singlehanding

[wotayottie]

Looks like I'm going to have to start single handing - the conditions that SWMBO will happily go with are such a small proportion of the available in our soggy and cloudy UK that I can see no real alternative. But the boat is 36 ft, I have a gammy leg and I'm in my 60s so I'm a bit nervous particularly of locking/ docking / mooring.

What are the tips and tricks - apart from the obvious of be well prepared?

 

[multihullsailor6]

Regarding the locking / docking / mooring situation I will find a nice clear spot of water, even outside the harbour, where I can drift in peace and put all fenders in place on both sides and four mooring lines all leading back to the cockpit. Have a boathook and maybe a "moorfast" system ready at the go if you'll be tying up to a buoy.

When mooring to a buoy I cast along the buoy until it is aft of the cockpit, then attach my catamaran from the aft transom steps, no need to run up to the sharp end to catch the buoy.

Take your time, use the wind as an aide and remember good seamanship.

 

[Neddie_Seagoon]

A system / plan for everything, basically have each action (unmoor, tack, gybe, berth etc.) worked out in advance. Don't overface yourself, if you can't cope with two sails then sail on one. Ensure you always have sea room before any sail changes. And learn to love your autopilot.

 

[dukes4monny]

Make sure that your insurance covers you for singlehanding too.....

 

[Gezzer]

singlehanded

I have a similar SWMBO so I can sympathise and I cant help much with the practical bits as I have often wonderd how, but not actually done it myself.

SWMBO and I use the technique where she steps off holding a sort of reverse spring that runs from the midships cleat on the boat, which she makes off to the aft pontoon cleat, I then motor gently forward but steering away from the pontoon, the boat will stay there all day like that, I can then step off and help her make off the rest of the lines, so I have often wondered that on approach if I could mangge to lasso the pontoon cleat I could do it all myself.

But anyway I watched as a guy came into the marina this Saturday evening that really got me thinking about giving it a try.

I saw him approach with nobody on deck to help, yacht about 38ft or so in length, he made a nice approach, very measured and Slow, there was very little wind, what wind there was was blowing him off slightly, and as it was coming up to low water only a little tide, also running against his approach.

I was about to get up and ask if he wanted help, but as he seemed totally un-fussed and obviously in total control I just watched from a distance.

Anyway at the appropriate moment he just stepped from the boat onto the pontoon, (the boat was in neutral with just a little amount of fwd way on), he
picked up a spring and stern line on the way that was made off to the rail, using the spring he slowly took way off, no snatching or abrupt stops, attached the stern line, moved to the bow, attached a bow line, all in slow motion or so it seemed to me, very impressive.

Only when he was made fast did the other two crew members appear from below decks!!, seems he just prefers to do it on his own. OK conditions on saturday were good, and it would have no doubt been harder at full tide flow and in a good blow, but is confidence and level of preperation really shone through,

But I guess if it looks dodgy you can always call up the marina for help, thats what my mooring neighbour does, he often leaves on his own, but generally calls up the marina for mooring asistance.

There is also a book called Short Handed Sailing by Alastair Buchan that may be of interest, I seem to have aquired two copies so if you want one, PM me and I will get it out to you.

Cheers and good luck

 

[PetiteFleur]

My tip would be use a centre cleat with a short mooring line, about three metres long. As you step onto the pontoon, make it fast to the cleat as tight as you can. Then, having prepared the fore and aft lines, led back to the centre of the boat, pick them off the lifelines and make fast - which one you do first depends on tide/wind/tide. Tidy up at your leisure. Always works, we always use the 'centre cleat' method whenever we come alongside. Have plenty of fenders out, try and go alongside on the side that when you go into reverse the stern kicks into the pontoon.
If you don't have a centre cleat you can get some that clip onto the genoa track(Barton) or another that bolts onto the aluminium toe rail(Holt/YS).

 

[jonjo]

I have clocked up a lot of single handed miles in the past 3 years with passages to Ireland and SW Brittany. Your concerns are focused correctly on the most problematic aspects i.e. the final 50 yards of the mooring maneuver.

