Hurricane
Well-Known Member
exactly my thought Mike,
just "be" on the boat, thats all we need,
going out is a bonus,
by the way,
can you handle JW completely on your own ?
with help from the harbour staff when mooring I assume.
after 4weeks practice, we manage quite well, Elly and myself,
but all alone, not yet ready for that,
especially not in windy conditions as some area's in SOF suffer from.
O yes, and after 4weeks continiously on the boat, its hard to get at work![]()
SWMBO and I can handle JW easily on our own - not sure who is actually in charge but it all works and looks quite slick.
Single handed
The Med seems to have a different view to the UK when berthing.
Its almost expected that you need help and a dockmaster often comes out to help even if they arent actilly called.
Seems to happen all over the Med - whereas in the UK you are usually left to get on with it.
So arriving at the berth single handed isnt generally a problem because there's often help.
Leaving requires a little thought - I use both my thrusters to keep the boat in position whilst I untie - the little radio remote is really useful - I hang it round my neck. Once untied and at the helm, handling the boat is just as usual.
Oh yes - there's the bits SWMBO usually does - once clear of the harbour you have to leave the helm to tidy up fenders etc
Actually when I went out on the anchor last week overnight on my own, the hardest bit was pulling up the anchor.
With SWMBO, we use a system of hand signals - she operates the winch from a curly wired remote in the chain locker whilst I drive the boat forward keeping the strain off the winch.
The 67 is too big to see over the bow so when I was on my own I had to go to the bow and gradually winch in a bit - then wait for the boat to stabilise - then winch a bit more ... etc. She always swings round when we winch in and the chain pops over the guide so we have to get it straight before winching more - if you know what I mean.
I have one of those curved (banana shaped) anchor swivels which works every time so once the anchor is off the bottom its easy.