Wafi parking

[Lon nan Gruagach]

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..."
$-)

From the commentary...
Currently we are using gps, as we get closer we will use sensors on the boat and on the dock...
So, the dock needs to be equipped with Volvo Penta EasyDock (tm) kit before hand. And when other companies release their own versions......

 

[dunedin]

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..."
$-)

I watched it, not when doing the actual docking (just after) but holding a geostationary position off the dock.
Whilst staying very still, was creating so much wash around it anybody else in the harbour would have their docking manoeuvres messed up (like the ferry does at nearby Lilla Bommen)

 

[Muddy32]

Presently in Roscoff, whose friendly marina staff seem to be always there with a motorised large fender [RIB] to help incomers into the difficult finger berths.

Logical and good PR. UK marinas would learn, especially the boat parks.

 

[Norman_E]

If you want to see some really scary mooring just come to south west Turkey. There are charter firms letting clueless crews charter anything up to a 62 footer! In Sogut recently a 57 footer with about 8 Russians on it came in whilst I was there. The wind was blowing gently towards the pontoon at about 60 degrees to the pontoon. They had plenty of space to come in dead downwind and get a bow line on without drama, but instead came in at a totally opposite angle and were promptly blown round against the pontoon, then tried to use the bowthruster, which was not powerful enough, to get straight, The restaurant staff did manage to get them sorted out but not before they had motored backwards when told to go forwards, and scraped the boat along the pontoon. They ended up pulled next to me and I was glad when they only had an early dinner and then left.

 

[capnsensible]

A midships line on a centre cleat makes nearly all parking a doddle.

 

[Mark-1]

A midships line on a centre cleat makes nearly all parking a doddle.

I wish someone would point that out to HMS Queen Elizabeth. They really make a song and dance out of parking up that Mobo.

 

[capnsensible]

I wish someone would point that out to HMS Queen Elizabeth. They really make a song and dance out of parking up that Mobo.

I think that if I filled my boat up with bombs, bullets and aviation fuel and knew that one day someone might shoot things at it, I might too....

 

[alant]

A midships line on a centre cleat makes nearly all parking a doddle.

So does a bow spring & driving against it, whilst helm is hard over trying to move bow off the dock.

 

[bedouin]

So does a bow spring & driving against it, whilst helm is hard over trying to move bow off the dock.

If the prop is not directly in front of the rudder the helm position doesn't have any impact.

 

[Cockaigne]

What is the point of this thread? I mean, what motivates someone to go online and sneer at other people's failings? Is the OP so perfect in every way that he has never made a mess of something he was trying to do?

 

[alant]

If the prop is not directly in front of the rudder the helm position doesn't have any impact.

Really? I used to park the Hythe Ferry the same way, a big power catamaran.
Same technique when parking a Thames Barge I skippered, where the prop was on the starboard side of the centreline.
As long as water is flowing over the rudder you have control & few yachts are so wide that the rudder will not bite if given enough throttle.

 

[bedouin]

Really? I used to park the Hythe Ferry the same way.
As long as water is foing over the rudder yo have control & few yachts are so wide that the rudder will not bite if enough throttle.

Okay - I should have said unless there is current / tide running.

Once you are tied up to the pontoon with a spring you aren't going to have enough speed relative to the land for the rudder to work and given LYH is pretty enclosed I would be very surprised if there were enough flow in there for the rudder to be effective once secured to the pontoon.

 

[alant]

Okay - I should have said unless there is current / tide running.

Once you are tied up to the pontoon with a spring you aren't going to have enough speed relative to the land for the rudder to work and given LYH is pretty enclosed I would be very surprised if there were enough flow in there for the rudder to be effective once secured to the pontoon.

You don't need speed over ground, you simply need water flowing over the rudder, which is achieved even when boat is effectively stopped. As mentioned, I used to park a Thames Barge in Ocean Village on a pontoon, which had a propshaft well offset to starboard. We came alongside starboard side too, bow spring on sharpish (plastic motorboat ahead), helm set to turn bow off pontoon/stern into pontoon. No chance of going astern, since bowsprit of Leopard was on our port side & offset prop would easily bring a barge weighing 100 tons + suddenly in Leopard's direction, brown pants all round.

