shorthanded

[david42]

Hi all

Has anyone got any tips for coming alongside a short finger pontoon shorthanded (ie me and one crew)?

I've just taken up my permanent berth and the finger pontoon is about 6 feet shorter than the boat - so both the bow and sternline lead forwards (if you see what I mean). The berth is also pretty narrow and only leaves a couple of feet between me and my motorboat neighbour. If I had loads of crew they could step off with a bowline, sternline and a spring and we'd be fine. But there's generally just me and one other. I'm experimenting with a short mooring strop from the midships cleat which we make fast to the end cleat on the pontoon before hoping off and attaching the bow and stern line and then warping the boat into the berth.

Any suggestions?

David

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[sailorman]

i often berth single-handed, just get lines made-up to correct lenghts.
a mid-ships cleat is a great help as u can get the aft spring on first then the wind-ward bow line then stern .
its generally easier to pull the line into the water with the b/hook then pick-up rather than attempt to "pick" the line from the pontoon.
watch the wind indcators of other boats on the approach

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[rwoofer]

I have exactly the same problem - which is only really a problem if the wind is from behind.

I make sure that I have a rear spring (from centre of boat to rear cleat on the pontoon) ready and setup to the correct length. When I jump off I take the spring and the stern line and both go on the rear pontoon cleat. The spring stops the boat bashing into the pontoon and the stern line keeps the stern in as the spring tensions. I then do the bow line at leisure.

I found this more effective than a midships line, which often results in the stern swinging out as the boat comes to a complete rest.


RB



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[Dek]

Need to a bit of measuring before you do this.
Measure the distance between the bow of your boat and the first cleat on the finger pontoon.
Fix a bow line through forward fairlead and bring it back to your cockpit with a splice on the end, drop the loop over the first cleat on the finger pontoon as you come alongside.
If you've measured right it should stop you before you t-bone the main pontoon and leave you neatly alongside (wind and tide permitting)

Hope this makes sense - I've had 3 glasses of super Merlot!!

<hr width=100% size=1>If you can't take a joke, don't buy a boat.

 

[TonyS]

My solution is to have a piece of plastic electrical conduit (3 pounds at B&Q) mounted in a hole in a wooden block screwed to the end of the pontoon so that it is upright at 4 feet high. In the top is a V piece made from a wire coathanger. I then have a rope that goes from the cleat at the end of the pontoon with a bowline on the end that is just long enough to stop the boat 1 foot from the end of the berth when dropped onto the midships boat cleat. While I steer in the crew lifts the bowline off the top of the pole and drops it on the cleat then we attach the ropes attached to the end cleats of the pontoon by hooking them with the boathook. One has a bowline the other is then tightened. Finally a second rope also left hanging off the top of the pole is attached. Noone has to jump off the boat at all until it is fully attached. We needed some practice and also put some Docksafe round the end of the pontoon so that we can slide along next to the pole without fenders. Initially we found the fender knocked the ropes off the pole when I came in too close. We also have only 2 foot clearance and have never hit the other boat whatever the wind. You can buy a commercial product with a spring base that does the same job.

<hr width=100% size=1>Tony

 

[WayneS]

I have a "Lasso" made up which gets kept on the boat. nothing more than a spring from the midships cleat, with a large bowline in the dock end. Crew stands midships and drops it over the first pontoon cleat. A small amount of revs and the tiller to port (Port side to berth) and the boat holds itself against the finger while we sort the rest out.

Wayne


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[Talbot]

I secure to my similar pontoon, quite happily singlehanded in the same way, with a single line on to a central securing point. However the best thing to do then is to leave the engine running ahead, and alter the rudder to hold the boat at the right attitude to the pontoon (will depend on wind direction and strength) You can then attach your normal berthing lines without any rush. If you find getting the rope onto the cleat difficult, (especially when singlehanded) a bosco boathook with its wire attachment makes this easy:

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