SimbaDog
Active member
One has crew to deal with things like that 
What do you say to people offering to take your lines?
- Thread starter snowleopard
- Start date
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
That's what I meant. You stop, you tie up - possibly quickly - and you get the kettle on.
Rigger Mortice
N/A
To be nit picky..........
If your crew had, as he passed the line to shore, told the person which cleat to use then the problem would have been resolved without any shouting.
Your crew did know what was planned?
prv
Well-known member
Rigger Mortice
N/A
True, but there really shouldn't be a problem with giving a simple instruction to somebody offering to help.
RAI
Well-known member
In the appropriate language of course.
Rigger Mortice
N/A
I had no idea idea how fraught with difficulty coming on to a pontoon was until I read this thread. Never again will I pass lines to others. Perhaps the only safe thing to do is to pick up a mooring away from the shore?
I must have been so lucky in the past.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
I used to spend time training people to work with children. My main advice to them was Never confuse what you expect to happen, what you want to happen and what you need to happen. I think that goes for sailing too.
Spyro
Well-known member
I also think a lot seem to have their mooring arrangement set in stone. There are so many variables without outside help buggering things up that to you have to be open to a bit of lets deal with it as it happens. I'm not saying don't have a plan and don't be aware of conditions but just be prepared for the unexpected.
Sybarite
Well-known member
Wouldn't it be so much simpler if finger-pontoons had a vertical pole at a convenient height at the end so that you could easily drop a loop over it which would be your guard, then motor slowly forward so that the boat is pinned to the pontoon?
Rigger Mortice
N/A
It would last about three days, then somebody would not drop the line fully down and it would be wrenched off.
BelleSerene
Active member
I think that's right. If you're prepared to get tied up as the passer-by enthusiastically likes to do it, then so long as there aren't any grave dangers (such as having the bow snubbed in hard) it can be easier to be grateful for the support and just refix the lines afterwards if necessary. And of course the closer you place the boat where she ought to be rather than relying on people to haul her around for you like a big dinghy, the lower the risk.
SamanthaTabs
New member
That's very kind but I think I'm ok, thank you.
Halcyon Yachts
Well-known member
I wouldn't tell my crew which specific cleat to use in advance (unless for example it was strong winds and you knew you were going to need a spring rigged very quickly), so neither I or the crew had decided which exact cleat would be used at the point of transfer... It was a long empty pontoon and we were slowly gliding along to get a bit closer to the hose pipe.
When I come alongside and when the yacht has stopped/it is safe for the crew to take the lines ashore I request "lines ashore". The kind of crew I usually sail with are very competent and know how to sensibly secure the boat once alongside - and if not then they would have been briefed...
On this particular occasion is was very benign conditions. The crew handed the line over to the enthusiastic helper before the yacht had stopped - we were all VERY surprised when as quick as a flash the recipient quickly made the line off!
The lesson here is not about whether the crew knew the plan, but about allowing someone ashore the ability to control your vessel. He may have had nice deck shoes and a Musto jacket on, but we shouldn't have assumed that he knew what he was doing. He was only trying to be helpful, but it is most help to ask or at least double check with someone aboard before you make off!
Pete
KenMcCulloch
New member
I think that's a bit simplistic. I have often found situations where wind and or tide effects make it close to impossible to 'stop in position'.
There is also another side to this coin. Sometimes you pass a line to an old geezer in deck shoes and Musto jacket, and when I ask what you would like me to do with it, you stare at me blankly.
Halcyon Yachts
Well-known member
So it was you!
Vega1447
Active member
I've used exactly this system for years now.
A strong steel post about 2 metres high, (of which only the upper one metre is visible) lashed securely (at several places on the lower 1 metre) to a vertical strut forming part of the framework of the finger.
I suppose that if I came alongside at 10 knots the load might come on the mooring line before the loop hits the "ground".
It takes about half a second for the loop to fall two metres to the ground. At 2 knots my boat has only moved half a metre in that time so why would the loop wrench off the post?
Seriously, the system works very well on a home berth..
dylanwinter
Active member
"bless you - that is very kind of you"
D
D
Rigger Mortice
N/A
If I am taking somebody's lines I never ask what they want me to do. I used to, but I soon learnt that*, all too often, they were unable to tell me and time often does not allow for that kind of non-discussion. I now expect either to be told what they want or I use my initiative.
When I am coming in I usually just pass my lines and invariably the recipient will do the "right" thing. Occasionally, if what I am planning is not obvious I will either ask them to do whatever is necessary or gently decline the offer.
Whatever happens, if (when!) it goes tits up, I take the view that it is down to me.
*I've lost count of the number of times that somebody is coming in and the crew, and sometimes the skipper, clearly have no idea what they are doing. Very often it is obvious that they are only too glad to get rid of the line and let someone else sort it out for them. Nothing wrong with that, we have all been beginners.
sighmoon
Active member
Me: Thank you, you're a very nice man.
Line catcher: Lady, actually.
Ouch.
Line catcher: Lady, actually.
Ouch.