Whats The Attraction In Backing in.

[MapisM]

The excit from the pontoon involving bashing the arse end onto the pontoon untill it finally escapes, when it thankfully can now perform.

Urgh, I'd suggest anyone who can only exit from a pontoon berth in such manner to never go cruising in the Med.
The owners of boats moored nearby might not appreciate the application of such technique when it's their hull which get bashed, rather than the pontoon...

 

[gravygraham]

Bow in . . .

Also, there's another issue with bow first berthing which no one's mentioned and that's the bl**dy anchors projecting out at head height over the pontoon. Some boaters seem not to consider this. Perhaps these vessels are crewed by dwarves.

Graham

 

[oceanfroggie]

Also, there's another issue with bow first berthing which no one's mentioned and that's the bl**dy anchors projecting out at head height over the pontoon. Some boaters seem not to consider this. Perhaps these vessels are crewed by dwarves.

That's what a spring is for - to protect non-dwarves

 

[oceanfroggie]

Quiet agree, don't know why people often insist on backing in often giving them trouble in winds. Many pontoons are actually shaped for the bow and not for the straight stern side of a cruiser. I find it far easier backing out than backing in! but then I have no bow thruster and 11.5 mtr boat. The privacy thing is also a bonus coming in bow first.

Our master cabin is aft with large bed level windows on the transom which is another reason for bow in as well as cockpit privacy. Also the view out to water is nicer than looking at the pontoon or harbour wall.

 

[Andrew38]

Reversing In

Whilst it makes sense to reverse in because of having steps at the stern of the boat the main reason is windage. With the Brooms in particular if the wind starts blowing and you're bow in the very high rear 1/3 of the boat is going to make a fantastic sail! It'll certainly test your lines. Stern in, the area with the least wind resistance is exposed and there will certainly be more shore cleats to tie the stern to thus ensuring she stays where she's put.

Like so many things in life, practice makes perfect. In low wind conditions I'd expect to reverse in without using a bow thruster but years on the Thames does force a lot of practice of close quarter manoeuvering

 

[Who]

I always moor Blunt end in. Bow thruster very useful for mooring stern to, it just makes the whole thing a doddle

Far more sociable and hard to get on the finger pointy end in.

Also more importantly, easy to invite people over for a snifter.

Also very useful when one engine failed to start, like yesterday. Zero low speed steerage with one engine, but still just managed to reverse into berth, Impossible to do without a thruster.

30 Miles all the way back from North Devon at 5 Knots. Took 6 hours on a calm stunning day.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Stern in or bow in, whatever suits folks, horses for courses. Can't we drive our boats or not? It's easy stern in or bow in, wind or no wind once one has learned basic handling skills. Fuss and nonsense

 

[benjenbav]

Actually, this picture shows why I berth stern-to in my home berth. Not saying I'd do the same everywhere or that it's right for everyone:

As can be seen, the finger extends only a little way beyond the blue fender which means that, if berthed bow-to, then anyone wanting to egress from the vessel would need to climb over the rails and jump about four feet down to the pontoon rather than step aboard as is possible at the stern. Anyone wanting to gain access from the pontoon would probably need climbing gear.

The round white fender, I hear you ask? Just to stop anyone else who might be struggling to berth stern-to from sideswiping me!

 

[DAKA]

Yes I know some bigger boats have to do it some places, else they cant get off. But MF is about 40ft long and nearly always fits in forwards.

Snowgooses photo above is a great snap to show demonstrate my post, look at the funnel shape gap he has left between his bow and his own pontoon, the gap the other side would be enormous, well done Benjenbav .

In my opinion it would be more polite for you to stern into a finger berth for your neighbours benefit.

If I was coming in along side you in say a F5-6 cross wind I would prefer the funnel shape opening to aim at.

If you were bow first, there would be a very small gap for me to get into and chances are I would take your other davit off

The technique for safe finger berthing in strong cross winds includes rolling along a well fendered bow gunwale.

 

[benjenbav]

In my opinion it would be more polite for you to stern into a finger berth for your neighbours benefit.

If I was coming in along side you in say a F5-6 cross wind I would prefer the funnel shape opening to aim at.

If you were bow first, there would be a very small gap for me to get into and chances are I would take your other davit off

The technique for safe finger berthing in strong cross winds includes rolling along a well fendered bow gunwale.

Thanks DAKA: hence the similar fendering on t'other side in my pic.

 

[mjf]

Yes I know some bigger boats have to do it some places, else they cant get off. But MF is about 40ft long and nearly always fits in forwards. Last week in Conarfon, Mark saw us coming, so found us the most impossible berth. A local had gone away for a few days, So he gave us his berth. (HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT HIS COMING BACK)There was so much clutter and steps on the pontoon. The cleat could not be lassoed. It was nearly impossible to get a rope round the cleat from on the pontoon.

Anyway.

After cruising around for the last........ week.... dunno, maybe more. We stayed in Conwy, glorious sun, watching the antics.

Observations.

Tuther boats big and small, go out and come back two hours later.

There is a load of noise, banging and crashing as they come back. Bit same as when they went out. Bow thruchers thrutching and folk jumping about, like long jump training for the Olympics.

