth]

But you have to admit. Other people's confessionals do cheer one up now & then

The downside aboutmomentarily being cheered by someone’s misfortune is guilt of thinking such bad thoughts….??

 

[Daydream believer]

The downside aboutmomentarily being cheered by someone’s misfortune is guilt of thinking such bad thoughts….??

On the contrary. It just makes one feel - shall we say--"superior"

 

[KevinV]

The downside aboutmomentarily being cheered by someone’s misfortune is guilt of thinking such bad thoughts….??

Nope, not following you there at all.

 

[Stemar]

The downside aboutmomentarily being cheered by someone’s misfortune is guilt of thinking such bad thoughts….??

In my case, the guilt is reduced by my knowledge of the number of times I've done something similar. I'll enjoy the schadenfreude, but give the poor bugger a hand if I can, just as I'd want someone to help me when it's my turn.

 

[Wansworth]

On the contrary. It just makes one feel - shall we say--"superior"

Same thing?

 

[Wansworth]

Like sitting on the yacht club veranda watching the commador make a complete pigs ear of mooring up?

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Hey! What about mine!!?

View attachment 143539

Sorry, that's the one I have. Too quick a trigger finger when commenting on the other one, (which, of course I don't have)

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I’m slightly puzzled by the account of the OP’s chap motoring backwards downwind, but I suppose that if the dodgers and sprayhood are that prominent it just might work. Every boat I have had would have twiddled round stern to wind in those conditions. Backing out of a marina alley is something that I have often had to do, especially with my current boat whose saildrive and limited rudder movement limits my ability to power into the wind. I have not cruised with an outboard, but essentially the problems remain the same.

That is puzzling. I must have just glossed over the word "downwind" in the post, assuming that the skipper was doing the most intuitive thing, and reversing upwind. OTOH, perhaps that's a typo on the part of the OP, as, usually there is only one way out of a marina alley, and in a given wind direction there are two alternatives; either motoring upwind or reversing upwind. Perhaps the OP could elucidate?

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I was watching the activities in Yarmouth from the castle with the northerly blowing at weekend and saw a shiny newish X5 about 50 foot neatly backing down into a berth stern to much like a med parking approach- I suspect a delivery crew of 2 on board but they made it look fairly simple even with the wind direction.

Fifty footers, by and large, tend to have bow thrusters.

 

[Daydream believer]

When I first obtained a mooring, I was pleasantly surprised that it was right in front of the sailing club. Albeit in a strong tide & choppy waters.
My thinking was that it was less distance to row Hence, a result
However, I was politely informed that it was so that they could all sit on the balcony on a Sunday, afternoon after racing & just hold bets, as I returned to my mooring
Cost me a fortune in beers, untill I improved.

Then a couple of years later I was informed that mooring No1 ( my one) was the one alloted to the clerk, who was responsible for looking after all the rentals & accounts etc.
So it was all a ploy really.

 

[ChathamSailor]

Most books on marina berthing are fine if you own a fin or bilge keeled AWB. If you have a heavy long keeled, canoe sterned, craft with a pilothouse creating massive windage, and an huge amount of propwash, no book or instructor can really help. Either you will end up on a mooring or get the skill luck mix just right. A very very powerful Bowthruster might help, but most of us end up with one slightly too weak.

 

[Stemar]

ISTM that just as no plan survives first contact with the enemy, no plan survives first entry into the harbour, and the same applies to book knowledge. The ability to have backups without having to think about them and to think on one's feet are capital. Unfortunately, as the old saying goes, the prerequisite for good decisions is experience, and the way to gain experience is bad decisions.

That isn't to say book knowledge is useless. It does give you somewhere to start your bad decisions gaining experience.

 

[Beneteau381]

Don't worry lads, I still make a hash of it myself from time to time.

I felt compelled to give the marina manager in Kinsale a signed copy after one particularly embarrassing incident.

Was backing my Bene in to its berth in Albufeira the other week, my wife was waiting to get off with the spring line through the mid fairlead ready to grab the mid cleat, forward line over the hand line and stern line over the hand line. Drill is wife secures to mid cleat, I can then drive against it if needed and swing the bow around with the rudder with prop wash. A bunch if friends were waiting, so she gave the mid line to one who unknown to me secured it to the forward cleat. A stiff wind was blowing from the port bow side. It all went tits up! I luckily got the stern line to one who was mid ships on the pontoon who then did the classic of trying to use his body to pull the stern in, I was "telling" him to cleat off "now" luckily it got through the haze of adrenalin. Badically my control had gone because the mid spring wasnt where it should have been, all my twiddling and fwd and reverse was in vain. Moral of the story, dont give your lines to friends!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Don’t give your lines to anyone who isn’t boat crew and knows what to do, or has been told. I hate giving my lines to strangers, but they always offer, kindly meant I know.

 

[westhinder]

Don’t give your lines to anyone who isn’t boat crew and knows what to do, or has been told. I hate giving my lines to strangers, but they always offer, kindly meant I know.

Always state clearly what you expect of someone you pass a line to.
When I take someone‘s lines I always ask where they want them. Their manoeuvre, their preference. If I can tell it won’t work, I try to think how to mitigate the consequences.

 

[Wansworth]

Years ago entering Littlehampton on the begining ofthe ebb the engine cut out ,managed to drift to the seawall where a tourist insisted he took my rope,Unfortunatly he had no idea what to do with it so I had to explain how to pass it round the piers balustrade and hand it back……..how many ways can you say that?. Left it to someone else and managed to restart the engine……in the coasting trade we always expected a loony on the quay?

 

[Poignard]

Years ago entering Littlehampton on the begining ofthe ebb the engine cut out ,managed to drift to the seawall where a tourist insisted he took my rope,Unfortunatly he had no idea what to do with it so I had to explain how to pass it round the piers balustrade and hand it back……..how many ways can you say that?. Left it to someone else and managed to restart the engine……in the coasting trade we always expected a loony on the quay?

When I was an engineer in the coasting trade (Coe Metcalfe's) we sometimes had a loony on the bridge.

 

[johnalison]

Years ago entering Littlehampton on the begining ofthe ebb the engine cut out ,managed to drift to the seawall where a tourist insisted he took my rope,Unfortunatly he had no idea what to do with it so I had to explain how to pass it round the piers balustrade and hand it back……..how many ways can you say that?. Left it to someone else and managed to restart the engine……in the coasting trade we always expected a loony on the quay?

I have yet to find a translation into simple English of the phrase "Take a turn".

 

[Poignard]

I have yet to find a translation into simple English of the phrase "Take a turn".

"Wind it round criss-cross please" once worked for me. I knew immediately what I was being asked to do