One man berthing a 45' power boat?

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sundial

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One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

I've had several years cruising but my wife is now unable to walk - also she'd useless at the helm! Anyone got any tips about berthing alsongside on their own? Would wireless remotes for the EDC engines, and bow thruster help?

Cheers.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

When we were berthed near the fuel pontoon, a 60ft motor cruiser pulled in for fuel, driven by a cool looking chap, (35/40 years old), who did everything slowly, walking down from the flybridge to the bow to throw a loop over a cleat, then to the stern to do the same. Did the same when leaving, then drove it down a narrow fairway, and backed it into a space which wasnt as wide as the boat, (gently pushing the moored boats aside to get in his space).

It wasnt windy, but neither was it windless.

Everything slow, and you might need to be a young'ish, good looking, cool son of a bitch /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Not much help to you, but it can definitely be done, and with style.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

Think it thro' before you start. Have a plan & an escape option. Get all fenders & warps ready before you start. tie bow & stern lines on & bring the coils to a handy point near amidships, carefully coiled. Go alongside slowly & stop so you can step ashore with both lines. Tie one off then the other, chosing the right one first can be important, once the wind/ current starts to swing it, momentum can drag you into the water if you don't get a couple of turns round a cleat.

Another option is to drop a spring over a cleat and gently motor against it to hold her on the pontoon. Try a few ideas & see how it goes, you will soon learn what works & what doesn't.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

G'day Searush,

99.99% of the time I have more crew than I can handle, but we all have to tie up single handed from time to time.

Pleased to see we use the same methods:
I have all lines and fenders set, spring line rigged midships (with some slack) that has an eye splice that I drop over the cleat, then idle ahead and secure forward line, then idle astern with head line slack to secure the stern line, now I have her alongside I can adjust lines as required and rerun the spring lines.

The trick is to keep the below anything that may cause damage if it all turns to custard.

Avagoodweekend......

PS. I will often ask any bystander to take my head line and reverse when secured to save a bit of mucking around.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

"Get all fenders & warps ready before you start. tie bow & stern lines on & bring the coils to a handy point near amidships, carefully coiled. Go alongside slowly & stop so you can step ashore with both lines. Tie one off then the other,"

Don't forget this guy is talking about a powerboat.

They often are much, much higher in the water, so not quite so simple to step down from amidships.
On these, pontoon is more easily accessed from stern cockpit or bathing platform.

Also, there is much more windage & no keel to stop sideways movement, so slowly stopping so that lines fore & aft are tied up may not be an option.

Usual singlehanded method (power or sail), would be a midcleat line or loop dropped over a cleat, with boat springing against this - boat then slowly surges onto the pontoon & holds there whilst other lines can then be connected at leisure.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

Used to have to berth the 45ft workboat singlehanded quite regularly, and in all conditions when I worked afloat. As Alant suggests the midships 'ferry moor' - a short line which can be dropped over a cleat ashore from amidships just to hold everything in place until you can get the bow and stern lines secure - is the simplest solution, and one i still use regularly single handing my yacht.

And boy did that work boat have some windage! In anything over a F6 she would not turn into the wind at less than around 3 knots, making manoevering and berthing a total nightmare.

The worst time was having to berth her on an upwind pontoon in a F8 gusting 9 with no one else around to take lines aboard or ashore. To retain control I needed at least 4kts speed through the water, but as soon as I turned broadside to the wind to come alongside, the bows would fall off faster than an Irishman making for the pub at opening time. There was no time to get even from the helm position to the midships mooring cleat before she would drift off.

The solution? Come in astern directly into the wind up to the pontoon, thus retaining control. A line rigged from the bows down the boat to the stern could then be secured to the pontoon. By a bit of careful manipulating of helm and engine it was then possible to surge the bows round against the rope to hold the bows in place against the pontoon until further lines could be secured. Needed plenty of fenders though!

Unorthodox, but it worked! There was no way I could have pulled that boat against the wind by hand.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

Engine remotes and bowthruster would be wonderful as you can handle a twin mobo on engines alone. But it isn't really necessary and these things alway break down so even if you buy them, learn how to manage without them. Other than that, I would add......

Here in the western Med it is customary for the marina staff to stand ready to take your ropes whenever you arrive back. You call them on the VHF as you are arriving but even if you forget, they will probably be there.

UK marinas don't seem to go in for that but why not ask?