The bow thrucher seems to be used as some sort of steering wheel, which of course it is not. The excit from the pontoon involving bashing the arse end onto the pontoon untill it finally escapes, when it thankfully can now perform.

Backing onto a finger is very difficult even with a thrutcher. Getting off it forwards is also difficult. Whats the attraction and why jump about.

Tuther observation.

Why do raggies go ten times faster backwards in a marina, than they ever go forwards at sea.

Well until a couple of weeks ago I had no choice - 12m boat and 9m of wood.

Even offered a hammerhead - marina wanted another £2K/pa for 8m of wooden pontoon.

 

[CX54WEK]

We have always moored strern in on our home berth for no other reason than to be sociable. Our finger pontoon is longer than our boat so if we did choose to moor bow in it wouldnt be a problem either. We only have the one engine and we dont have a bow thuster (no need really on a 25ft boat) yet we have found how out boat reacts and use it to our advantage. It all comes down to practice.

 

[Tidnock]

Is the decision not down to;
Conditions
Who is on the boat (including pets)
How long you are going to leave the boat until you next use it
Are you going to caravan for a while or leave on the next tide
How many peeps are watching you making a balls of it

 

[CX54WEK]

Is the decision not down to;
Conditions
Who is on the boat (including pets)
How long you are going to leave the boat until you next use it
Are you going to caravan for a while or leave on the next tide
How many peeps are watching you making a balls of it

That never even comes into it for us we just, as a matter of course moor her stern in. The only time we moor it the other way is when we need to wash it down but then we swiftly turn it back around before the beer starts to flow and one of us just walks off the back!!

 

[ricky_s]

I think after some of the comments on here I am going to reconsider stern mooring if it is very windy.

Often struggle to get the nose in the right place on windy days when backing in, but should go in no problem nose in.

Will get one of the dock fenders now though so I have something to aim at.

 

[CX54WEK]

I think after some of the comments on here I am going to reconsider stern mooring if it is very windy.

Often struggle to get the nose in the right place on windy days when backing in, but should go in no problem nose in.

Will get one of the dock fenders now though so I have something to aim at.

Dont know how tight your berths are but we have found with ours (plenty of room between adjacent berths) that we have enough room to square her up with a touch of forwards again if the nose has wandered off course.

 

[westernman]

I think after some of the comments on here I am going to reconsider stern mooring if it is very windy.

Often struggle to get the nose in the right place on windy days when backing in, but should go in no problem nose in.

Will get one of the dock fenders now though so I have something to aim at.

Our boat will go where it wants to when going backwards - which almost never coincides with were I want to go. We always moor stern to, and the normal conditions in our marina mean we usually have a strongish cross wind blowing away from the pontoon (and the prop walk in reverse is the wrong way too!)

So to park, I generally turn very early in the fairway to as close as parallel to my berth as conditions will allow, hold that station while the wind blows me sideways down the fairway until I get to the end of our pontoon - I reverse up very close to the pile on the end so that the crew can get a warp from the bows over it. I then use the prop wash in forward gear to put the stern where I want it, and then push forwards against the warp to swing the bows back into line as often as I need to, while gradually inching back into the berth.

It draws the crowds (and only once did I rub the paint off the rubbing strake)! I reckon on a weekend in August I have up to 100 spectators. (and not one who knows where to tie up a mooring line).

 

[ricky_s]

Dont know how tight your berths are but we have found with ours (plenty of room between adjacent berths) that we have enough room to square her up with a touch of forwards again if the nose has wandered off course.

Our pontoon is about the same length as the boat. Normally I approach close to starboard and swing out at the last moment to get the stern in the right place.

Then I go back right hand down which works well with my set up.

The going forward bit to tidy up works well unless the wind is blowing hard enough to not be able to recover the nose. Then it is only the fenders that save me.

 

[Seahope]

Is the decision not down to;
<snip>
How many peeps are watching you making a balls of it

That is certainly a reason why SWMBO won't practice berthing our boat; with a beer 'garden' full of people watching she prefers to leave it to me.

I still make a bit of hash of it in our marina as the boat doesn't seem to go backwards in a straight line and the prevailing wind always seems to blow the bow off and the current usually pushes us to the empty adjacent berth. I still have not got the experience to cope with this and don't have a bow thruster to fall back-on. When ending up in the adjacent berth we secure the boat and when ready manually pull the boat across to where it should be.

I am beginning to think going in forwards is the sensible option.

When visiting Lymington YH both myself and my son have successfully berthed backwards easily as the wind has been in line with the boat and so this has not been a factor and there was no noticable current there either.

Always when I am out on the boat my fear is the boat being blown sideways into something when I can't go forwards or backwards to avoid it. Clearly, I need to think ahead to prevent this from happening but this scenario keeps me awake at nights since other boats may restrict my movement too.

 

[CX54WEK]

We always have an audience with our home berth as it is directly opposite a popular restaraunt which is built over the water and also there is a popular bar/bistro opposite as well. You learn to ignore them after a while and dont even notice if they are watching.

If the wind is really blowing hard in our marina we will normally just let the wind take her gently into either the pontoon or the adjacent boat (depending on wind direction of course) then bring her back to her own berth with the rope around the rear most cleat on the pontoons and a gentle nudge of forwards to bring her across.