Wafi parking

[Robin]

Juast spent 45 minutes watchin a Sun Odyssey 49 finally get tied up on an open hammerhead having failed crunchingly to get into a finger berth on the next pontoon. 3 guys including obligatory spare part with handheld fender running about. OK the wind was blowing them off the pontoon, but not super hard. All manoeuvres carried out by a sitting helmsperson on the twin wheels mostly using only a bow thruster, no rudder or prop kick. A spring line on from bow to a cleat back down the dock would have worked without any thruster but even when they finally got lines on shore they were still blasting the bow in and out and pulling hard on lines, not using guile /cunning

Now as one who after50 plus years of sail now has 2 engines and a bow AND stern thruster it is too easy to critique but jeez. My guess is this is a charter boat and the crew are very new to the game, leastways with a near 50ft boat .They are now parked where a 50ft plus Sunseeker normally lives and often comes back at all times, day and night, fingers crossed not tonight. Where too were the marina staff, no sign of them LYH by the way, we are moored outside of it just by the entrance.

Sorry if the crew read this and are offended, but hey guys that was not your finest hour.

 

[chewi]

Juast spent 45 minutes watchin a Sun Odyssey 49 finally get tied up on an open hammerhead having failed crunchingly to get into a finger berth on the next pontoon. 3 guys including obligatory spare part with handheld fender running about. OK the wind was blowing them off the pontoon, but not super hard. All manoeuvres carried out by a sitting helmsperson on the twin wheels mostly using only a bow thruster, no rudder or prop kick. A spring line on from bow to a cleat back down the dock would have worked without any thruster but even when they finally got lines on shore they were still blasting the bow in and out and pulling hard on lines, not using guile /cunning

Now as one who after50 plus years of sail now has 2 engines and a bow AND stern thruster it is too easy to critique but jeez. My guess is this is a charter boat and the crew are very new to the game, leastways with a near 50ft boat .They are now parked where a 50ft plus Sunseeker normally lives and often comes back at all times, day and night, fingers crossed not tonight. Where too were the marina staff, no sign of them LYH by the way, we are moored outside of it just by the entrance.

Sorry if the crew read this and are offended, but hey guys that was not your finest hour.

I am not accustomed to 50 ft. ers, but the Sun Odyssey series have twin rudders and single props on most sizes. You get nil prop wash, the rudders only work by applying speed. so if its a charter boat and they.ve never experienced that, it would be a frightening lesson to learn with someone else's boat.

 

[lpdsn]

Sorry if the crew read this and are offended, but hey guys that was not your finest hour.

Everyone has to learn.

 

[Robin]

OK some explanation there but our hero was steering with bow thruster whilst entering the haven at around 4kts, rudders work then, not when later trying to be more gentle on the throttles. It frightened us in case we looked a sutable option to park against as we are lying up/down wind in relatively clear water. A spring line would have worked fine even a single line off the bow or stern used opposite direction pull perhaps, it is a long hammerhead

 

[Robin]

Everyone has to learn.

yes, me included and I can cock up with the best., sail or motor.

 

[chewi]

OK some explanation there but our hero was steering with bow thruster whilst entering the haven at around 4kts, rudders work then, not when later trying to be more gentle on the throttles. It frightened us in case we looked a sutable option to park against as we are lying up/down wind in relatively clear water. A spring line would have worked fine even a single line off the bow or stern used opposite direction pull perhaps, it is a long hammerhead

not sure how effective a spring line would be with twin rudder/single prop/no propwash.
wouldn't it just push the stern out?

 

[Robin]

not sure how effective a spring line would be with twin rudder/single prop/no propwash.
wouldn't it just push the stern out?

point taken pull better than push perhaps so line off bow and use reverse. Having owned highly manoeuvrable sun legend 41 with single rudder, no thruster it is disappointing the newer models should have such configuration.

 

[lpdsn]

yes, me included and I can cock up with the best., sail or motor.

Anyway, wouldn't he be a BTAFI?

