Son of What Now Skip

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timbartlett

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The old-style What Now Skip was often accused of being obsessed with ropes.

So just for a laugh, I thought I'd kick off the new style WNS with a ropework question.
A mate of yours kept his first boat -- an outboard-powered 23ft centre-console boat -- on a trailer since he bought her about this time last year. But now he's decided to put her in a tidal marina berth.

The berth he's been offered is pretty conventional: there's a long pontoon sticking out from the shore, with 5 metre fingers sticking out from it at ninety degrees, with space for two boats between each pair of fingers.

He's never had a permanent berth before, and would like your advice on how to do it: should he park bow-in or stern-in, what ropes should he use, how should he protect them against "wearing out", and so on.
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It's an open-ended question and there are no right or wrong answers -- if you want to talk about how to secure to a cleat, the relative merits of kevlar and polypropylene, or whether something is a backspring or a sternspring, by all means do

I'll pick the most interesting answers and publish them in MBY, attributed to your Forum username, but edited if necessary for length, spelling, etc.

Enjoy.
Best regards
Tim
 
If you are trying to redefine established nautical terminology, I suggest that the mag believes the business of mooring alongside in marinas has only just been invented. :mad:

Berthing lines have very clear purposes, and very clear names associated with those purposes.

Springs
A spring prevents a boat from moving ahead or astern. The head spring stops her moving aHEAD; the back spring, err, BACKwards. A spring originating at the front of the boat is a FORE spring, and one at the back is an AFTER spring. So you can have the following combinations:

Fore back spring
After back spring
Fore head spring
After head spring.

Breast ropes
These run at roughly ninety degrees (abeam) between the boat and the pontoon. They prevent the boat from moving away from the pontoon, and again are named from the part of the boat where they originate. So a FORE BREAST rope runs from the bow directly abeam to the pontoon. And the AFTER BREAST rope goes from the boat's stern directly to the pontoon.

Head and stern ropes
These are similar to the springs in that they run from the head or stern, diagonally for'd or aft respectively. Their job is to help the springs, and to make sure the boat is located where you want her.

There has been some debate in the Boats that Built Britain thread about dumbing down. Please get the mags to take a clear and positive lead in using the correct terminology. Once people, and beginners especially, understand the FUNCTION of the rope (or line or hawser, yes they are almost interchangeable but with some slight tech attributes), and WHERE it originates on board, then mooring is a logical and safe process, and you won't end up with pontoon knitting.

I disagree firmly that there are no right or wrong answers to this aspect of mooring alongside (the same names apply to ropes used for rafting or towing alongside BTW). Proper seamen and women have been using the descriptors for centuries, based on practical, effective and uncomplicated use of ropes to make sure that a boat is held securely against a pontoon or harbour wall. The proper words are precise and clearly understandable; please don't let them be debased, for through sloppy language lies sloppy thinking, sloppy mooring and bloody or expensive accidents.
 
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I'm not going to get drawn into questions about ropes - I sense a new colregs/anchor/flag debate in the making. :)

So far as positioning goes, I'd suggest that he goes in bows first. It's simpler to manoeuvre in, and increases your options on departure, viz:

Wind coming from somewhere astern: boat won't weathercock going astern
Wind and tide coming from astern: ditto, in spades
Wind and/or tide coming from ahead: Just let go and drift out astern. Once clear, helm hard over and engage gear
Wind beam on: You're f***ed, anyway :D

My other piece of advice about mooring up and departing would be to get some practice in at slack water and on a calm day, before duelling with the Gods of wind and tide.
 
PaulGooch said:
Which direction does the tide flow Tim ? ie, does it flow in the same direction as the fingers "point" ?
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Roughly parallel to the fingers, but in both directions.

I'd rather not be too specific, but if it would help, then think of somewhere like Hamble Point, or Woolverstone, or Dart Marina.
 
sarabande said:
If you are trying to redefine established nautical terminology, I suggest that the mag believes the business of mooring alongside in marinas has only just been invented. :mad:
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No, not trying to redefine anything.

And when I was Technical Editor (in 1987-97) I certainly did not regard marina berthing anything particularly new or revolutionary. I doubt whether "the magazine" or any of its staff do now.

And I'm not trying to spark an argument about anything, either: just trying to put together an informative article, aimed mainly at those who are relatively new to motor boating and in a style that isn't "Tim says" but reflects something of the diversity of opinions that exist amongst those who go boating.

BTW, Thanks to everyone who has responded so far: keep 'em coming!
 
