Single handing envy

P

Petercatterall

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Posts on single handing have left me totally depressed. Is it me or the boat you all seem to glide up so sedatly flick a line onto the cleat, step off, fiddle with the other lines and disapear to the pub.
Coming into our berth is allways a nervous experience and a great joy for all onlookers (especially those who pretend to be looking elsewhere)
Our boat is an old Colvic Atlanta with a full wheel house, the 'helmsman' has little vision to starboard. The boat goes astern in whatever direction she feels like so it is difficult to extricate yourself if the first attempt goes wrong.
The slowly slowly advice is well taken but even a turn of 90 degrees to line up for our little slot needs a bit of gusto (and more than a little if there is any wind)
It would help if we could find a berth port (drivers) side to but sods law seems to work here.
I thought that training and pratice was paying off on our last trip, 3 man crewe perfect approach but Mr Perkins thought this was a good time to stick in forward gear. The final blast astern was meant to stop the boat not to blast a hole in the bow.
I'm coming down south next year (name and intended destination witheld!!)

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Fear not

I cannot speak for others, but I have a swinging mooring. 9 tons of teak and oak, 12 feet of bowsprit, 15 ponypower of 36 year old Volvo (with a gearbox and throttle that have developed a personality all of their own) and an offset propeller make for great timidity in these affairs!

Drop the anchor, hoist the riding light, the swing the dinghy over and off to the pub!

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?
 
Re: Fear not

So thats how its done!!. I am actually scaling up my tender so that I can anchor up AND get to the pub. On the last escapade a bowsprite would have made an embarasment into something more expensive!
I shall just have to add ' check boat goes astern when reverse selected' to my increasingly long check list.


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Re: Fear not

colloquially known as "testing gears" (well, at least thats what I was brought up with". Still is part of my ritual, although I no longer need the 4lb lump hammer that was the old Kelvin's emergency gear lever when I was small.

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I take it that you do not use the John Goode/Sailing Today methods then. Apparently the use of a storm jib hoisted up the backstay or the mizzen of a yawl/ketch at the right moment, then dropped when no longer required is the way forward for those boats that are difficult to handle in confined areas. There are those on these fora who reckon this is the bees knees if not the ultimate mutz nutz, least that's what I was told when I dared question the idea. :0)

No? I wasn't convinced either!!!!!

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Handling boats is like handling dogs, they sense if you're nervous!! I think that you really need to learn about boats whilst under the age of 7.

Nick

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Go find / plant an isolated buoy somewhere and practice approaching it from all points of the compass. Practice makes perfect, as they say.

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From your discription I would guess that you have a fixed prop. I would recommend a gori folder, and this may well improve you handling in these tight situations.

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Good idea Nigel, have done this but its not quite realistic training for a marina situation. No gin palaces, no nasty pontoon corners, no onlookers and no problems when it goes wrong!
I guess that practice in a quiet (unoccupied) marina slot will be worthwhile though.
Cheers

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I would second that. My 3 bladed Gori folder (much better than the 2 bladed) has revolutionised handling in marinas.

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>"My 3 bladed Gori folder (much better than the 2 bladed) has revolutionised handling in marinas."<

Bedouin - Please tell me more. I've never heard of a 'Gori' folder. I'm really interested as I'm about to re-prop my long keeled Warrior 35. How has it helped handling? How much do they cost?

Cheers

Wayne



<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.hitrapia.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/iom/>Van de Stadt Seacracker 33 for sale</A>
 
Sit tight on South Coast .... and

Watch Sunsail coming in after a hard days racing ..... then you wont feel so ashamed of yourself !!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
So WHAT does the EU really stand for ????/forums/images/icons/cool.gif
 
Bedouin has a quarter mounted prop that restricts the maximum diameter prop I can fit. The two bladed which came with the boat was too small and too coursely pitched and it made handling the boat in the marina very difficult.

I looked at the various feathering and autopitching props but none of them would fit.

The Gori 3 blade prop is unusual (maybe unique) in that it opens in the opposite direction when going in reverse, that means that it works as well in reverse as it does forwards (unlike almost any other type of propellor). On the whole it is as good of better than the 3 bladed fixed in both forwards and reverse and has the benefit of improved sailing performance as well.

Unfortunately it doesn't come cheap.

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Re: Folding propellors

My Gori folding gives me much greater manoeuvrability than the two bladed it replaced. This is largely due to the fact that the old 2-blader was not a good match to be boat, too small and with too great pitch meant that prop walf was excessive. With the folding prop I can fit a much more efficient unit without sacrificing sailing performance the way a bigger 3 bladed fixed would.

On top of that the design of the 3 bladed Gori means that it is actually more efficient in reverse than a 3 bladed fixed prop.

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