singlehanded alongside

[oldvarnish]

I've been reading a thread below about this, and a recent YM.

This quote raised a question: "If you can rig a short spring (ideally from midships) with a loop on the end, just ferry glide alongside and drop the loop over a cleat near the stern of the boat with the boat hook."

I agree. It's getting the loop over the cleat that's the uncertain bit. I know about using a bit of plastic pipe to keep the loop open, but you've still got to aim pretty carefully, and if you miss you can soon find yourself in a hard place (if there's a boat ahead).

So what do the masters of this art do?

 

[Seajet]

Dunno about ' master of the art ' but I would throw one end of a line over and surge it back, hopefully at low speed but bearing in mind Plan B in case it didn't work, much like a conventional aircraft landing on a carrier !

A big loop bowline should work, but in narrow stern IOR inspired designs it may require a swerve to get the stern in close.

Always have a boathook handy; at places like Emsworth Marina there are no cleats to throw a line around, just rings on the end of the ( very wobbly ) finger pontoon !

 

[Sandyman]

I use the old plastic pipe trick. Just a matter of dropping it over a cleat. Never been a problem. Having a midships cleat helps.

 

[sighmoon]

I use a bight - an end in both hands and fling it over the cleat like a skipping rope.

The once we were all set to take a line from midships, the finger was too small. I prefer to first put on whichever line is going to be under load in the prevailing conditions.

 

[lenseman]

This biggest problem that a few skippers seem to have is they think they are driving motor vehicles.

Yes they have an engine running but that is about all there is that is similar. What they don't seem to understand is that their 'car', that they are sailing, with a weight of possibly anything between 3 and 25 tons is running of frictionless bearings and does not have an effective bake pedal.

I was delivering a yacht from the top of the Orwell to Brighton in the summer of 2011 and called into Ramsgate for an overnight stop. A Dutchman came in at 4 knots and travelled right down between the pontoons at this speed. What made it worst was that wind was easterly at about 15 knots, dead aft of him and as far as he was concerned there was "no wind" (as he was running with it). At the end of the pontoons was a white 36 foot British yacht and the Dutchman could not stop in time and T-boned him just forward of the port shrouds causing considerable damage. Everyone in the Marina heard the splintering of fibreglass!

The Dutchman was clearly travelling far too fast and this is the point I am making.

You should proceed to a mooring, whether pontoons or mooring buoy, with just enough speed to maintain steerage and no faster and mindful of the wind strength and direction and tide in a tideway.

Anyone who disagrees with the above knows nothing about piloting a yacht in confined places and in my mind is a dangerous skipper.

My RN sailing days comprised coxswaining a Windfall Yacht "Sea Scamp" and she did not, at the time have any form of mechanical propulsion. You sailed to a berth whether a pontoon or mooring buoy!



.

 

[onesea]

Season 2 with this boat now I just get cheeky stem ashore with headline and stern line. Set the tails up as springs and go to pub...

You should proceed to a mooring, whether pontoons or mooring buoy, with just enough speed to maintain steerage and no faster and mindful of the wind strength and direction and tide in a tideway.

I agree, although when wind is up and current is up you have to know how to use the power available and its limitations.
That's when practice in using it in good weather shows...

Just do not get it wrong :/

 

[jerrytug]

I just step onto the pontoon (finger) holding a rope and tie it on,then like Onesea,use the long end for a quick spring,I am happy to use a stanchion to tie the spring end on.
Then you are on,and you can kick the fenders in to the right place.
All this talk of lasooing wouldn't work here,the cleats are closed topped!
Hard to tie on to,but just as easy to trip over! Cheers Jerry
Edited to add,just realized I shifted berth 5 times yesterday in Dunkirk,due to changing marinas and getting fuel,firstly from the wrong place,then the right place. Stepped of with a rope each time.Plus came through the ship lock and through the propwash of a massive tug which turned me round 360 like a waltzer! All good clean fun

 

[Seajet]

This biggest problem that a few skippers seem to have is they think they are driving motor vehicles.

Yes they have an engine running but that is about all there is that is similar. What they don't seem to understand is that their 'car', that they are sailing, with a weight of possibly anything between 3 and 25 tons is running of frictionless bearings and does not have an effective bake pedal.

