Training the wife

Practice lots around a bouy or something - it's quite confusing controlling the throttle with your right when sitting to port, then with your left when sitting to starboard. Easy to get flustered and it all descend into chaos.

As above - you'd do well to get outside help from someone who knows the drill. Happy wife, happy life and all that jazz.
 
Bouba said:
Let me give you one of my well tested theories on women...... unlike men, women thrive on going to classes to learn about things....I’ve known women to go to bicycle spoke lacing classes....my advice is to enroll her in a proper, official boat handling class. Don’t do this yourself....it won’t end well...for you
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We are in Spain! My experience of nautical training in Spain will give you an idea why the Armarda failed 😂
 
mikegunn said:
I would recommend that you do not step off your boat to take a line ashore.
Learn to throw a line, preferably fastened to your vessel amidships, over a dockside cleat and make off on your vessel. Once that is done you can safely step ashore, safe in the knowledge that your crew are not in any danger of drifting off, totally out of control and leaving you unable to influence the situation.
I have seen crews stranded on pontoons on several occasions resulting in chaos.
Mike
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Maybe a temporary post with a amidship line at grabbable height…….orcall the marina boatman!
 
In the same situation, I am the one standing by the shrouds ready to step off with the centre line, and my wife is on the tiller and engine controls.

I signal with hand signals port or starboard as I have a better view of the pontoon than from the helm and tell her when to cut power. No difficult controls to understand, just a normal morse control.

Do you have remote control on your OB or is she using the twist grip tiller and leaning over the stern for the gear shift?
 
ProDave said:
In the same situation, I am the one standing by the shrouds ready to step off with the centre line, and my wife is on the tiller and engine controls.

I signal with hand signals port or starboard as I have a better view of the pontoon than from the helm and tell her when to cut power. No difficult controls to understand, just a normal morse control.

Do you have remote control on your OB or is she using the twist grip tiller and leaning over the stern for the gear shift?
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Yes how I envision it….twist grip unfortunately……can remote control befitted?
 
Wansworth said:
I plan for her to practice going from neutral to ahead and astern whilst we are tied up
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Need a good bow fender on the pontoon, then let her take the controls whilst moored. Put in forward tick over or just above, helm across enough to keep stern into finger and enough to keep the bow on the dock fender. Ask her to push helm opposite way and see what happens to the stern, then return tiller to the previous position showing her how she can control the stern of the boat once in the berth. Then remove dock lines one at at a time while she plays with the helm to see how much control she has keeping the boat in place. Give her some confidence in doing that with no lines on at all. Then let put in astern just a bit to come off the bow fender, not too far, then forward onto the bow fender again using the tiller to push the boat back inline along the pontoon. Show her how she has control of the boat using the dock fender, engine and tiller and how they work together, Of course wind and tide can complicate things as can some keel designs but pick benign conditions and I'm sure that will give her the confidence to go further.
If that fails then just stick her in there yourself onto the bow fender, engine ahead, tiller locked into the dock and tie up at your leisure.
If engine is an outboard then life becomes so much easier with regard to pushing stern into the dock. You effectively have a stern thruster.
 
greeny said:
Need a good bow fender on the pontoon, then let her take the controls whilst moored. Put in forward tick over or just above, helm across enough to keep stern into finger and enough to keep the bow on the dock fender. Ask her to push helm opposite way and see what happens to the stern, then return tiller to the previous position showing her how she can control the stern of the boat once in the berth. Then remove dock lines one at at a time while she plays with the helm to see how much control she has keeping the boat in place. Give her some confidence in doing that with no lines on at all. Then let put in astern just a bit to come off the bow fender, not too far, then forward onto the bow fender again using the tiller to push the boat back inline along the pontoon. Show her how she has control of the boat using the dock fender, engine and tiller and how they work together, Of course wind and tide can complicate things as can some keel designs but pick benign conditions and I'm sure that will give her the confidence to go further.
If that fails then just stick her in there yourself onto the bow fender, engine ahead, tiller locked into the dock and tie up at your leisure.
If engine is an outboard then life becomes so much easier with regard to pushing stern into the dock. You effectively have a stern thruster.
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Someone suggested remote control would certainly be easier…might invest in a new pontoon fastened fender
 
Serious suggestion since you mentioned that your wife has some hearing loss. I have seen people using wireless earphone/microphone combinations to allow normal voice level communications from one end of the boat to the other. I have no idea of the price or how to judge quality.
 
greeny said:
Need a good bow fender on the pontoon, then let her take the controls whilst moored. Put in forward tick over or just above, helm across enough to keep stern into finger and enough to keep the bow on the dock fender. Ask her to push helm opposite way and see what happens to the stern, then return tiller to the previous position showing her how she can control the stern of the boat once in the berth. Then remove dock lines one at at a time while she plays with the helm to see how much control she has keeping the boat in place. Give her some confidence in doing that with no lines on at all. Then let put in astern just a bit to come off the bow fender, not too far, then forward onto the bow fender again using the tiller to push the boat back inline along the pontoon. Show her how she has control of the boat using the dock fender, engine and tiller and how they work together, Of course wind and tide can complicate things as can some keel designs but pick benign conditions and I'm sure that will give her the confidence to go further.
If that fails then just stick her in there yourself onto the bow fender, engine ahead, tiller locked into the dock and tie up at your leisure.
If engine is an outboard then life becomes so much easier with regard to pushing stern into the dock. You effectively have a stern thruster.
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Someone suggested remote control would certainly be easier…might invest in a new pontoon fastened fen
 
Wansworth said:
Someone suggested remote control would certainly be easier…might invest in a new pontoon fastened fen
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When we we lying in Granville last year, waiting for parts for our engine, a flash Italian came in in a big Cranchi flybridge, jumped off at the end of the first finger then drove the boat into dock with one of those DockMate remotes. Quite impressive
 
SimonX said:
When we we lying in Granville last year, waiting for parts for our engine, a flash Italian came in in a big Cranchi flybridge, jumped off at the end of the first finger then drove the boat into dock with one of those DockMate remotes. Quite impressive
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Above my pension grade…….did he have a medallion 😂
 
I would also second the suggestion to get dock lines set up at your berth, ready to be caught with a boat hook or even by hand. I have them on my berth for my 24’er when I SH or my partner joins me. TBH, at this size, it’s so easy to stop or move the boat by hand.

What is your outboard? Most outboards of 5hp or more will usually have connections for remote throttle and gears, but you will need a competent engineer to disconnect the tiller throttle and connect the remotes. You need cables with the correct ends for your engine make, but most control boxes are interchangeable. It would probably be easier to lock the outboard straight ahead and steer with the boat tiller if you have engine remotes. Ebay UK has lots for about £150 new, so I’m sure they will be the same in Spain
 
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Dellquay13 said:
I would also second the suggestion to get dock lines set up at your berth, ready to be caught with a boat hook or even by hand. I have them on my berth for my 24’er when I SH or my partner joins me. TBH, at this size, it’s so easy to stop or move the boat by hand.

What is your outboard? Most outboards of 5hp or more will usually have connections for remote throttle and gears, but you will need a competent engineer to disconnect the tiller throttle and connect the remotes. You need cables with the correct ends for your engine make, but most control boxes are interchangeable. It would probably be easier to lock the outboard straight ahead and steer with the boat tiller if you have engine remotes. Ebay UK has lots for about £150 new, so I’m sure they will be the same in Spain
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Ok thanks..it’s a 9hp Marina,yes steer with the tiller
 
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