I found mooring up difficult.

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Warpa

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I found on tickover and a strong wind pushing me towards the shore i couldnt turn in sharp enough. The tide was on its way out and i did wonder if docking in this kind of position is a case of pointing the bow to the end of the jetty and jumping off and pulling the boat in:confused:

Had an enjoyable few hours out in the solent though (little choppy) to go flat out and stay comfortable, but at a steady 20 knotts it felt fine. i was suprised at the number of boaters ignoring the 6 knott limit around the Itchen bridge (especially jet skiiers)

i cant get the link to appear as an image:eek:




http://maps.google.com/maps?q=50.92...50.924089,-1.37878&spn=0.000451,0.001023&z=20
 
ok try this

Warpa said:
I found on tickover and a strong wind pushing me towards the shore i couldnt turn in sharp enough. The tide was on its way out and i did wonder if docking in this kind of position is a case of pointing the bow to the end of the jetty and jumping off and pulling the boat in:confused:

Had an enjoyable few hours out in the solent though (little choppy) to go flat out and stay comfortable, but at a steady 20 knotts it felt fine. i was suprised at the number of boaters ignoring the 6 knott limit around the Itchen bridge (especially jet skiiers)

i cant get the link to appear as an image:eek:









http://maps.google.com/maps?q=50.92...50.924089,-1.37878&spn=0.000451,0.001023&z=20
Click to expand...







You need to go past your berth , turn her round , point her up tide then turn down to berth using load of reverse to stay up tide until ready to berth, use the wind as a brake not an accelerator.
 
powerskipper said:
You need to go past your berth , turn her round , point her up tide then turn down to berth using load of reverse to stay up tide until ready to berth, use the wind as a brake not an accelerator.
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That makes sense :cool: There isnt the space to turn he full circle in there, so would reversing in and past my berth before doing what you say be the alternative option?
 
No doubt Powerskipper will arrive with the real tips in a mo, but while you're waiting;

Turn with the wind/ tide or prop walk helping, ideally all 3, but generally some will be stronger than others. Know which way your boat turns best in open water (prop walk assited). Know how the wind from ahead, astern, or the side affects you when you slow down & almost stop. In fast flowing currents there will be eddies you can use to help you turn. Finally, you can put the bow against the pontoon & turn pivoting on that in your own length.

Just try playing with a few ideas & see how she behaves & then remember them for when you need them. It can be fun to work out a new idea, try it & see what happens, if it doesn't go as you expect, figure out why. Every boat is different, that's part of the fun learning how yours behaves.
 
Do you have a particular reason for wanting to go in bow first (as shown on the Google Earth image)?
If not, I would be tempted to reverse in -- though exactly how it would depend on the characteristics of the boat and the conditions.
 
Looks to be a pretty tight little spot, and with a reasonable tide flow and wind, would make interesting berthing for anyone I would think.
Practice both ways, bow or stern in, as different conditions or the handling characteristics of your boat, may favour one or the other.

Sometimes in small runabouts, a strong gust can grab you and throw your bow around, and if you have the room to allow the swing, just let her go, likely to just 180 deg., and hold the stern to the wind until the gust has passed, as opposed to fighting it.

When approaching the marina, if not sure/confident about the exact effect of a tranverse running tide, wind etc., just hold station out in the river for a moment lining up a fixed object like a pile, then knock it out of gear and watch your movement compared to the pile to gauge what is going on. Just that momentary assessment, will help you counter the elements occurring at that time.
 
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Had an interesting time myself yesterday. Ensigns on surrounding boats were horizontal and the wind was variable in direction, blowing one way and gusting the other.

Single engine sterndrive, planing hull. Bows in to pontoon.

Attempt 1. Down the fairway and turn in to port, wind carries bow past berth finger.

Attempt 2. Reverse, wheel hard over to stb to get her pointing into wind, then forward, go wide to stbd and let wind hopefully push her onto finger.
Wind gusts in opposite direction and pushhes bow towards neighbouring boat.

Attempt 3 panic reverse to avoid striking neighbours boat, then panic forwards to stop hitting boat on other side of fairway, wind carries bow down the fairway again.

Attempt 4. Reverse down the fairway again to get bow into wind, berth neighbour seeing my plight stands at end of finger and grabs the pulpit rail to steady the bow while i put wheel hard over to stbd agin to bring stern into line. Helper then pulls bow into the berth while I keep the stern under control with the drive.

Phew!

Still felt a right clod though.
 
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If it gets potentially ugly attempting a berthing in your designated spot, due to temporary tidal or weather conditions, why not go for a loading/visitors berth on the outside until things abate?
Surely the management wouldn't object if you did the right thing and vacated at slack water etc., instead of dealing with the dramas of a collision?
 