Great stuff so far.
Any views on:-
... Best type of rope?
... Protecting against chafe?
... How to secure to cleats?
... Spliced loops or bowlines (or some other knot)

T
 
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Ok, someone has to leave themself open to ridicule, so here goes. 23ft centre console, I would come in bows first, i would have a midships cleat on the boat, handy for centre console, i would drop a midship cleat rope on the outer pontoon, tickover forward, this would bring me alongside, I would use 12mm rope, midship cleat to each end of pontoon (springs) and a bow and sternline forrard and aft to pontoon, a bowline on all cleats, doubled over, ie a round turn. I see no problems with chafe, this could be overcome with plastic hosepipe if need be. prepares to be shot down!
 
timbartlett said:
Great stuff so far.
Any views on:-
... Best type of rope?
... Protecting against chafe?
... How to secure to cleats?
... Spliced loops or bowlines (or some other knot)

T
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3 strand nylon or polyester. Easy to splice, soft to handle, last well, inexpensive and has a bit of give.

Not had need to protect against chafe thus far. Although i am considering something for where the springs attach midships, as they do lie against the gel coat.

Two full figure of 8's and two twisted loops.

Spliced eye, no question. Five full tucks, snip 1/3 of strands and "weld" to standing strand with hot knife. Another tuck with remaining strands, snip another 1/3 of strands and "weld" to standing strand with hot knife. Final tuck with last few strands and again, "weld" to standing strand with hot knife. Leaves a nice neat, tapered splice that won't fray.


As for mooring, it would depend on the effects of wind or tide but in a mooring such as described, tide is likely to have a greater effect than wind, certainly with a 23ft centre console boat that will suffer very little from windage. A mistake often made in tidal moorings is to consider the flow of tide to be your enemy, on the contrary, it is most definitely your friend. Given that the boat is some five feet longer then the finger, it would be my preference to moor stern to, although would not always be practical.

As the approach to the mooring is made, hang a line from each stern cleat and one from the bow cleat, leading back to the cockpit. Position fenders at both sides and if necessary one at the stern.

Slack Water

Pretty simple stuff in a small outboard/sterndrive boat. Motor straight in between the rows of fingers, reverse into mooring, pass a stern line around a cleat on the pontoon, as close to 90° to the boat/pontoon as possible, and tie off on the boats stern cleat with two full figure of 8's and a couple of twisted loops. Same with the bow line, put the loop over the boats cleat, around the pontoon cleat and tie off on the boat. Any spare rope is then on the boat, not the pontoon and it's easy to slip the lines when departing.

A typical 5m finger will only have a cleat at each end, so the spring lines cannot be run from a centre pontoon cleat to fore and aft cleats on the boat. If the boat did not have a midships cleat, i would have told my friend to fit one. He can now put the loop of a line over the cleat at the end of the finger and run it to the midship cleat, pulling it tight to keep the stern off of the pontoon and tying two full figure 8's at the boats midship cleat, then running the line to the aft most cleat on the pontoon and tying off as before.

Tide Running

Two possibilities here, depending on the direction of the tide. He'll start the same way in either case, first thing he'll do is to approach the gap between the two rows of fingers where is berth is, bow into the tide. I've already shown him the art of ferry gliding, so he'll engage/disengage forward gear and possibly increase engine RPM slightly, as required to stem the tide. He can then turn the helm slightly towards the moorings and glide sideways between the two rows of fingers. When he's positioned opposite his berth there will be two possibilities here, depending on the direction the tide is flowing, his berth could be in front of him, or behind.

If it's in front of him he will now increase his engine RPM to slowly moving forward against the tide. A crew member will have put the loop of a line over the midships cleat and is standing in the cockpit, ready to jump off. As he eases into the berth the skipper once again stems the tide, whilst the crew member hops off and ties the line from the midships cleat to one of the pontoon cleats near the bow. Using the midships cleat, rather than the bow cleat reduces the amount the stern can swing out from the pontoon and the tide will keep the stern reasonable tight to the pontoon, more so if the helm is turned slightly away from the pontoon. As soon as the crew member has tied the line off, the skipper can disengage gear and hop off with a stern line, no panic here though as she's not going anywhere. All lines can now be tied off as above.

