Stern to mooring

[seanfoster]

I'm not sure which forum to put this under, but I'm sure someone can help!
I'm chartering this year for the first time in the med, I've been sailing for quite some time but never had to moor stern to.

There is a crash course in stern to mooring given by the charter company, but could do with a bit of advice before hand, can anyone give me the benefit of their experience of how to do (or not to do) this?

Any links to online videos would be great as you can learn a lot by 'seeing' how its done!
I've searched through google but not a lot has come up.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[prv]

Not hard at all.

First, pick your piece of quayside. Drop anchor opposite it - this is important, as otherwise you will foul the anchors either side (someone else still might foul yours!). Motor back towards the quay. A boatlength or two before you reach it, snub the anchor line until you feel it set, so that you can rely on it when needed. Then let it out again as you continue to reverse, but not completely slack. Once you are as close as you like to the wall, snub the anchor line again to hold you off. Keep a little bit of astern on to avoid bouncing back out, while you make the windward stern line fast, followed by the leeward one (no hurry with the leeward). You're then finished with engines and can fine tune your position forward and aft by adjusting anchor and stern lines together. Make sure you finish up with the anchor fairly tight so that you can't be blown onto the quay. Ideally you will have a gangplank to get ashore so that you don't need to be too close.

Many places now have lazy lines, which take the place of your anchor. The thick warp finishes on the bottom just short of the quay, with a thin pickup line running up to a cleat. Most such places have someone who will lift the lazy line for you - pulling on the pickup line which generally lifts the thick warp out of the water at a point which would be somewhere around halfway along the boat in its final position (obviously very location-dependant). You need someone on the quarter with a boathook (which quarter should become obvious as you approach - on many boats it's easiest to hover around the mast until you see which side the lazy line will be on and then nip down the appropriate side deck). Reverse towards the quay as before, except without a bow line as yet. Keep reaching aft with the boathook to grab the warp (or pickup line if necessary) at the first opportunity. As soon as you have it, lose the boathook and sprint up the side deck with the warp, pulling it in as you go. You want to be ready on the bow to snub the warp when needed; the rest of the procedure is the same as if anchoring. Some more girly individuals insist on gloves to handle the lazy line as it is usually quite slimy or barnacle-encrusted.

I've phrased everything as "you" - obviously this is easiest with three people, and requires two without substantial modification to the procedure.

Cheers,

Pete

 

[Richard10002]

Crash Course eh??

Part in jest, but surprisingly serious:

Anchor and dinghy ashore where you can, and get someone from the charter company to dinghy out to you when you return - let them reverse her in .

If you do decide to reverse in anywhere:

Make sure nothing is hanging over the side that can scratch the boats your mooring between, like a guardrail gate fastener

One school says lots of fenders, (this assumes your prospective neighbours have plenty). Another says just a couple at the stern, as the others will just get jammed in your neighbours fenders and stop your progress backwards. (I've made cock ups using both schools).

Find out what your prop walk does during the "Crash Course"

Did I mention anchor and dinghy ashore where you can

BTW.... where are you chartering from, and when..... you might get some good ideas for destinations, (where you can anchor and dinghy ashore), during your holiday.

Have a good time!!

Richard

 

[Rigger]

Not wishing to put you off, I did this for the first time in Croatia last year and I have to say it was the least enjoyable part of the holiday!! At least it tended to make us avoid marinas and town quays,anchoring off whenever we could. We were in a Bavaria 47 which was quite a bit bigger than what I was used to. I had a couple of hours practise with a chap from the charter company at the start but this was with no wind and a totally different kettle of fish when a cross wind was blowing. The essential thing is to maintain adequate speed to maintain steerage way. Try to position yourself parallel to the pontoon, approx 100 yds down from where you want to end up and approx 30yds out. Then reverse straight back parallel to the pontoon and once you have built up sufficient headway turn in preferably in the direction prop walk favours. Maintain your speed to maintain steerage. Most of the cock ups I made were due to going too slow and hence being blown off at the bow (which can end up with you T-boning adjacent boats much to the amusement of on-lookers!). A bowthruster obviously would help.
It all basically comes down to confidence and preparation. Crew with roving fenders are essential and I can assure you ,you will receive plenty of verbal advice from on lookers ,most of which it is better to ignore and stick to your own game plan. Having said that when safely completed its great to sit on deck with a sun downer watching others mess it up,you can even shout advice to them!!

 

[SimbaDog]

It's not as hard as it sounds!
Advice as already given is pretty much OK
Most important thing is to line yourself up straight with where you are going to go before you drop anchor, have a look at any other boats next to this spot if there are any, make sure they have not set theirs at an angle!
Also make sure you actually set the anchor down when you start reversing, seen a few people happily motoring back whilst slowly letting chain out only to finish up with their anchor about a boats length ahead

If you have a dinghy, remember to tie it off the forward quarter first!
Don't drop the anchor through the dinghy bottom, although that will give onlookers a good laugh.