 

[Elessar]

Coming into bucklers hard once - picture the scene - I was with a gang from work on a jolly day out, a know it all boss on the bow who said he could lasso and the rest of them on the fly giving their best advice - in an uninhibited way.
We were being blown off quite hard, and he missed. No bother try again. And again.
German man in cockpit of boat in front asked if he could help. We refused saying we were training.
So we went in again. And again. The advice got louder and louder between laughs.
I had people on board who could have lasso’d with their eyes shut and we would have been in in one. . But why would I. It was too much fun.
Eventually the German man tied us up with a harrumph despite our protestations to the contrary. . Probably thinking I couldn’t moor a boat for toffee.
We went to the pub to continue the fun. Laughing at the know it all boss and the German.

 

[Daydream believer]

A midships line on a centre cleat makes nearly all parking a doddle.

Not on my boat it doesn't always work that well. If the spring is more than 4 feet long it just pokes the bow in and the stern goes off at 45 degrees. If berthing on a short pontoon next to another boat that invariably means my stern hits the other boat which i really hate doing, fender or no fender.
if the pontoon is long enough then a stern line is best so i can motor against that and the pull brings the nose in nicely

 

[capnsensible]

Not on my boat it doesn't always work that well. If the spring is more than 4 feet long it just pokes the bow in and the stern goes off at 45 degrees. If berthing on a short pontoon next to another boat that invariably means my stern hits the other boat which i really hate doing, fender or no fender.
if the pontoon is long enough then a stern line is best so i can motor against that and the pull brings the nose in nicely

Try using a line thats less than 4 feet long. :encouragement:

 

[colingr]

You don't need speed over ground, you simply need water flowing over the rudder, which is achieved even when boat is effectively stopped. As mentioned, I used to park a Thames Barge in Ocean Village on a pontoon, which had a propshaft well offset to starboard. We came alongside starboard side too, bow spring on sharpish (plastic motorboat ahead), helm set to turn bow off pontoon/stern into pontoon. No chance of going astern, since bowsprit of Leopard was on our port side & offset prop would easily bring a barge weighing 100 tons + suddenly in Leopard's direction, brown pants all round.

Off topic but was that the Kitty? I hope you were not the skipper the night we did a corporate trip to Cowes fireworks and spent the evening on a slope firmly aground on the Bramble Bank!

 

[Daydream believer]

Try using a line thats less than 4 feet long. :encouragement:

In which case i would be tied tight to the dock anyway which would kind of make your post 25 a bit ???������

 

[bedouin]

You don't need speed over ground, you simply need water flowing over the rudder, which is achieved even when boat is effectively stopped. As mentioned, I used to park a Thames Barge in Ocean Village on a pontoon, which had a propshaft well offset to starboard. We came alongside starboard side too, bow spring on sharpish (plastic motorboat ahead), helm set to turn bow off pontoon/stern into pontoon. No chance of going astern, since bowsprit of Leopard was on our port side & offset prop would easily bring a barge weighing 100 tons + suddenly in Leopard's direction, brown pants all round.

Each boat handles differently - if I try that the engine drives the bow into the pontoon with the stern stuck out - I can see that wouldn't happen with a barge with the greater beam near the bows

 

[alant]

Off topic but was that the Kitty? I hope you were not the skipper the night we did a corporate trip to Cowes fireworks and spent the evening on a slope firmly aground on the Bramble Bank!

It was Kitty, but not me that time.
Think they also used a skipper from the 'pretend' thames barge in Portsmouth (Alice). Looks like a Thames Barge, but was originally a dumb thames lighter I understand. I moved on, when the owner wanted to use a non ticketed guy as 'skipper for the day', but still wanted me standing by him "just in case", at a lower wage, still nominally in charge. Worked hard for my papers & not keen on 'lending' them to someone inexperienced. Perhaps it was him, cos cant believe the skipper of Alice would be caught out like that, he was/is an excellent skipper & well experienced.
PS, the beauty of a Thames Barge, is that they can sit on the bottom when required or was the concern that the bar had run low?