Here are my tips:

If marina based start with 2 to 3 hour circuit and bumps day sails returning to your home berth.

Fender up the marina berth with some dock fenders and/or buy one of those expensive wrap around high density bow fenders as seen on about 10% of french boats but never available in Uk chandlers.

Trial my technique for departing from a marina berth which involves driving the bow into a bow fender, then put the helm hard over. At this point the boat is pinned to the pontoon and you can detach all warps at your leisure.

Buy two large ball fenders and when berthing fix one fore and one aft, these help square up the boat against a finger berth or a raft of boats.

Buy one or two mooring buoy attachment gadgets and practice hooking a buoy from midships or even reversing up to a buoy when conditions are tricky. Once hooked from a stern cleat you can then swivel the yacht around to a bow warp, but consider the intermediate swing and near neighbours.

Plan ahead to stack everything in your favour e.g. slack tide or the evening lull in the wind.

Badger harbour/marina staff into lending a hand since they are an under utilized resource for much for the year.

Buy a wind up kitchen timer because you will soon favour 1 long 18 passage to 3 day sails.

When you loose control, drift into trouble rather than power into trouble.

 

[shmoo]

My tip would be use a centre cleat with a short mooring line, about three metres long. As you step onto the pontoon, make it fast to the cleat as tight as you can.

I strongly echo this. Along with big bow and stern fenders both sides you can then hardly fail. With a center line on one of two things can happen:
1) the bow will drift away from the pontoon and towards the adjacent boat - no problem since you are fended. Of course the stern will come in too, again no problem - it's fended.
2) the stern will drift away from the pontoon and towards the adjacent boat - no problem since you are fended. Of course the bow will come in too, again no problem - it's fended.
3) there isn't a 3

This is not just for single handed either - we always do this two handed too.

 

[multihullsailor6]

There is also a book called Short Handed Sailing by Alastair Buchan that may be of interest, I seem to have aquired two copies so if you want one, PM me and I will get it out to you.

Cheers and good luck

Great book with many nice tips, take Gezzer up on his kind offer!

Roger

 

[gardenshed]

the marina is the most stressful part of singlehanding. Once in open water, you can plan and act/react as necessary, but once in the marina, you literally (and physically) have less room to maneouvre.

The best advice that I've received and used was to use a beast line first when going onto the pontoon, not a bow or stern line. I use a genoa fairlead and lead it to the primary winch (self tailer). When it is attached, you can keep the boat close into the pontoon and stop it going too far forward or backand although the bow and stern may swing in and out, with the fendetrs in place, that isn't a problem.

preference: swinging mooring using a dan-boy type float to pick up the mooring strops, making sure that it has a stick on it that is higher than the boat's topsides. I used to use one from a fisherman's chandlers that is cost €15: bamboo pole, chunk of lead on the bottom and a polystyrene float, originally intended to mark a string of lobster pots.

 

[Ludd]

Single handing

Live on board and do it all the time. Centre cleat is essential BOTH sides!Rig lines both sides before appraching marina,then you're ready for either side ,forward or astern approach. Drop line over cleat and back to winch ---power ahead or astern as required. Job done, everything else can wait!

 

[HoratioHB]

Can't agree more with the centre cleat approach. I often tie a large bowline, then back through the centre cleat - with enough slack that I can reach to bowline over the top of the guard rails from the helm. I then secure the other end from the cleat back to the genoa winch, which I can also reach from where I steer. Come along side and either get someone to put the bowline over the REAR jetty cleat or lassoo it as it comes abeam yourself (hence the big bowline). Keep the engine going slow ahead and wind the wheel fully away from the jetty ie port side to - wheel hard to starboard. You have an immediate fore spring and the wash from the prop going over the rudder pushes the stern in and the boat snugly alongside. The reason for using the genoa winch is it then allows you to adjust your fore and aft position without having to move. On leaving you can do exactly the same but make the spring a slip line so all other lines can come off and you only have to release one line from where you steer. Winding the wheel in the opposite direction will force the stern out and you can usually then simply motor out astern. If there is a strong wind blowing you on, you can rig the spring from the bow cleat in the same fashion (make sure you have a fender there as well) and with wheel/power you should be able to get the boat almost 90 degrees out before you reverse out, even in quite strong winds.
Using a short breast rope works pretty well as well but the boat may move a bit forward or backward as there will always be some slack and there may not be room.

