sailing (withthe rags up) into a marina

Only when I had no other choice: failure on the fuel tank valve resulted in a rupture with the end result a bilge full of diesil amd not enough in the pipes to get me all the way home. Thankfully just ghosted in.............
Don;t want to do that again !!
 
Twister_Ken said:
Up the river comes one of Robin Aisher's Yeomans, under spinnaker (no main) on a port reach. Heading upstream, they sailed just past the hammerhead at the end of their pontoon, started coming through the wind, dumped the kite, and carried their way to turn downstream and park on their downstream-facing berth.
Click to expand...

I know exactly where you mean.

On my Yachtmaster Practical course (instructor Rod Carr) we had parked for the night just inshore of Yeoman XXI. Come the morning I was told to take her (Contessa 32) out, past Yeoman, under sail, backwards!
 
fergie_mac66 said:
ohh they would all love the adrenalin rush. To really get them going though you would need a 5/10 foot bow sprit!
Click to expand...

Sailed into Alcudia Marina in Mallorca once. Engine broken. With 13ft of bow sprit, 65ft length over spars and 35 tonnes. I made the big mistake of thinking the guys on the dock would put the warps we threw them around the bollards - but they thought they could stop us by pulling!! Fortunately, they realised quickly enough and eventually put the warps on the bollards and we came to a perfect stop in the slot between the pontoon and the 100ft super yacht next to us. But it was a brown trouser moment which was not forseen.

Next time, I will have the storm anchor rigged up, ready to go. That should stop us quickly enough!

Oh - the marina did not like it one little bit. Against all kinds of regulations.
But I did call up on the VHF first and ask if they would like to help. They declined to reply! They just turned the VHF off!
 
Once felt relieved and quite chuffed having parked up safely under motor at Rhu vistor berth in a strong cross wind without any drama.
But any smugness was blown away a few minutes later when a whole fleet of Cork 1720s short tacked through the entrance and up towards their berths. With fantastic timing the leading boat luffed up, dropped the main in 5 seconds, spun 180 degrees and berthed downwind on their finger pontoon. Didn't even bother with fenders or ropes. Two guys stepped out and stopped boat dead by holding the rigging.

But for sheer confidence and bravado it has to be the french, who used to regularly sail in and out of marinas as part of their Glenans spirit. At Cannes Old Port in 2007 I watched a beautiful classic zig zag round the sterns of a fleet of priceless William Fife's, all done under spinnaker (without pole to speed manouevers) - then fast drop to glide into their own berth. Class !
 
On my first boat, a Vivacity 20, I remember going into Brightlingsea under sail and mooring successfully on the central pontoon, wind behind us, half a genoa and a 180° turn onto the pontoon. My other half didn't like it all! Mind you, the Seagull outboard was notorious for not starting when needed....
Since then I regularly leave and come up to my swinging mooring under sail on my present boat but not tried the marina yet.... I'm sure all the dinghy sailing years ago helps.
 
Two instances come to mind: first watching a Dragon at La Trinité tack upwind between the pontoons to the inner berth, and secondly watching a cruiser coming into Port St Louis under spinnaker, dropping the chute, jibing around to come upwind into a berth about 70/80 metres from the harbour entrance.

I have had to do it by necessity 4 or 5 times over the years. I have also arrived I think 7 times at St Mary's (Scilly) of which 3 were under sail. I triple reefed the main and rolled up about 2/3's of the genoa so that handling could be done quickly without having to use the winches. I did inform the harbour office beforehand.

Before being in a marina I was on a swinging mooring and I rarely used to use the engine.
 
Had to do it last year after aborting the delivery trip due to motor problems and several other issues, returned to marina where boat was purchased under sail, got half way into the berth but with all happening at once couldn't get onto the berth in time so got blown back 50 meters before getting the anchor down. Took a line in the dinghy to the marina.
 
A few of you mentioned Denmark; as I live here and attend sailing school here (just north of Aarhus) I see and do it fairly often as well. Several of the sailing schools insist that going in and out of the marina is by sail, and we did spend an entire evening tacking all the way into the farthest basin of the marina, turning, and heading back out again.

Good way for both skipper and crew to learn when to tack - too early and you don't get anywhere, too late and the large posh boats at the ends of the pontoons get scratched.
 
Sybarite said:
Two instances come to mind: first watching a Dragon at La Trinité tack upwind between the pontoons to the inner berth, and secondly watching a cruiser coming into Port St Louis under spinnaker, dropping the chute, jibing around to come upwind into a berth about 70/80 metres from the harbour entrance.

I have had to do it by necessity 4 or 5 times over the years. I have also arrived I think 7 times at St Mary's (Scilly) of which 3 were under sail. I triple reefed the main and rolled up about 2/3's of the genoa so that handling could be done quickly without having to use the winches. I did inform the harbour office beforehand.

Before being in a marina I was on a swinging mooring and I rarely used to use the engine.
Click to expand...

-and thats often the problem - just when you want full sail, for optimum control, you have to get rid of it. No pointing, acceleration or power.
 