Make sure your stern lines are led correctly & long enough, I always prefer to have one end made off & the lines through ring on quay so I can adjust or let them off from on board.

One other thing, do remember to tie the plank on.

If you plan ahead you should find it's pretty easy.


Have fun

 

[seanfoster]

Thanks for your replies, all very helpful!

I'm getting sweaty palms now just thinking about it, the thing I really cant stand, is an audience watching waiting for you to make a pigs ear of it! (which of course is guaranteed and makes you even more anxious).

 

[Delivery Skipper]

Med Mooring

There was a good article with photos & sketches in one of the Mags I read recently ( I think it was Yachting Monthly )

hope this helps Delivery Skipper

 

[sailinglegend420]

It's always better to try and come in between two other boats or at least upwind of another well fendered boat, especially in high winds or when you are short handed. Attach a mid line to the down wind boat first and then you have total control with your engine. You can then sort out the anchor warp and stern lines at your leisure.

 

[Heckler]

I'm not sure which forum to put this under, but I'm sure someone can help!
I'm chartering this year for the first time in the med, I've been sailing for quite some time but never had to moor stern to.

There is a crash course in stern to mooring given by the charter company, but could do with a bit of advice before hand, can anyone give me the benefit of their experience of how to do (or not to do) this?

Any links to online videos would be great as you can learn a lot by 'seeing' how its done!
I've searched through google but not a lot has come up.

Thanks in advance for any help!

PROP WALK< PROP WALK!!
test it first to see which way she goes in reverse, if its a big bav she will go to stboard.
Pick your spot, allow a bit of lee way for the wind, start out a long way off, engage gear and WAIT till she gets moving, DO NOT give it a hand full of throttle, WAIT!!
once moving she will then steer where you point her, once moving you have control and can use more throttle if necessary. About 3 boat lengths away from the quay shout to SWMBO, LET GO!! and concentrate on getting to the quay, when nearly at the quay shout to SWMBO, STOP!! Stop the boat with a big handful of forward, get a line ashore, preferably the upwind one, tied off, get the other line ashore, whilst this is going on, fanny with the throttle to keep you off the quay. Then go and help SWMBO to tighten up the anchor. Now get a large G&T and apologise to the kids and SWMBO for calling her a stupid woman and for shouting fecking all across the harbour several times. Once you have done it a few times its a piece off piss.
Stu

 

[KellysEye]

If you go onto the dock in a crosswind go down the line of boats and look at the angle of their chain/warp to the bows of the boats. Find a space and start upwind going back at the angle of one of the warps each side of you. The wind will push you down so try to hold the bows as much to wind as you can. Once your anchor is down if you gently snub the chain (don't stop the boat) it will help hold the bows up. Then just before you reach the stern of the nearest boat straighten up. This will stop you crossing somebody else's chain/warp.

 

[Tranona]

All good advice so far. Biggest problem is crosswind, particularly gusts which are quite common late afternoon. If it looks like it is going pear shaped don't be afraid to abort and start again - usually easier than trying to recover! If the boat has a saildrive like a Bavaria it will go straight backwards with little or no propwalk. Shaft drive boats usually have varying amounts of propwalk so check that out first. Steer facing backwards and have a good communications system with crew who are controlling anchor.

Lastly, don't worry about what people on shore think they all have the same fears as you! Unless of course they are Germans, who often have 10 crew and still cock up but collective laughter usually means everybody ends up friends!

 

[vyv_cox]

I can't say better than prv's first paragraph. Sums it all up very well.

Only additional points would be: keep the speed up. Watching other boats' cock-ups, perhaps 50% of them are because they are cautiously doing it too slowly. Put a big fender on the transom just in case, we use a round buoy type, then motor astern briskly. Approaching the wall but no more than about half a boat length off, motor hard forward or, if you are fortunate enough to have windlass control in the cockpit, stop the boat with that. Whichever way, then go back into reverse to allow the crew to step off and keep it there until lines are on.

On a modern charter boat you will probably not have too many directional problems but on my boat in a cross-wind it is very difficult to get moving astern in the right direction. I solve this by doing a complete circle astern, direction dictated by the wind, until moving at a reasonable speed, when directional control is more firmly established.

The other problem I have seen is in the estimation of distance when dropping the anchor. In Ay Eufimia a couple of seasons ago I saw a boat drop his anchor a long way out and motor quickly astern towards the wall. Boat suddenly stopped dead when the chain reached the bitter end. Crew standing on transom thrown in a beautiful dive into the water, still holding both warps.

 

[aquaplane]

One tip I had which seems to make sence, though I never had to use it.
If the prop walk takes over and the stern gets out of shape before you get enough way on to steer, go with it don't fight it. Go all the way round and you will have enough way on by the time you are pointing the right direction again.