 

[bigwow]

I take it when you offered your shore-side assistance you were rebuffed

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

I am not accustomed to 50 ft. ers, but the Sun Odyssey series have twin rudders and single props on most sizes. You get nil prop wash, the rudders only work by applying speed. so if its a charter boat and they.ve never experienced that, it would be a frightening lesson to learn with someone else's boat.

I thought it was the smaller SOs with lifting keels that got two rudders?

 

[marklucas]

My wife and I were bareboating in the Dodecanese and enjoying a leisurely espresso before heading North from Panteli when a Sunsail hostie ran into the bar and asked if anyone could move a 52' yacht for her. The crew (of just two) had complained so voiciverfously that their inbound flight to Kos was late that deserved an upgrade form a 32'.

They were clueless, had never heard of prop-kick nor how to tie a knot but had to move their boat to let another boat out. Needless to say I managed to help them out, and speaking German, managed to appease the inside boat which German crewed.

They never managed to thank me as they were so embarrassed.

 

[Robin]

I take it when you offered your shore-side assistance you were rebuffed

Sorry although we were just 50 yds away as the seagull flies we cannot walk/run on water and by dry land is about half a mile just to the road into it . Their plight was inside the local marina, we are moored outside of it on a municipal pontoon. but with a view through the entrance. Rest assured had we been able to help we would have done so happily like we always do

Possibly there was a mechanical problem on board as there were sounds of hammering from below decks for an hour afterwards. The boat is still there this morning.

 

[Robin]

I thought it was the smaller SOs with lifting keels that got two rudders?

Me too though some very new latest design ones seem to have two, this boat does not look that new, not old but not brand new either.

 

[Robin]

not sure how effective a spring line would be with twin rudder/single prop/no propwash.
wouldn't it just push the stern out?

To add to my previous comments, propwash is one thing, propkick another and sometime a pita othertime very useful, ours on the W33 and SL 41 kicked the stern hard to port in reverse, just what the boat in question wanted to happen and was contrary to what actually happened when they bow thrusted, cos the stern went the other and wrong way -when bow was pushed in stern went out., action and reaction

 

[Stemar]

The perils of a big boat and small experience.

I do like my little 24 footer. As long as I can get a line ashore, which isn't normally too difficult*, if she gets a bit wilful, a tug on a rope will bring her back into line. When my mate's 40 footer has a strop, you pull on a rope and the damned thing just sneers at you and pulls back.



*Apart from the time the gear cable disconnected itself so the quick blast of astern to stop the boat actually gave full ahead ...

 

[AndrewfromFal]

I am not accustomed to 50 ft. ers, but the Sun Odyssey series have twin rudders and single props on most sizes. You get nil prop wash, the rudders only work by applying speed. so if its a charter boat and they.ve never experienced that, it would be a frightening lesson to learn with someone else's boat.

The Sun Odyssey 49 is not a twin rudder boat, - twin rudders are a feature of their more recent models, but not this one.

 

[doug748]

The solution is at hand:

"The unveiling of the pioneering self-docking yacht technology is the latest in what Volvo Penta calls their ‘Easy Boating’ philosophy – aimed at making boating simple and accessible to more people..."
$-)

 

[Quandary]

I thought it was the smaller SOs with lifting keels that got two rudders?

Helped one of those through the Canal a while back, had to walk it in and out of every lock on a windless day, skipper was so used to it that he was not even slightly embarassed.

 

[Daydream believer]

even a single line off the bow used opposite direction pull perhaps, it is a long hammerhead

I often watch mobos come into locks and the first thing they do is tie the bow making the bow thruster totally useless.
i often wonder why they do not just stick the nose out a bit, reverse the stern in enough to get a line on then bring the bow in with the thruster or by just motoring ahead
or does that not work on a mobo

 

[Guise]

The solution is at hand:

"The unveiling of the pioneering self-docking yacht technology is the latest in what Volvo Penta calls their ‘Easy Boating’ philosophy – aimed at making boating simple and accessible to more people..."
$-)

Love it. Will it work on a long keeler with a variable pitch propellor, now that would be something else!