CAUTION - for some reason, most people on the jetty always know far more than you and will insist on putting the line anywhere rather than the rear jetty cleat. I even had the Harbour Master in Dartmouth flatly refuse to do as I asked some years ago, which resulted in a rather messy and 'tourist amusing' incident. After it was resolved and I showed him what I was trying (and begging him) to do, he said ' cor thats a good idea - never seen it before'. No comment.
You also need to try it out on your boat, as no two behave quite the same, its pretty easy with a modern spade rudder just ahead of the prop but not so sure how well it will work with skegs and long keels etc.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Lots of good advice about mooring, however you need to think about open water sailing too.

If in a confined area, don't be afraid to keep the engine running when tacking in stronger breezes to 'lend a hand' while you are handling the headsail. Use the Autotack feature if your autohelm has it.

For longer trips, prepare food and hot drinks in advance.... and dont be ashamed to pee over the side rather than go below !!

 

[Landale]

and dont be ashamed to pee over the side rather than go below !!

FOWF - Flies Open When Found - a no no - get a litre milk carton and use that!

Remove milk first however

 

[KristiferColumbus]

Looks like I'm going to have to start single handing - the conditions that SWMBO will happily go with are such a small proportion of the available in our soggy and cloudy UK that I can see no real alternative. But the boat is 36 ft, I have a gammy leg and I'm in my 60s so I'm a bit nervous particularly of locking/ docking / mooring.

What are the tips and tricks - apart from the obvious of be well prepared?

Why not buy a smaller boat?Easier to handle single handed maintain & all the rest of it.Confidence is everything,no good owning a monster if you cannot relax on the thing

 

[VARNE]

"Kristifercolumnbus" has it [ trade down to smaller ] ,unless you have fairly frequent requirement for existing 36'.
Make sure your selection is a well balanced sailing boat that will sail herself near the wind, and with a nice motion in the water. This doesn't have to be a heavyweight, slowish longkeeler.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

FOWF - Flies Open When Found - a no no - get a litre milk carton and use that!

Remove milk first however

fair comment, this highlights one of the golden rules of sailing, especially single handed - take all necessary precautions to avoid MOB. ie harnesses are more important than lifejackets.

 

[bilbobaggins]

harnesses are more important than lifejackets.

Yup! They're cheaper, too, both before and after the event....

 

[jonjo]

ie harnesses are more important than lifejackets.

As a singlehander I value my lifejacket since I am most likely to fall overboard inside a harbour or with a 1/4 mile of the entrance.

 

[srm]

Have been singlehanding for 35 years - sailing yachts up to a 42 ft long keel sloop, and a
45 ft MFV.
My secret weapon for mooring is a steel mooring hook with rope attached that fits onto a 2.4 metre pole. Once hooked on pole pulls out and hook has a gate that keeps it and the rope attached. Have had it 30 years and am on 3rd or 4th pole. This allows me to secure the rope to mooring buoys, ladder rungs, marina eyes and most types of cleats. With walls and pontoons I always secure to the boat's midship cleat, and if neccessary use the engine, fishing boat style, to hold the boat against wall or pontoon motoring against this midship spring before stepping off to secure other mooring lines.
Rule number one - never step off (or fall off) until boat is secured by at least one mooring rope.
Having had an MFV I am not adverse to using springs and engine to hold or turn the boat when entering or leaving a marina berth as this helps keep everything under control. Have also been known to gently place the pulpit against a pier and motor ahead adjusting the rudder to keep boat at 90 degrees to pier while I get first rope ashore when faced with a strong offshore wind. There are lots of boat handlng tricks that you can learn by watching fishermen in boats without bowthrusters.
Am in my 60's and have just traded up to a 35 ft heavy displacement long keel cutter with 3 ft bowsprit and will continue to sail this single handed, including marina berthing. So don't trade down, just work out how to manage your present boat without having to jump on and off while its moving or not secured.