erbster
Well-Known Member
My 19' boat does not have guard rails and it would be very hard to stow a 5' plank. However, two shorter planks could be hidden below without impinging on the accommodation.
Tying up to harbour walls.
- Thread starter john_morris_uk
- Start date
Babylon
Well-Known Member
Can a 5' plank not be stowed under one of your saloon-berth cushions?
Make it a bit thinner than usual (1/2" rather than 3/4"), but wider (say 12") to retain strength (some degree of flex is okay)? Even consider making it from plywood?
When stowing, wrap it in an old sail-bag to keep any muck off the upholstery.
Blueboatman
Well-Known Member
Re Erbster.
Well done thus far! These things just get refined ,I hope the gelcoat polished out easily and discretely .
You might like to try this .. Two fender boards which need only be 18mm ply on a 20 footer. Tie em to the mast/bow and cabin top handle/winch/stern cleat respectively, with your posh fenders between board and hull. Then tie old/discarded/knackered fenders to the other ( wall) side of the fender boards.
This keeps the scratching , the scraping ' noises' and the muck from a weedy low tide wall... Firmly on the disposable fenders bits ..
In theory if you use long spring warps and tension them enough( with weights or water filled cans/4l milk cartons) the boat will always be kept 'sprung off ' the wall anyway . In theory . Difficult with big tide range though
Another trick is to lay out a wee anchor side on , again with a mid weighted warp, the catenary draws the boat away from the wall .. Or use a part chain part warp rode.
All sounds like ' work' but well worth it..
Bilbos use of chain loops v sensible ..
Well done thus far! These things just get refined ,I hope the gelcoat polished out easily and discretely .
You might like to try this .. Two fender boards which need only be 18mm ply on a 20 footer. Tie em to the mast/bow and cabin top handle/winch/stern cleat respectively, with your posh fenders between board and hull. Then tie old/discarded/knackered fenders to the other ( wall) side of the fender boards.
This keeps the scratching , the scraping ' noises' and the muck from a weedy low tide wall... Firmly on the disposable fenders bits ..
In theory if you use long spring warps and tension them enough( with weights or water filled cans/4l milk cartons) the boat will always be kept 'sprung off ' the wall anyway . In theory . Difficult with big tide range though
Another trick is to lay out a wee anchor side on , again with a mid weighted warp, the catenary draws the boat away from the wall .. Or use a part chain part warp rode.
All sounds like ' work' but well worth it..
Bilbos use of chain loops v sensible ..
Scotty_Tradewind
Well-Known Member
Probably not.
The large forward fender you were kindly lent probably had a small amount of grit or crustations on it which came directly in contact with your topsides.
Fender boards will protect your fenders and spread the load, but if your fenders are already dirty or have grit etc. on them they will obviously still damage the gel.
The answer is clean fenders and boards the right length to suit your boat.
We went to quite a few harbours and through the Crinan and Caledonian canals last year and didn't bother with boards. Instead we used many clean OLD fenders.
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oldbilbo
...
There's a solution which might just be suitable.....
Have two short planks. Drill holes in two short edges to act like 'laces holes' in shoes. Weave a cord in and out as you would with criss-cross shoelaces. This gives the facility to fold.
Where you would have used 3 fenders on a 5' or 6' long board, this would require 4 - but that's not usually a problem.
"Is that strong enough", I hear someone ask. That's the way rudders are hung on the back of Wharram catamarans, large and small, and they stay attached across oceans.
prv
Well-Known Member
BruceDanforth
Well-Known Member
There are not that many marinas round here. Some of the small harbours like Craster are very nice with the wind from the right direction so no swell works in but they dry completely and also require a good plank. Not much chance of anyone coming alongside.
Romeo
Well-Known Member
On the Forth almost all my cruising in my small boat involves being alongside harbour walls, mostly drying. I carry a tyre to use as a fender (some folk with plastic topside might cringe at this... my painted wooden topsides do not seem to mind). I also have two heavy lumps of ballast which have rings on them. These hang on the bow and stern lines, keeping us alongside, damping any surge, and helping to ensure that we lie into rather than away from the wall when we take the ground.
ffiill
Well-Known Member
Yes I used to keep my boat in Rothesay inner harbour up against the wall-just occasionally it would hang out but usually the old sash weights attached to the lines and mast rope kept her up against the wall.
Only problem was she caught a mild dose of gribbles which had been kept at bay in the past by spreading quick lime on the mud at low tide.
Oh the fun of lying on a piece of plywood floating on the mud to antifoul whilst being watched by an army of crabs!
chrishelen
N/A
Always feel a bit vunerable tied to a wall, from the late night looneys that is.
Blueboatman
Well-Known Member
One for SaraBande..
