Loosing Confidence

Nope, trim tabs are moved both fully up, legs are trimmed fully in as I enter the marina ready for leaving the boat (someone told me you have to leave the legs fully trimmed in when leaving the boat or barnacles grow on the rams and can wreck the seals when you next try tilting the legs - could be an old wives tale for all i know, so don't laugh if its a load of nonsense)

I think to be honest, its just me.. hopeless.

Im determined to get better though - I always just go out again and have another go when it all goes wrong, no rush, doesn't matter how long it takes.. as long as no ones trying to sleep nearby that is.. the fact that it takes a few hours and about 40 gallons of juice is fine :D
 
mickyb, does it always steer to one side in reverse? If so, it's just possible your drives aren't counter rotating, maybe the boat has had a new engine/drive at some point. It's unlikely, but then you shouldn't be having that much trouble on a 30' sport cruiser, especially if you're a pilot in real life.

Also, are you just using short blips in gear, then out again? When i'm berthing, on shafts or outdrives, the engines are seldom in gear for more than 2 or 3 seconds at a time, more often 1 second.

Finally, do you have a helm indicator? This makes it much easier to reverse outdrive boats, as you know which way the outdrives are pointing.
 
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The sheer number of replies shows what a hot topic mooring is.

When we got our current boat, I felt like giving up, berthing was such a nightmare on "windy corner" at Sparkes. I can now sometimes moor half decently, but as often as not I mess-up or a big gust blows us all over the place.

The only consolation, is that a boater of far more experience than I has bought an identical boat and moors it in a far more sheltered area, and he wants to get rid of the boat because of mooring difficulties !

I'm sure a lot of boats get used far less than they might, due to berthing nerves.

There must be a business opportunity for someone to provide a mooring service at marinas...
 
Nick_H said:
Also, are you just using short blips in gear, then out again? When i'm berthing, on shafts or outdrives, the engines are seldom in gear for more than 2 or 3 seconds at a time, more often 1 second.
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top tip. Aim to be in gear for about 20% of the time or less.

also - steer before gear. Remember the wheel does nothing out of gear on outdrives. See which way you want the boat to move, point the wheel the blip it into gear. In that order!

A thing to think about is the centre of lateral resistance - the pivot point of the boat when looked at from above, is an issue on outdrive boats. When going forward the pivot point is about half way forward along the boat. When going astern the pivot point moves aft to about 2 or 3 feet forward of the transom. This is why the bows swing wildly when going astern and why going astern is tricky (and why a bowthruster helps a lot for going astern).
To counter it just remember to go forward a couple of feet to correct the bows if they go off course then come astern again. And go forward to get yourself out of the berth when it goes wrong to try again.

Poole yacht club last summer I eventually got into the berth on try number 12 I think. The dinghy race was about to start but waiting for me to impale myself on the next boat was far more fun, so 40 or so sniggering onlookers didn't help! But I got in there in the end.
 
mickyb said:
I feel exactly the same as you..

I have come to the conclusion that my boat WONT go backwards in a straight line! simple as that! Sterns all lined up lovely, the wheels straight, equal power on both engines, surely surely there is no reason why that shouldn't work! But no... it doesn't ... it just all goes to dog poo... the shouting gets louder, the smirking faces appear at the windows of boats moored in my part of the marina and old harry from a few boats down starts to turn red with rage cos im "not doing it right" :D
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Weird this aint it, I think you'll find you're going too fast, just like reversing a flat bottomed tender with a single outboard on the tiller. 'Touch too much speed, a little puff of breaze and the bow tries to catch up with the stern. The 305 I had was like this and even my current boat the T40 being longer has the affect of making the drives work like they're even closer together. Try one engine at a time, keep boat speed slooow and minimal steering while reversing and pref. steer while in neutral. Also avoid like hell trying to reverse with your bow to the wind. It won't!

I've had three outdrive boats that all behaved differently, the 305 and the Targa have the most windage. The Phantom on shafts was the most predictable but like you we also had days where we were scared to go out. Sparkes on Hayling is known for tight berths and quite often I would say that IF we can get out we'll go out.

Don't be proud, get some professional help, I did, even on the current boat. It's sometimes hard to work out what the boat's characteristics are, especially in a F4-5. Where as a skipper will know what to expect or be able to work it out much quicker. Your tuition may have been on a totally different boat, not the 330 which again will only help to confuse.