I was delivering a yacht from the top of the Orwell to Brighton in the summer of 2011 and called into Ramsgate for an overnight stop. A Dutchman came in at 4 knots and travelled right down between the pontoons at this speed. What made it worst was that wind was easterly at about 15 knots, dead aft of him and as far as he was concerned there was "no wind" (as he was running with it). At the end of the pontoons was a white 36 foot British yacht and the Dutchman could not stop in time and T-boned him just forward of the port shrouds causing considerable damage. Everyone in the Marina heard the splintering of fibreglass!

The Dutchman was clearly travelling far too fast and this is the point I am making.

You should proceed to a mooring, whether pontoons or mooring buoy, with just enough speed to maintain steerage and no faster and mindful of the wind strength and direction and tide in a tideway.

Anyone who disagrees with the above knows nothing about piloting a yacht in confined places and in my mind is a dangerous skipper.

My RN sailing days comprised coxswaining a Windfall Yacht "Sea Scamp" and she did not, at the time have any form of mechanical propulsion. You sailed to a berth whether a pontoon or mooring buoy!



.

What you have not made clear is that when approaching moorings you should approach in the direction all the other moored boats are lying into current / wind, which is a very rare luxury in narrow channels.

 

[pmagowan]

I have a long keeler and hear about the difficulties they cause. I have never really handled anything else so can't really say. I find that if you go slow and take into account the fact that the boat will continue in whatever direction it is going unless you apply an equal and opposite force, then you will be ok. Lot's of people do not understand that turning is not the same as an equal and opposite force. When you turn you carry on sideways but convert some of that motion into forward motion in the new direction. This can often be used to your advantage as slewing onto a pontoon gives you a much better position and uses the entire side of the boat rather than the just bow. I normally point at more or less 45 degrees on, come up with enough steerage until a yard or so off and then put the tiller hard overto bring the back in. Sometimes I use some extra throttle as my rudder is directly behinf the prop and that can give me a nice boost sideways. Then a blast of reverse and you could comfortably walk up and tie your lines as she slowly slides sideways on and fends off at minimal speed and with virtually no forward motion. Of course when wind and tide are playing up it can add some fun.

 

[RobbieW]

....
I agree. It's getting the loop over the cleat that's the uncertain bit. I know about using a bit of plastic pipe to keep the loop open, but you've still got to aim pretty carefully, and if you miss you can soon find yourself in a hard place (if there's a boat ahead).

So what do the masters of this art do?

I dont consider myself a master but practice, practice, practice then practice a little bit more. If you do miss, have to bail out and drop the line, you've now potentially got a line hanging down near your prop. On your own berth you can set up cleats etc to make things as easy as possible, on a visitor berth theres no substitute for the practice. I used to have a Vancouver 28 on a mid river pontoon on the Hamble with about a metre at each end. It also had a pile half way along the berth; with a wind blowing you off and a tide running I used to come in uptide, stop the boat and jump off with a centre line and wrap it around the pile.

However you always have the option of saying "no thanks not that berth" until conditions improve. Perhaps the key is knowing what is achievable on your boat!

 

[PhillM]

I am novice not master and this might be thread drift perhaps, but I find it easier to stop the boat in clear water and then only build up just enough way to get me into where I want to be. I find it easier to add speed than to take it away, if you see what I mean.

Stopping outside the berth also gives me the chance to take stock of the true wind / tide, to run my eye over warps and fenders and to generally get my concentration on the job. Perhaps one day I will be able to do this stuff while on the move, but for now, this is how I cope with berthing.

I know that doesn’t answer the OP’s question. I don’t have a central cleat so haven’t tried the method under discussion.

 

[Vara]

This is my Mk I solution, MkII has a bit of stretchy rope.

Stiff bit is a bit of leccy conduit from the shed, loop 1 for deploying from fore cleat, loop 2 for centre cleat.

Plan B, is running in circles, issuing contrary orders and blaming the French.

It works very well.

 

[Seajet]

I am novice not master and this might be thread drift perhaps, but I find it easier to stop the boat in clear water and then only build up just enough way to get me into where I want to be. I find it easier to add speed than to take it away, if you see what I mean.

Stopping outside the berth also gives me the chance to take stock of the true wind / tide, to run my eye over warps and fenders and to generally get my concentration on the job. Perhaps one day I will be able to do this stuff while on the move, but for now, this is how I cope with berthing.

I know that doesn’t answer the OP’s question. I don’t have a central cleat so haven’t tried the method under discussion.

PhilM,

it's refreshing to see someone not claiming to be a Cape Horn veteran !