It would probably help for those that dont know what boat i have. its a 1997 version of this http://features.boats.com/boat-content/2003/02/performance-test-maxum-1750-sr-8212-maxum-overdrive/

Same engine and drive etc. I did take her in in reverse at 1st but the spot was too tight to allow enough clearance for the leg from possible damage on the pontoon:eek:

tinkicker0's attempts sound similar to mine:D the panic forwards and panic reverse on my behalf avoided any collision but put the boat way out of the line i wanted. The sharpest turn on my boat is to my right (dont know any of the nautical terms :D ) which is the oppisite side to what i wanted (hense maybe reversing past the pontoon leg then turning in) That way the wind would have been braking my AND pushing my bow around.

The other problem i found was that there is no protection on the pontoon and only two tie points for fenders on my boat which i think is poor:( if there was a nice big rubber protection on the pontoon leg i would have no problem in berthing.
 
Warpa said:
The other problem i found was that there is no protection on the pontoon and only two tie points for fenders on my boat which i think is poor:( if there was a nice big rubber protection on the pontoon leg i would have no problem in berthing.
Click to expand...

Perhaps a rope between the two tie points and then attach the fenders to that? My little Fletcher is similar and although not on a berth, I have to do similar when alongside another vessel. :)
 
Warpa said:
I found on tickover and a strong wind pushing me towards the shore i couldnt turn in sharp enough. The tide was on its way out and i did wonder if docking in this kind of position is a case of pointing the bow to the end of the jetty and jumping off and pulling the boat in:confused:

Had an enjoyable few hours out in the solent though (little choppy) to go flat out and stay comfortable, but at a steady 20 knotts it felt fine. i was suprised at the number of boaters ignoring the 6 knott limit around the Itchen bridge (especially jet skiiers)

i cant get the link to appear as an image:ee

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=50.92...50.924089,-1.37878&spn=0.000451,0.001023&z=20
Click to expand...

Are you not better off reversing into the wind?
 
Berthed at East Cowes yesterday in a fairly strong wind having to turn the boat once in between the pontoons.... got it just right but lots of throttle tweaks to keep control and was aided by a couple of guys off H pontoon who came over without being asked to take the lines (thanks John (owner of 'Whisper' and Terry:cool: Terry talked of the ease in which his boat can be berthed and wouldn't consider trying the same with a single drive mid 20ft boat like mine... he's convinced me to go for bow thrusters in the next boat
 
rbcoomer said:
Perhaps a rope between the two tie points and then attach the fenders to that? My little Fletcher is similar and although not on a berth, I have to do similar when alongside another vessel. :)
Click to expand...


Im already on it:D bought 4 fenders today and 10m of rope. Im going to tie them between the two tie points horizontally, spacing them to cover the length of the pontoon leg im on (with a knot btween each to stop them sliding)
 
davo99 said:
Just as a matter of interest, and slightly OT, how does the guy berthed stern to in the corner of 'u' shaped berth in the bottom of the pic get out?
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He doesnt get out, a lot of boats down there are being worked on, as in being worked on for years and seem to deteriorate quicker than r:eek:ejuvinate
 
mm reversing down wind

Warpa said:
I would have been better of reversing down with the wind then turning into the berth spot against the wind me thinks now.
Click to expand...

very difficult to control a boat reversing down wind with a cross tide, if the wind is stronger and the bow breaks one way or other and the wind gets hold of it you will be sideways to the wind very quickly, and that can be difficult to recover from.

reversing into the wind is ok, it helps.
 
powerskipper said:
very difficult to control a boat reversing down wind with a cross tide, if the wind is stronger and the bow breaks one way or other and the wind gets hold of it you will be sideways to the wind very quickly, and that can be difficult to recover from.

reversing into the wind is ok, it helps.
Click to expand...

:confused: But you said to go forward into the wind so it acts as a break, there is only one way in, so no way to use the wind to my advantage unless i am past my pontoon finger :confused:
 
yup

Warpa said:
:confused: But you said to go forward into the wind so it acts as a break, there is only one way in, so no way to use the wind to my advantage unless i am past my pontoon finger :confused:
Click to expand...

your berth would be easya to go into in the coditions you describe in reverse. Drive in fairway go past your berth and then reverse up wind and into your berth flicking the bow up against the wind to break it.


to go in forward, you will have to go down fairway forward, but start the turn into your berth at the first available chance, and keep the bow pointing at the boat up wind from your berth, keep the bow pointing at that boat untill the stern is a little down wind from your berth and then push upwind and into the berth.

or

to go in forward, you will have to go down fairway forward, but start the turn into your berth at the first available chance and push the boat into the berth aiming to park again the boat next to you or the middle of the berth, the wind will push you down onto your pontoon.


Hope this helps, I am much better verbally explaining things than by the writen word I am afraid.
 
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