If, on the other hand, the berth is behind him, he can take the boat out of gear and let the tide push him back into his berth. Occasionally putting it back in gear, as required, to keep the boat straight and lined up with the berth. The crew member has put the eye of a line over the midships cleat and is again standing in the cockpit ready to leap off. As the boat eases back into the berth, the skipper again stems the tide and the crew member hops off with the line and secures it to the forward cleat on the finger. At which point the skipper disengages gear and jumps off with the stern line, once again, no panic at this stage as she's not going to move far. As before, all lines are tied off exactly the same as in the slack water case.

Footnote Regarding Midships Cleat

Some smaller boats won't have a midships cleat (most maybe) but might have a loop welded to a handrail stanchion around the midships area. A short line clipped here with a carabiner will suffice for the cases above where the tide is flow, to enable the crewman to hop off and quickly tie off from midships. This loop can then be utilised to attach springs by doubling a line in two, where the line doubles up, pass this through the welded loop, so you now have a loop of rope through the welded loop, then pass the rest of the line through this loop of rope. One end can then be tied off forward and one astern to form the springs. Best option is, of course to fit a midships cleat.
 
For me the issue of whether to go into the berth bows to or stern to is dependent on how easy it is to get on and off at the bow. With most boats, it's easier to board from somewhere near the stern where the freeboard is usually lower and where there may even be a handy bathing platform, so on that basis, I would usually go for stern to mooring. Personally I also prefer stern to mooring against short fingers because the aft part of the hull is usually straighter and sits better against a pontoon than the more curved forward section. Of course all this is dependent on the boat. If the boat was a pig to handle going backwards or carried a lot of windage, you'd bring it in bows to just to make your life a bit easier.
For the lines, I generally don't like short breast ropes because they are not long enough to have any give in them. Assuming stern to mooring, I would have a fore head spring (using sarabande's terminology) going from the bow cleat to the outer cleat on the finger, an aft back spring going from the stern cleat on the boat to the same cleat on the finger and a breast rope going from the outer stern cleat on the boat to the inner cleat on the finger. If the boat had a midships cleat, I would also take take a head spring from that cleat to the inner finger cleat. 12mm 3strand polyester sounds about right with some hose at any chafe points but I probably couldn't be bothered to do that as a 23 footer is not going to put much load on the lines
 
It's quite unusual to have a finger ponton longer than the boat, most the ones i've been given are about a third shorter, which means it's better for getting on and off the boat to reverse in. This leaves the bow protruding well past the end of the finger, so one tip is to loop the bowrope round your neighbours cleat on the other side of the finger pontoon to give a better angle to the bow, and help hold it against cross winds/tides. Usually your neighbour is in the same situation, so will do the same round your pontoon cleat.
 
Nick_H said:
Have many accidents really been caused by people using the wrong name for a piece of rope?
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I do doubt it, but it's a lot easier to say "can you let go the forward spring" than "can you undo the rope that goes from the pontoon up at the front of the boat to the metal thing at the corner on the back on the boat".

Anyway, as long middle-aged men and women can go around saying "Arrgh, me hearties" and "shiver me timbers" and such things, I'm going to say things like "let go forrard" and the like. :):)
 
grumpy_o_g said:
I do doubt it, but it's a lot easier to say "can you let go the forward spring" than "can you undo the rope that goes from the pontoon up at the front of the boat to the metal thing at the corner on the back on the boat".
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But that's kind of my point. Forward Spring would be the wrong term, it should apparently be Fore Back Spring, but if you call it the forward spring, or the front spring, or the rope that goes from the front cleat backwards, it's unlikely to cause an accident.

It sometimes seems to me that a section of the boating fraternity quite like it to seem a bit more difficult than it is, maybe it makes boating feel a bit more exclusive. I just think we should make it as easy as possible, and focus newbies minds on safety, not nomenclature, so more people can get out and enjoy themselves without feeling intimidated because they don't know the correct term.
 
My springs both originate from the midships cleat, so what are they called ? I suppose i might technically have a mid back spring and a mid head spring, but we always seem to manage with forward/front and stern/rear/back springs. If i ask SWMBO to untie the back spring, she rarely gets confused :)

I'm not a fan of dumbing down, but i'm also not a fan of making things unnecessarily difficult.

As far as i am concerned, my boat has a bow line and a stern line, along with forward and stern springs.

When did anyone here crew on a small pleasure craft casting off the fore breast rope and the after back spring. I'm sure no one will get hurt if the springs are removed and then the bow and stern lines cast off or slipped in the appropriate order.
 
Key questions are; which side is his fuel cap on and does the marina have a petrol pump? If not he will be filling up from jerry cans, so the side with the filler needs to be the side that ends up next to the pontoon.
 
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