In answer to your point, I find it useful to stop and look outside any place I'm not too sure of - binoculars are worth their weight in gold !

But keep flow over the rudder, steerage way, a lot of entrances tend to be across wind / tide or both so keep an eye on this.

Bino's with a compass built in are jolly handy.

 

[Blueboatman]

It's a good question and what indeed does one 'do' if you fail to lassoo a centre cleat and the boat is moving, wind is blowing, tide is running athwart ships and there are things to bump into?

The following seems to work for me, and that's all I can add really:

My centre cleats are adjacent to the lifeline gates, I have a 'One boat length'
Spring tied to the centre cleat and coiled loosely at the foot of the gate.i bring the boat in at a speed commensurate with dealing with cross winds or tides that would otherwise cause the hull to blow away from the pontoon. I try to be close enough to step ( or jump) the foot or two to the finger pontoon.. I apply enough reverse at the last moment to take most ( but not all) of the way off, step onto the finger or long pontoon or wall and get a turn around the nearest cleat, then surge off remaining way. As this is done the boat comes in tight alongside and provided there are 4 or 5 fenders, neither end can blow away nor hit anything ..

I used to glide downwind or 'sail' if you like to my berth, adding engine if nec to maintain direction or the handbrake turn , glide in, power astern only when tucked away from the crosswind ie final approach..
When it went wrong I just blew across or parked onto my neighbour, me well fendered, as well as them, tied off temporarily and pulled boat across manually...no bow thruster.

 

[oldvarnish]

This is my Mk I solution, MkII has a bit of stretchy rope.

Stiff bit is a bit of leccy conduit from the shed, loop 1 for deploying from fore cleat, loop 2 for centre cleat.

Plan B, is running in circles, issuing contrary orders and blaming the French.

It works very well.

thanks Vara. That's exactly the genius idea I was looking for. Anyone better it?

 

[HunterWanderer]

I use a line with a loop on the end held open with a piece of hose but I stuff the end of the boathook into the hose so that the loop is effectively on the end of the boathook. The line goes through a snap shackle block midships and back to the cockpit and made off round the genoa winch.
I can then just put the loop over the pontoon cleat from the cockpit as I motor in slowly, pull the boathook away from the hose, take in the slack on the winch. I can then fix bow and stern lines while the boat is held by the spring against the finger with the engine still in forward at slow revs.
The loop is made with a bowline back on itself so that the loop can close up round the cleat to stop it coming off. I'll take a photo of it at the weekend if anyones interested.

Only works if the finger is long enough though. If the finger is short you have to reverse in. Plenty of practice needed where you have lots of space!

 

[john_morris_uk]

I have always got away with dangling the loop off the end of the boathook! From the pictures, it appears that I need to invest in some lengths of hose.

I will be singlehanded into Kip Marina tomorrow so it will all get put into practice again.

The answer to the OP who asked what happens if it goes wrong, is that hopefully you can ferry glide out again and go round and try again... A bit of tide is a great help in these circumstances.

 

[PlankWalker]

The trouble with coming alongside single handed is that once your close to the pontoon and leave the helm and throttle and go for your lines, you are committed and to abort is not generally an option.

For this reason I am very much in favour of Blueboatman's approach, step ashore through the gate, if you've got one, with a line from the spring cleat and bring the boat under control.

I've tried dropping loops over cleats with and without poles but don't like it, whatever length the pole is when you come to use it ,its the wrong length, and if you miss your in real trouble.

Plank

 

[Blueboatman]

Writing as one who once put a bowsprit end into the glass of a wheelhouse window, slowly, inexorably, elegantly even, ( ok I was 16, and repaired the damage but it would always be a repaired door), I strive as a single hander to do nothing that would upset someone else's boaty day, it's just not fair-arrogant even, and gets singlehanded a bad name..
This is an excellent thread as all the individual ingenuousness gets offered up for sharing ..
Here's another tip then..
Fender and rope up ( ie bow, stern, spring) on both sides of the boat if you are not sure..and for a busy entrance I tend to get everything ready whilst still under sail, the deck remains steady and the coast is clear..

I still haven't made one of those loop on a pole things but they look like an excellent idea to practise with, as well..

 

[Boatman]

Does anyone use the one line approach? A single line from bow to stern (long Loop), step off and adjust one side of loop as bow or stern line while the other side of the loop is a spring. Boat has to been done at slowest possible speed.

The down side of this approach is when helpful people get thrown a loop they always start look for an end to tie off to the cleat........