juggling unfixed Outboard and tiller singlehanded in Tight Quaters Marina Berthing

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thesaintlyone

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So finally got Josam my little Westerly Jouster 21 Launched on Friday supported by a friendly fellow boatie from the yard and moved it it to Gillingham Marina Tidal Basin All went fine and nothing leaks.

Moved the boat from the tidal to main marina after negotiations and was supported by an inexperienced friend again went well very little wind in the marina so all okay.

Today tried to take the boat out alone and the wind had picked up and I found myself struggling to juggle the outboard which has no fixed position and the tiller and couldn't control the the movement of the boat at slow speeds and found myself drifting inside the marina with the bow being pushed by the wind so didn't even attempt to leave fortunately I got the chance to help crew on a lovely Mirage 28 for a few hours and got some pointers. but I'm still struggling with having to juggle both the unfixed Johnson 8hp seahorse outboard and the tiller.

Any suggestions???
 
First question is WHY is the OB "unfixed"

Normally you can adjust a screw and have it anything between locked solid, and completely loose. Mine is set to "stiff" so it stays where you put it, but you can move it.

For going forwards, I leave the OB pointing straight ahead and just steer with the tiller. for going astern, the tiller doesn't do much on my boat, so I steer by vectoring the OB and tiller together and can steer a tight course out of my "cosy" berth in the harbour.

Last trip out it was windy on my return and you have to be bold and do for it. the wind was pushing me towards my berth and if approached to slow in that condition you would end up goind sideways, so you have to be bold and go a little faster than you might in calm weather. It's all down to practice.
 
There will be an adjuster, usually a friction screw so you can lock it straight ahead. As suggested tighten it enough so that it holds straight in ahead, but loose enough so that you can vector it in astern. You will soon get the hang of it, but it is not ideal, and once you move up to your Longbow with a good inboard you will appreciate how much better it is!
 
The friction adjuster will probably look like a wingnut on a collar nor far below the engine head, which may well be why you haven't spotted it.

Rather than juggling vectoring the engine and pointing the rudder, unless getting astern out of extremely tight spots requiring an instanst sideways pull I find it best to leave the engine locked straight fore & aft, then select engine aft; as soon as you have a tiny bit of astern speed & flow over the rudder the boat will go where you point her, very accurately.

In fact if approaching upwind berths or moorings this can be the way to go - as you know, the bows usually blow downwind so going into it stern first can make sense ( wiyh a long line - if at all possible try it a few times on buoys around the harbour first

If going astern keep the speed down to 2-3 knots or the flow will snatch the tiller out of your hand.

As well as the swivel friction wingnut / adjuster, also ensure the motor downlock pin is in; this should be a long thin horizontal pin with a drop-noxe end, which engages in the pivotted lifting clamp of the engine preventng it from kicking up uselessly when engaging astern gear.
 
The Tohatsu 6hp sailpro can't be locked. It has an adjustment screw but at it's tightest it still doesn't lock it. It's especially strange given the purpose of the model.
 
Sounds like you need to lash the tiller of the outboard in a central position, maybe with bungee in case you want to vector astern. I can imagine single handed is very awkward in the situation you describe.
 
Working the two tillers (boat and outboard) together is an essential Jouster skill which makes manouvering spectacularly easy. You do need to have some way of fixing the outboard in position, though. Not dead ahead, but turned slightly outwards to counteract the turning effect of the offset prop.
 
FairweatherDave said:
Sounds like you need to lash the tiller of the outboard in a central position, maybe with bungee in case you want to vector astern. I can imagine single handed is very awkward in the situation you describe.
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Make sure you secure the outboard exactly fore and aft. Many years ago some friends and I chartered identical Beneteau's in the Ionian which had an outboard in a well but steered with a tiller. Once we set off we noticed that our boat was crabbing sidewards slightly because the outboard was slightly offset although the offset was not visible by eye.

During the course of that holiday we had to refill the supplied 20 litre fuel tank twice. Our friends in convoy did not even use the first 20 litres. :ambivalence:

If you sense any crabbing, you need to re-adjust.

Richard
 
RichardS said:
Make sure you secure the outboard exactly fore and aft. Many years ago some friends and I chartered identical Beneteau's in the Ionian which had an outboard in a well but steered with a tiller. Once we set off we noticed that our boat was crabbing sidewards slightly because the outboard was slightly offset although the offset was not visible by eye.

During the course of that holiday we had to refill the supplied 20 litre fuel tank twice. Our friends in convoy did not even use the first 20 litres. :ambivalence:

Richard
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That will not work with an offset outboard on the transom as the OP has. Jumbleduck has it right - you need the outboard locked slightly offset when going forward. Equally going astern the rudder is pretty useless as there is no prop wash over it, so using the outboard to vector is the correct way to get effective steerage.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Working the two tillers (boat and outboard) together is an essential Jouster skill which makes manouvering spectacularly easy. You do need to have some way of fixing the outboard in position, though. Not dead ahead, but turned slightly outwards to counteract the turning effect of the offset prop.
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This is what I have done with our Wayfarer and previously a Lugger. Don't know the layout of the Jouster. However if the tiller of the outboard is simply too short to reach I slip 2-3ft of plastic waste pipe over the tiller as a cheap extension.
 
RichardS said:
What will not work? Stopping the boat crabbing? That's a strange view as I would have thought that crabbing was never a good thing, especially on a keel boat ........

Richard
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You described a boat with an outboard in a well. That is not what the OP has. jumbleduck has the same boat and he correctly said that the outboard has to be locked just off centre. It was the same on my Seawych. This avoids crabbing which you might get if you locked an offset outboard straight.
 
Tranona said:
You described a boat with an outboard in a well. That is not what the OP has. jumbleduck has the same boat and he correctly said that the outboard has to be locked just off centre. It was the same on my Seawych. This avoids crabbing which you might get if you locked an offset outboard straight.
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Which is exactly why I said "If you sense any crabbing, you need to re-adjust." :confused:

But never mind, as we seem to be in agreement after all.

Richard
 
Ok there seems to be a screw tho it doesnt lock tight but rather outboards needs a slight push to move side to side what side should I allow for the offset.
 
Tranona said:
That will not work with an offset outboard on the transom as the OP has. Jumbleduck has it right - you need the outboard locked slightly offset when going forward. Equally going astern the rudder is pretty useless as there is no prop wash over it, so using the outboard to vector is the correct way to get effective steerage.
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It's very boat specific, but I find the same with my offset OB and vectoring the motor is the way to steer it astern.
 
Used to have a Hunter Horizon 23 with a Suzuki 2.5HP for manoeuvring. It had an adjuster screw, but it never went tight enough to stop it moving and would always slowly turn itself. I used to solve it by securing a mooring line to the outboard's tiller and tying to it to a cleat to stop it moving. Not ideal.

That boat was always horrible to handle in a marina. Very glad my current boat has an inboard diesel, fin keel and direct drive prop right in front of the rudder.
 
thesaintlyone said:
Ok there seems to be a screw tho it doesnt lock tight but rather outboards needs a slight push to move side to side what side should I allow for the offset.
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Slightly away from the centre line, in my experience. The offset prop tries to push the boat round to the other side; you want to angle the thrust to push it back again. Just tweak it until the tiller is dead centre for a straight course.
 
So tried again today had a little help from my neighbor. So all good took account of the wind and factored it in with my wide arc turn in to the berth and straight in. apparently the wind was my bigger issue which makes sense as I originally couldnt figure out why the boat wasnt reacting to either tiller which was the wind pushing away the bow

Many thanks
 
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