When I had my last boat, I used to enjoy coming in under sail to tie up. I never had any mishaps.
However...all along the marina front the people in the crowded restaurants and bars could be visibly noticed to suddenly put their undivided attention on the proceedings. Very often it merited a round of applause and occasionally a round of drinks.
But the management became nervous in case it was copied and it led to problems. So I was politely asked to desist, which I did, so as not to ruffle feathers.:eek:
But I continued to approach and leave the fuel berth under sail.
When in a queue I used to put her in irons, which seemed natural to me but the mobo crowd did not like it at all, so eventually I stopped doing that too.
 
Despite the risk of the occasional crunch I would still like to see more people developing their boat-handling skills. I am always full of admiration when someone completes a difficult manoeuvre with skill and panache, and I am sympathetic when it goes wrong, even if I am on the receiving end.

I think we English generally have become too cautious, too uptight, too respectful of authority and too frightened of making fools of ourselves.

'The man who never made a mistake - never made anything'
 
VO5 said:
When I had my last boat, I used to enjoy coming in under sail to tie up. I never had any mishaps.
However...all along the marina front the people in the crowded restaurants and bars could be visibly noticed to suddenly put their undivided attention on the proceedings. Very often it merited a round of applause and occasionally a round of drinks.
But the management became nervous in case it was copied and it led to problems. So I was politely asked to desist, which I did, so as not to ruffle feathers.:eek:
But I continued to approach and leave the fuel berth under sail.
When in a queue I used to put her in irons, which seemed natural to me but the mobo crowd did not like it at all, so eventually I stopped doing that too.
Click to expand...

How did you "queue by putting her in irons"? With the head threatening to blow off and the sails flapping wildly. No bermudan boats I have sailed on, including ketches, have done this satisfactorily. Did she have a deep forefoot/did you trice up the sails in some fashion
 
Last edited:
parsifal said:
Despite the risk of the occasional crunch I would still like to see more people developing their boat-handling skills. I am always full of admiration when someone completes a difficult manoeuvre with skill and panache, and I am sympathetic when it goes wrong, even if I am on the receiving end.

I think we English generally have become too cautious, too uptight, too respectful of authority and too frightened of making fools of ourselves.

'The man who never made a mistake - never made anything'
Click to expand...

1
 
Last edited:
parsifal said:
Despite the risk of the occasional crunch I would still like to see more people developing their boat-handling skills. I am always full of admiration when someone completes a difficult manoeuvre with skill and panache, and I am sympathetic when it goes wrong, even if I am on the receiving end.
Click to expand...

I'm a bit worried at the way the mags often treat "picking up a mooring under sail" as a rare, difficult and slightly odd thing to do. Anchoring too.
 
I agree, nothing strange or difficult about manouvering under sail; this is I suspect where an upbringing in sailing dinghies, rather than starting with a forty footer, comes in...
 
Ubergeekian said:
I'm a bit worried at the way the mags often treat "picking up a mooring under sail" as a rare, difficult and slightly odd thing to do. Anchoring too.
Click to expand...

Specially when anyone who has done a Day Skipper practical course, many thousands, are taught this. Exactly for the occasion where the engine is being, well, enginelike. That bit where it smirks and wont start.
 
tim_ber said:
Have you ever seen it done or done it yourself?

Driving to work, my mind was wandering and I remembered many years ago seeing 2 kids sail a small cruiser into a marina and 'park' up.

I was very impressed and just wondered if others have seen it, done it and how difficult it is / was.

Me, under engine is scarey enough, thanks. I do like swinging moorings.
Click to expand...

Had to do it more than once thanks to engine failure. Easier than you think and soimething you should practice befoire you have to do so for real.
 
VO5 said:
When I had my last boat, I used to enjoy coming in under sail to tie up. I never had any mishaps.
However...all along the marina front the people in the crowded restaurants and bars could be visibly noticed to suddenly put their undivided attention on the proceedings. Very often it merited a round of applause and occasionally a round of drinks.
But the management became nervous in case it was copied and it led to problems. So I was politely asked to desist, which I did, so as not to ruffle feathers.:eek:
But I continued to approach and leave the fuel berth under sail.
When in a queue I used to put her in irons, which seemed natural to me but the mobo crowd did not like it at all, so eventually I stopped doing that too.
Click to expand...

More and more posts are saying how easy it is to sail to a berth under sail and suggest it is odd to think otherwise. This must be depressing to some readers surely? I think its very difficult and takes years and years of practice just to do it occasionally. In many situations it is impossible to achieve in our modern boats with modern rigs - we just do not have sufficient control in so many situations - which rules out close quarters manoeuvering. Also in modern times we do not have time to gain the necessary experience. So, continue motoring into our berths and only sailing in when we deem safe which is not as often as these posters infer.

"...there are many set ups that Hornblower himself would have taken one look at and sailed on by"

Tom Cunliffe (refering to berthing under sail) - Easy on the Helm (book - p.126)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top