Others have already mentioned the need to think everything through and get everything you need to hand. If you need to heave-to outside the marina to get ropes and fenders sorted, so be it. Take it nice and easy, nice and slow.

It is easier in a heavy 45' than a smaller boat as they stay put. Mind you, once the wind catches them they can be a pig to stop if going in the wrong direction; just don't get it wrong!

Finally, practice for a few hours in different conditions with an able bodied person for safety, and work out techniques, make up special lines, buy any accessories to help.

What you want to do is very do-able, no problem. If you find you are struggling, how about hiring an instructor for a few hours?
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

if money is no object just repower with Volvo IPS, fit a couple of joystick "docking stations" and GPS anchor.

Then just drive the boat with the joystick where you want, the GPS anchor will hold it in place whatever the weather while you sort out mooring lines.



joystick

Docking station
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

Neat! No need to tie up for that lunch stop and pay £30, use the GPS anchor and tender ashore!

One thing puzzles me, though. Surely it cannot keep the vessel heading in the direction you want it? I can see how it can keep a centre of mass/volume within a defined circle, provided you state the max wind and tide conditions, but presumably the computer will have to head the vessel up into wind/tide and keep station by inching the forward drive (albeit asymmetric if needed)? Any electric bowthruster would soon trip out on the thermal overload if asked to use it to maintain station.

Anyway, thanks for posting that...I didn't know they made such a thing. Sounds like fun.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

[ QUOTE ]


One thing puzzles me, though. Surely it cannot keep the vessel heading in the direction you want it? Any electric bowthruster would soon trip out on the thermal overload if asked to use it to maintain station.


[/ QUOTE ]

this is what Volvo Penta states: "Volvo Penta IPS Joystick uses the engine and drive units in programmed synchronization to perform any manoeuvre the operator desires. All without thrusters "

"Sophisticated and specially developed software in the EVC-system transforms the driver’s joystick movements into steering angles, gear shifts and throttle positions. The boat moves exactly according to the driver’s intentions."

Keeping the boat stationary is done exactly the same way, and thus the boat can be kept pointing to any direction, regardless of wind direction. Twin engine installation helps here of course...
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

[ QUOTE ]
Surely it cannot keep the vessel heading in the direction you want it?

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm assuming you are aware of the GPS compass equipment that uses multiple antenna and works out the relative positions of these - I've seen these on a fast cat - has 4 antenna (NSEW) in about a 2' diameter plate - moving or stationary it knows what direction the bow is in!
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

Seen one single hander do it by putting a fender mat over the bow. Gently nudge the end of the berth, leave it in tickover with wheel hard over thereby keeping side pressed firmly against the berth. Take ropes in hand and step ashore to tie off!

Made it look very easy but obviously not suitable for comming alongside a long pontoon.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

Strange. Looking at the website again it isn't clear whether the drive units can pivot....I think not in which case even with three thrusters (or prop units) you cannot maintain station without heading into (stemming) wind/current. The laws of physics don't permit, not even Volvo /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

That's interesting and I wasn't aware of it, though I had assumed that heading information would not be a problem. What is a problem is stemming the wind or current.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

I single crew all the time, however I'm from the ditch crawler side on the fence! narrowboats, anything from 20' up to 70'. The most important bit of kit for me is a centre line, once secured the rest is easy. I will be coming over to the 'other side' within the next two years, so I will be back to square one and big learning curve again! Happy days
/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

Lemain

The drives can indeed pivot - and independently of one another so you get a complex form of outdrive-type vectoring and if you then factor in ahead/astern gearing independently on each drive, stemming wind/tide is no longer an issue.

small free-floating Oil-rigs and support vessels have used similar vectored drive units for decades.
 
Re: One man berthing a 45\' power boat?

Thanks, I knew that it was used commercially, but not in the leisure market. That really is a quantum leap. Horribly expensive to buy and own, I would imagine. And if any single part fails you have a major problem.

But still a quantum leap. I wish them luck.

I will be watching with interest how well it works in practice in the coming years.
 
Re: Volvo IPS

I've shared the sea-lock at Ardrishaig on the Crinan Canal with a big powerboat fitted with this. Until we were told the secret we marvelled at how the helmsman was able to hold such a large boat stationary and parallel to the lockside but a foot away from it in a nasty crosswind during the (lengthy) time it took them to sort out their warps and fenders.

It certainly works, but like others have said I would be really worried if it went wrong.

Alan
 
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