Aye, aye, 'you gotta ac_centuate the positive....'' accents n all ( Estuarine smilee)
Aye, aye, 'you gotta ac_centuate the positive....'' accents n all ( Estuarine smilee)
LadyInBed
Well-Known Member
I use a 6-7ft length of 4x2, tied to one of the mizzen stays when not in use. (Boat is 33ft).
erbster
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the suggestions one and all. My priority will be for something which is a) stowed below and b) acceptable to SWMBO. next time, I'll be ready.
There was not much danger of late night loons that night due to the subzero temps and the f5 easterly. Barmouth was strangely quiet that night...
Did I mention that, as well as the harbourmaster and fishing boat skipper, someone came and said we were welcome to use the toilets and showers in the sailing club directly opposite.
The gelcoat scratches are yet to be dealt with. They will remind me to do it differently next time. For me, part of the attraction of sailing is to "get away from it all", so more harbour walls are called for...
There was not much danger of late night loons that night due to the subzero temps and the f5 easterly. Barmouth was strangely quiet that night...
Did I mention that, as well as the harbourmaster and fishing boat skipper, someone came and said we were welcome to use the toilets and showers in the sailing club directly opposite.
The gelcoat scratches are yet to be dealt with. They will remind me to do it differently next time. For me, part of the attraction of sailing is to "get away from it all", so more harbour walls are called for...
NickRobinson
Well-Known Member
Brid harbour in a bilge keeler, tied up as directed to a fishing boat- next morning fishing boat had gone out during the night, we found ourselves neatly tied to the wall, , breasts, long lines 'n all!
Didn't know whether to be aggrieved at being treated like cargo or impressed with the courtesy....
N
Didn't know whether to be aggrieved at being treated like cargo or impressed with the courtesy....
N
Angele
Well-Known Member
Why do many people tie up to harbour walls either infrequently or never? For some it is simply a case of a lack of opportunity.
Recognising this is probably very different in the West Country or in Scotland, but I'm actually struggling to think of anywhere in the Solent where the harbour master will actually allow you to come alongside a harbour wall, rather than tie up to a pontoon (or posts or buoys), for anything other than the briefest of stays.
I once did it in Yarmouth, but we had to argue with the berthing master to allow us. He only relented when we explained that we were transferring a crewmember with a suspected heart attack to a waiting ambulance (fortunately it was nothing of the sort) in the days before any of the pontoons were walk ashore. I think they have since put a pontoon against the wall in that part of the harbour.
Apart from Yarmouth, I'm stumped.
Recognising this is probably very different in the West Country or in Scotland, but I'm actually struggling to think of anywhere in the Solent where the harbour master will actually allow you to come alongside a harbour wall, rather than tie up to a pontoon (or posts or buoys), for anything other than the briefest of stays.
I once did it in Yarmouth, but we had to argue with the berthing master to allow us. He only relented when we explained that we were transferring a crewmember with a suspected heart attack to a waiting ambulance (fortunately it was nothing of the sort) in the days before any of the pontoons were walk ashore. I think they have since put a pontoon against the wall in that part of the harbour.
Apart from Yarmouth, I'm stumped.
john_morris_uk
Well-Known Member
The last few times I have sailed in the Solent its been on large yachts (ie 55 feet or 67 feet long with nearly 3 metre draft) so my knowledge isn't very up to date. I do remember tying up to the harbour wall in the Camber years ago. For many years no-one came to collect harbour dues either which was all very convenient.
After the Camber (which probably isn't available any more!) I too am stumped for a harbour you can tie up to a wall in unless you get further afield than the Solent and Soton water etc.
trevorr
Well-Known Member
Same happened to me in Brid years ago, except I got neatly tied up unable to reach a ladder, no way to get off until the tide came back in.!!
Trev
DJE
Well-Known Member
Bosham Quay? And for us little uns theres Titchfield Haven and Ashlett Quay.
SamanthaTabs
Well-Known Member
Best one ever was a tiny fishing village off the north coast of Spain a few years ago. Not planned to stop but, suffering from terrible ice cream food poisoning, we had to go in.
Pilot book said avoid, once in loads of fishermen helped me with lines, gave loads of advice about rigging due to swell through my then limited Spanish and sign language and couldn't have been friendlier.
We were something of an attraction, countless people coming to take a peek.
No charge of course and spent the evening (feeling better at this point) in the fishermen s bar eating grilled steak and watching the World Cup. Spain won, it was a good event
I've yet to experience it but the Boss Man says in Greece we will often tie up to town quays etc, look forward to that next year!
Pilot book said avoid, once in loads of fishermen helped me with lines, gave loads of advice about rigging due to swell through my then limited Spanish and sign language and couldn't have been friendlier.
We were something of an attraction, countless people coming to take a peek.
No charge of course and spent the evening (feeling better at this point) in the fishermen s bar eating grilled steak and watching the World Cup. Spain won, it was a good event
I've yet to experience it but the Boss Man says in Greece we will often tie up to town quays etc, look forward to that next year!