Always plan your departure or arrival and have a back-up plan B for when it goes wrong (cos it will)

I actually enjoy berthing the boat now, in fact it's probably one of the best bits, but I still think I need a leak at the last minute or the heart still comes up about half way to the throat. ;)

I think you'll see that you're definitely see not alone with your concerns from the length of replies. :cool:
 
mickyb said:
<snip>

The only reason Ive been trying to reverse in, is to make getting on and off the boat easier (with her stern in, you can step onto the bathing platform and then slip through the little gate/door in the transom, oh and the shore power connection is on the back so is close to the socket on the pontoon). The boat is a fair bit longer than the finger, the long snout on the bow or whatever the sealine/nautical term for that bit is would stick over the main pontoon (where everyone walks past) quite a long way. Mooring nose in, I think would mean climbing over the guardrail and then gaining access through the side of the canopy - do-able but not great.. tell you what, i'll try it next time.. :) <snip>
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Micky, when going astern, try just using one engine. If the props counter rotate you might get better results with one or the other engine. The prop walk on one engine will be the opposite to the other, so you might be able to shift the stern one way or the other by swapping engines. If the bow blows across and you don't have a bow thruster, you can correct that to a degree by putting one engine in forward gear. If, for instance, the bow blows to port, briefly put the port engine into ahead, while the starboard engine is astern. This will slow the boats speed and move the bow to starboard.

Following on from Searush's suggestion of coming in forwards.......... Drive in forwards, warp the boat round as he describes and tie up backwards, you have your stern access and just drive out, as you do now. simples :)
 
Maybe someone has already said this, but have a word with some of your neighbours. Getting some confidence back will help, so asking them to take a line from you when you return will help. Even WNSkipper loves using ropes :)
 
This is why I love this forum. All positive replies with lots of help. I took extra tuition on just berthing and it definitely helped me . I bought bigger fenders so crew could fend off when i got it wrong. I couldn't careless if other boat owners think the big fenders look stupid on my boat as I only have them on there to protect their boats until my confidence grows they will stay on all summer if need be.
 
reversing must be witchcraft..

Thanks everyone.

I will try all your top tips.. turning the wheel before putting power on seems sensible (never thought of that) and "do it more slowly" is another thing old harry shouts from the pontoon as his head begins its colour transformation :D

does it always steer to one side in reverse? If so, it's just possible your drives aren't counter rotating, maybe the boat has had a new engine/drive at some point
Click to expand...

Finally, do you have a helm indicator? This makes it much easier to reverse outdrive boats, as you know which way the outdrives are pointing.
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Yes Nick it does always seem to be that the bow wants to turn to port, interesting.. will have a look which way they're turning (as long as I can see). And yes I do have a helm indicator.

Following on from Searush's suggestion of coming in forwards.......... Drive in forwards, warp the boat round as he describes and tie up backwards, you have your stern access and just drive out, as you do now. simples
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Not sure there's enough room between the fingers to warp the boat around. Also, I should probably learn to reverse in nicely - want to take her to Wales/IOM this summer for a week or so, so will probably have to park next to someone after all.. :eek:
 
re: Reversing

On mine (outdrives), once it starts to go a bit sideways, it keeps crabbing because the outdrive that is leading the way has more grip in the water. Adding more revs on the other side just generates more bubbles.

Solution is to pause and put in a little 'kick' from one engine in forwards to nudge the boat straight again.
 
Hi Guys,

Thanks for everyone's contributions but most thanks go to those who came out and admitted that it is difficult - that boosted my confidence a lot.

The solution is definatly more practice and I have already been offered training by several people at Cardiff. This I will now take up.

I did not like to take up their boating time, but it would seem from all the replies I got on this forum, they are going to be as happy as they say they are, to offer tuition.

Failing that, I really like the idea of the harpoon gun!!!

Finally, apologies for the title being misspelt - have modified it but still not to sure....................!!!!
 
OP I hope by now you have noticed that you have struck a real chord with the entire boat world. Anybody who tells me their mouth hasn't gone a little dry as they come into berth is a liar. My first boat was a fairline sedan 32, ie. a relatively short boat with flybridge and outdrives just like yours. I had it 5 years and thought I was just **** at boat handling. It wasn't until I changed boat for a semi displacement Atlantic 38 with shafts that I realised that it was the boat that was **** at berthing - not me! She was an absolute pig right up until the end. Yes you get better with practice, but if you don't become master mariner with your current boat - don't blame yourself!
 
FlowerPower said:
re: Reversing

On mine (outdrives), once it starts to go a bit sideways, it keeps crabbing because the outdrive that is leading the way has more grip in the water. Adding more revs on the other side just generates more bubbles.

Solution is to pause and put in a little 'kick' from one engine in forwards to nudge the boat straight again.
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Yep, same with mine. This usually happens on Sunday lunchtime when reversing out of the 'pen' at Yarmouth with 900 people watching.

Converging - not a lot I can add to the huge amount of info here, but just to say that everyone cocks it up from time to time, raggies and mobos alike. Plenty of fenders out on both sides, and take it s l o w l y unless wind/tide dictate a more positive approach.
 
Outdrives are fine, once you've got a handle on how they react,to repeat what others say, practice, practice, and more practice, and just like the rest of us, you'll get good at it, then make a complete horlicks of it, only when everyone is watching:D
 
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