Training the wife

Wansworth said:
Like a new car the first scratch is the deepest…..thanks for your good wishes and optimism 😂
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Most boat blemishes can be repaired.....it will give you motivation to visit the boat more often.
Also, if the outboard doesn’t bite....and makes docking precarious....then get a new, bigger one. It’s an outboard, easiest thing in the world to swap
 
Bouba said:
That’s up to you….but it’s nice to have a motor that stops the boat, starts it or changes direction effortlessly and instantly…my impression of sailing is that sails are only a small part of it
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The present motor is a 9 hp Marina,I think the best thing would be remote gear and speed instead of scratching about over the transome
 
Nothing to add, not even dodgy parking stories ( and there've been a couple. Bowsprits, it’s always bowsprits isn’t it?)

I think Mr and Mrs Wansey are rather looking forward to this new joint venture.

And it sounds brilliant😎

Just make sure the coffee and croissants are good for celebrating the safe arrival?
 
Slight tangent for... 'entertainment purposes only'.

Reminds me when we got our boat two years ago. Having to re-position the car and dinghy meant other half was going to have to re-locate the boat the couple of miles to our mooring. Neither of us had driven our own boat for over 10 yrs but without her input we were stuck.

Come the day she soon had the controls and lines figured and off she went (gulp). tho needn't have worried. I zipped around to the mooring in time to be confronted by a hoofing grt bow wave with lines ready and a boat hook jabbing its way in my direction. I dont mind admitting I was smitten with pride. A stiff breeze, rain and a mid-spring ebb didn't hurt her standing either.

Guess what Im saying here is women I often find are super quick to figure stuff out. Truth is if it had been me I would have probably been faffing about until we missed the tide.
 
Blueboatman said:
Nothing to add, not even dodgy parking stories ( and there've been a couple. Bowsprits, it’s always bowsprits isn’t it?)

I think Mr and Mrs Wansey are rather looking forward to this new joint venture.

And it sounds brilliant😎

Just make sure the coffee and croissants are good for celebrating the safe arrival?
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Have yet to build the galley!………my enthusiasm goes up and down😂
 
Wansworth said:
Why did boatbuilders and designer ers have an adversion to centr cleats.🙁
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Fit them.

I shouldn't say it but start a thread about it. Pictures showing the deck and inside the boat where you want them fitted will give good advice. Also walk around the marina and see whether a similar boat has them fitted. If owner is on board you could ask to see inside the boat.
 
Boathook said:
Fit them.

I shouldn't say it but start a thread about it. Pictures showing the deck and inside the boat where you want them fitted will give good advice. Also walk around the marina and see whether a similar boat has them fitted. If owner is on board you could ask to see inside the boat.
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I think the boat is 25 foot so whilst useful certainly on a larger boat I think they are possibly superfluous on a low powered ( outboard) boat that is unlikely to be out and or returning in anything more than very moderate conditions. The boat in a Maria is capable of being moored to a pontoon with springs and Brest lines from bow and stern. It may not be in the best traditions of the RYA and training manuals but the boat will be perfectly light enough to be able to be held and guided by hand when coming alongside.
If Wansworth thinks they are a good idea then there are two other options, if the yacht has a perforated toe rail then use that ( not as a permanent mooring point) to facilitate alongside manoeuvring. The other is the ones that fix to the toe tail or shroud base used in the same manner, I am not a fan and wouldn't really recommend them.
 
Boathook said:
Fit them.

I shouldn't say it but start a thread about it. Pictures showing the deck and inside the boat where you want them fitted will give good advice. Also walk around the marina and see whether a similar boat has them fitted. If owner is on board you could ask to see inside the boat.
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Good idea…..there is a sister boattwo berths along but no mods and it has an inboard engine.Hopefullly when the spring arrives we may cross paths🙂
 
No centre cleats on our Snapdragon 24, so I used a stanchion base for a centre get it ashore quick line. Snappies are built like the proverbial brick privvy, so plenty strong enough. On a lighter boat, it might be better to use a shroud base.

For me, going in nose first, with a fender on the pontoon, I'd be inclined to go in dead slow and motor gently against the pontoon, controlling the angle of the boat with the tiller until enough lines (may only be one) are tied off for things to be secure. If there's no remote throttle, I reckon that would be a good first investment.
 
Stemar said:
No centre cleats on our Snapdragon 24, so I used a stanchion base for a centre get it ashore quick line. Snappies are built like the proverbial brick privvy, so plenty strong enough. On a lighter boat, it might be better to use a shroud base.

For me, going in nose first, with a fender on the pontoon, I'd be inclined to go in dead slow and motor gently against the pontoon, controlling the angle of the boat with the tiller until enough lines (may only be one) are tied off for things to be secure. If there's no remote throttle, I reckon that would be a good first investment.
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That’s the direction my thinking is going this Dufour built before accountants reigned seems quite stout!
 
johnalison said:
I think that radio-assisted communication would be overkill on a boat of your size. A limited range of hand signals should be all that is needed, and she won't hear your profanities either.
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We thought that on 32’er both with reasonably good hearing. On a calm day only low engine revs and no wind it’s fine. Add in some noise and you need to shout - it’s quite difficult to do that without coming across as angry, especially if you don’t hear an acknowledgement and repeat yourself. It’s worse if wearing foulies with a hood up because the sound is obscured but also you can’t see facial expressions. If Mrs W has hearing issues then they may make a big difference (perhaps bone conduction ones?).

Hand signals are useful until you actually get to the point where the person with the throttle needs to actually do something - because it usually is the same moment that the other person is throwing/hooking lines etc.
 