HTH.

 

[morgandlm]

Stern-to mooring

Good advice in previous replies. If your chartered boat has an electric anchor windlass there are a couple of additional tricks worth knowing. First of all drop the anchor quickly by releasing the capstan - lowering it with the electric winch can take valuable time in which you slide out of position. Then you start to go astern whilst the windlass operator lets out chain - this holds the bow in line and you can then motor astern with your speed controlled by the anchor chain tension.
You don't need to get in a sweat doing this but a bit of practice helps. I found myself a bit of room without any obstructions and practiced doing it a few times without an audience and without anything to bump into. The key role is actually on the anchor winch, not the helm.
Have fun
Morgan

 

[Davy_S]

In Ay Eufimia a couple of seasons ago I saw a boat drop his anchor a long way out and motor quickly astern towards the wall. Boat suddenly stopped dead when the chain reached the bitter end. Crew standing on transom thrown in a beautiful dive into the water, still holding both warps.

I try to position myself in the Taverna right in the corner, in the afternoon when the wind gets up. I can see when someone hits the quayside and the mast wobbles, normaly the anchor is let go to late, a boats length out in 8/10 metres does not work very well! some yachts take three or four attempts to get the message. If they are on a flottila its ok, the leader drags the hook a bit farther out with the dinghy. (sad I know, but someone has to watch, it might as well be me!)

 

[vyv_cox]

It's not the easiest place to berth in the afternoons. The wind really whistles across the harbour sometimes. Two year ago we arrived in a big blow to find far too many boats taking shelter. Not only were both walls full, plus the little jetty and every other possibility, but all anchoring space was taken too. We anchored outside, taking lines to the breakwater, with stern into the wind. It was superb! Far more comfortable than inside.

 

[mobeydick]

Steer facing backwards

That is important. Many beginners try doing it by looking over their shoulder, like in a car, or face backwards with the wheel behind them. If wheel steering, organise yourself so you are facing in the direction you are going, with the wheel in front of you. MUCH easier

MD

 

[mikehibb]

Prop walk can be your friend or your enemy.

For us it used to be our friend, marina pilot boat would hand the lazy line. Then slip into reverse at tick over and it would walk its way astern and to port making me look like a super hero.

Then they moved our berth, yes opposite side, now it can be a right pain.
Trick now is to over shoot by a fair way, so that you can get some motion astern and some water flow over the rudder before we try to go starboard.

DO not forget if the back end is heading to port for example and getting too close (about to hit) anything, best way is to give a blast of forward, it will stop it dead.trying to steer t'other way and pull it away when at slow speeds in reverse does not work.

Also never forget, sticking it in forward and going back out to have another go is always better than cocking up big time.

No one will ever witness you slipping it in perfectly first time. Thats the law off stern to.

So never worry about going back out and having a second (or third) try.
Had three goes myself once, after we had eventually squeezed a quart into a pint pot sized birth one guy complemented me on getting into such a tight spot, said it normally took him two or three goes himself too.

If the marina has a pilot boat available (some marinas it is compulsory) then call it, no shame in a pilot boat helping you. A nice little nudge on the bow to swing it around can be very helpfull for thos of us without bow thrusters etc.

Mike

 

[dunedin]

Also, avoid the "bigger is better" syndrome !
If got a small crew stick to a smaller boat, at least initially - squeezes into tighter berths, and much more easy to correct minor errors with a bit of gentle pushing or fending.

 

[silver-fox]

I don't have anything to add to the techniques already offered except:-

1. Have a practice out in the bay where there is nothing to bump into, include a few figure of 8s astern that will teach you a lot about the boat and how she handles. Relax and don't worry. There won't be anyone in the port that hasn't already made all the mistakes you are worrying about and more besides.

2. If you feel its going wrong as you are on your final approach then don't be afraid to "bail out" and start again - as many times as it takes until you are happy

3. Don't be bullied by some know-it-all marinara taking your ropes -just ignore them and follow your plan.

At the end of my first trip in my current boat I missed the berth I was going for by a good 25 metres! Prompting the comment from my sister in law (along for the maiden sail) that she had thought "I was experienced until now".

After 3 more failed attempts the marinara waiting to offer me a lazy line went back to the office in disgust. Whilst my passengers were clearly perturbed at my evident lack of skill, I wasn't as I was learning a great deal about handling my new craft when astern in a cross wind. It was just a training exercise as far as I was concerned.

The 5th attempt went as sweet as possible, inch perfect in fact. My damaged reputation in my sister in law's eyes was even restored. We had no sooner moored than another yacht came in alongside us but bows first, and explained to us, as we helped with his shore lines, that he felt it was far too difficult to go in stern first in the cross wind and complemented us on doing it so well. (He had obviously missed the first 4 attempts!)

Good luck, enjoy your holiday and don't worry