Around here on the Clyde there are three schools of thought on berthing. The first school lines their crew up on the appropriate side deck and on a command from the skipper they all leap towards the pontoon holding berthing lines while the skipper puts the engine into full astern. The air is then filled with cries of instruction and for help as the crew fall in the water/over one another, tie warps to cleats and stop the boat or realise that the other end isn't tied to anything and the skipper removes more of his hair.

The other two schools sensibly follow methods as described earlier by Concerto where the crew remain aboard until the boat is stopped and secured to the pontoon. The available crew are disposed at positions where they can drop bowlines over the pontoon cleats. Each is holding a warp with a bowline knot already tied and the other end loosely tied to strong points on the boat. The skipper brings the boat slowly into the berth, and with the near side within inches of the pontoon, and puts the boat into reverse to stop it having first lined it up offset a bit to allow for the reverse prop walk. The only noise is usually from the skipper if they have misjudged their approach. This method is necessary in marina berths other than your own. If there are many available crew station one at each of bow, midships and stern. With fewer crew focus on midships, then stern.

In your own berth then follow Concerto's advice. Spend some time one day making up lines with a loop on one end over a cleat on the boat and the other adjusted to the right length tied to a cleat on the pontoon. You need at least 4 of them. A bow line, a stern line and two springs. Do this on a calm day when you are not going out. When leaving the berth remove all but two of the lines from the cleats on the boat and have someone on the pontoon arrange them for easy pick-up. I usually remove the bow line and one spring. Once every is aboard, cast off and reverse out, having the crew drop the lines carefully onto the pontoon. When coming back in, the crew use a boathook t lift th bowlines in turn, first the spring that will stop you then bow line then the rest. My wife usually does the first two nad I use my second boathook to get the stern line. Whoever is free gets the stern spring.

When I have been on other people's boats I am often told to jump to the pontoon with a warp. My reply is simple. "Not with my knees!"
 
winch2 said:
Slight tangent for... 'entertainment purposes only'.

Reminds me when we got our boat two years ago. Having to re-position the car and dinghy meant other half was going to have to re-locate the boat the couple of miles to our mooring. Neither of us had driven our own boat for over 10 yrs but without her input we were stuck.

Come the day she soon had the controls and lines figured and off she went (gulp). tho needn't have worried. I zipped around to the mooring in time to be confronted by a hoofing grt bow wave with lines ready and a boat hook jabbing its way in my direction. I dont mind admitting I was smitten with pride. A stiff breeze, rain and a mid-spring ebb didn't hurt her standing either.

Guess what Im saying here is women I often find are super quick to figure stuff out. Truth is if it had been me I would have probably been faffing about until we missed the tide.
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Just think of the second world war ,women are much more capable than men think or dare think!
 
veshengro said:
Serious comment for a change..Does the outboard have ' Kill Cord ' ? If so, it's a good idea to tell your Mrs that if anything at all goes wrong, stuck in gear, throttle problems, even if she gets confused for a moment, just teach her to pull the cord or press the button. I remember a friend's girlfriend ramming a rather expensive Trawler yacht amidships in Brighton Marina when she lost control of their rib !! Luckily rubber bounces and no harm done.
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No kill cord but a button,liaising with last owner on details of engine maintenance so will check
 
Bodach na mara said:
Around here on the Clyde there are three schools of thought on berthing. The first school lines their crew up on the appropriate side deck and on a command from the skipper they all leap towards the pontoon holding berthing lines while the skipper puts the engine into full astern. The air is then filled with cries of instruction and for help as the crew fall in the water/over one another, tie warps to cleats and stop the boat or realise that the other end isn't tied to anything and the skipper removes more of his hair.

The other two schools sensibly follow methods as described earlier by Concerto where the crew remain aboard until the boat is stopped and secured to the pontoon. The available crew are disposed at positions where they can drop bowlines over the pontoon cleats. Each is holding a warp with a bowline knot already tied and the other end loosely tied to strong points on the boat. The skipper brings the boat slowly into the berth, and with the near side within inches of the pontoon, and puts the boat into reverse to stop it having first lined it up offset a bit to allow for the reverse prop walk. The only noise is usually from the skipper if they have misjudged their approach. This method is necessary in marina berths other than your own. If there are many available crew station one at each of bow, midships and stern. With fewer crew focus on midships, then stern.

In your own berth then follow Concerto's advice. Spend some time one day making up lines with a loop on one end over a cleat on the boat and the other adjusted to the right length tied to a cleat on the pontoon. You need at least 4 of them. A bow line, a stern line and two springs. Do this on a calm day when you are not going out. When leaving the berth remove all but two of the lines from the cleats on the boat and have someone on the pontoon arrange them for easy pick-up. I usually remove the bow line and one spring. Once every is aboard, cast off and reverse out, having the crew drop the lines carefully onto the pontoon. When coming back in, the crew use a boathook t lift th bowlines in turn, first the spring that will stop you then bow line then the rest. My wife usually does the first two nad I use my second boathook to get the stern line. Whoever is free gets the stern spring.

When I have been on other people's boats I am often told to jump to the pontoon with a warp. My reply is simple. "Not with my knees!"
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It drives me crazy watching the local training boat crews leaping from boats like pirates....I’ve seen crew perched on boat railings so they can get that distance in their jumps
 
Bouba said:
It drives me crazy watching the local training boat crews leaping from boats like pirates....I’ve seen crew perched on boat railings so they can get that distance in their jumps
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A friend had a crew that chose to jump off over the pulpit in St Helier, leaving his leg behind and ending up with a nasty fracture that ended badly. I think that we skippers have the responsibility of laying down a no-jumping rule at the outset.
 
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