I forgot it was a "sail" boat

[UNCIVILIZED]

You can stand in the cockpit (or on deck) & rock her back & forth, while sculling lightly with the rudder in order to propel her. And do this with or without sails up. It's easier to do with a tiller as opposed to a wheel, especially if you're solo.

On a calm day this will be enough propulsion to move her quite a distance. Which, it works so well that there are sailing racing rules which set strict limits on how much, & how often racers can use this technique. And there was a CF discussion on it several weeks back on how this technique became a point of contention in a race or three in the Olympics. As a competitor was flagged for doing it "too much" if I remember correctly.

The tips for yawl boating with the dink, towing, & also kedging are all good ones as well. Which, you can look up how best to tie the dink along the mothership in order to move her via yawl boating, in most books that have chapters on seamanship.

Plus, in the absence of having a dink, you can swim anchors out. It's actually quite easy to do. Just make sure that you wear a life jacket, & also take along enough buoyancy to compensate for the weight of the anchor (& chain if you're using it). And be sure to check the currents & tides before jumping in.

[StuM]

Never come across the expression "yawl boating" before and apart from a link to this thread, Google doesn't seem to know about it either. Is that a regional expression?

For those who want to look up the technique, more commonly terms are "side tow", "along side tow" or "hip tow".

[alctel]

I'd be worried about not setting the anchor - I don't tend to feel safe at anchor unless it can hold at full reverse, but then again I am a worry-wart

[spadresailor]

I have been boatless for nearly two years ( offer on a "new to me boat" accepted, awaiting sea trial day after tomorrow)but have owned several older boats over the years. At least once a month I would put the engine in neutral and pretend that the engine died, then sail to my slip. Since my boats and engines have all been 20 or 30 years old and I am a lousy diesel mechanic, I have had engine failures. It was no problem because I had docked under sail many times before and I just sailed into to slip. Maybe not "like a boss" but everyone walked away and the boat was undamaged. After reading your post I am going to add trying to leave under sail to my monthly drill. It is too late for this to help you now but maybe a good idea for after your boat is fixed.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

You never know how re-reading an old thread will spark a different thought. I'm gonna pop up here on one of my old bandwagons, and say, to each and every one of you sailors and wannabe sailors, please do practice sailing on and off the hook.

It is a useful skill to have, another arrow in your quiver, and certainly has saved us much embarrassment.

As suggested above, skills require practice to be kept sharp, as well as to acquire.

Have a good day, guys,

Ann

yep, last summer sailing with a friend on his boat we were motoring up to an anchorage when the engine just quit. There was a good breeze so we sailed one circuit through the anchorage, then picked the spot to drop the hook. Sailed out, got everything ready, came back in, dropped the sails (no furling) and rounded up onto the spot we had picked and as the boat slowed to a stop we let the anchor down (by hand, it's a 30 foot boat) and let the boat drift back while paying out the rode. Then we had a beer and crawled around the engine to see what was going on (air bubble apparently.) So yes it is more than just a handy skill, necessary sometimes.
Now sailing off the hook is much trickier if there are boats downwind of you and there is a good breeze. That's a longer post for some time

[charliehows]

there are 4 ways to control a boat 1; wind 2; water flow 3;engine 4;anchor. It's surprising how often our reliance on one or two of these methods of control cause us to overlook other possibilities. Case in point; quite a few years ago i took possession of a sailboat with a slipping clutch – slipping to the extent that the boat could make about 1 knot of headway unless there was any opposing wind or tide. I had some adventures relying on sail alone, but it wasnt til after i had dismantled the gearbox that i realised there were 2 clutches, 1 forward and 1 reverse. Subsequent tests proved that i could have easily manouvred the boat up to hull speed in reverse, something that would have been very useful in some of the scrapes i had been in when trying to manage with sail alone.
Wind; sails, of course, will take you around the world. But many people have no idea how their boat behaves when it is left to just round up to the wind and drift. A bit of knowledge here can make tight waterways more manageable.
Water flow; tides and currents...On a windless day in Auckland harbour i used to maonoevre my boat to the north side where a solid tidal flow would carry the boat out past Devonport while i sat on deck hand stitching some sail repairs. In sheltered waters at night tidal flow can easily carry you in or out of harbour.
Engine; 'nuff said.
Anchor; Cant honestly say I've ever needed to kedge, but it's there as a tool in the box. Of course, the main use of an anchor is to hold the boats position when conditions want it to move in an undesired direction, particularly if theres a problem with the other means of motivation. Recall a vhf conversation between a large stinkboat with engine failure and marine rescue - they were drifting onto the rocks - marine rescue told them to put out the anchor, the bloke on the stinkboat said, 'can't mate, we never used it so we took it off the boat'...

[Don C L]

Hey, don't forget #5: oars and yulohs!

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by CarolinaCalm

Great food for thought. We focus on on docking techniques but should also be ready to deal with docking under sail.
I only observed this maneuver once with a small sailboat (<28ft). Favorable condititions, low winds, no current. Captain used the headsail only and was able to come into the marina seaway and enter the slip. Slow and easy. Trimmed and released the sail to keep steerage. I was in school to watch slow, calm actions.
Current and wind could make dropping an anchor much more attractive

Try it sometime on a 53 foot 25 ton sailboat in 30 knots of wind.

It's not as difficult as it sounds, we just burst two dock fenders. Sailed in using only the staysail both times it became necessary, then let the sail luff by releasing the sheet as we approached the dock. It's easier it you can turn upwind at the last moment.

[Tetepare]

Man was able communicate before internet. Mankind sailed without motors until fifty years ago.

[charliehows]

Hey, don't forget #5: oars and yulohs!


damn it! Had a nagging suspicion I was forgetting something even as I was writing - ought to know better, one of my neighbours was showing me his sculling oar setup just the other day...BUT - it goes to prove my point - there's always something you may overlook...

[grahamdouglass]

Years ago, when I had my Viking 28 sailboat. I took my girlfreind, (now my wife) out for our first sail. I went from Mosquito Creek marina, NorthVancouver, B.C., Canada to Snug Harbour on Bowen Island. You have to pass under Lions Gate Bridge, this is a tidal pass, no sail area. We left at 10am for a 4 hour sail.

I sailed to Bowen Island, but as we apporaced the Snug Harbour dock the engine stopped unexpectantly. The engine could not be fixed and we could not legally sail under Lions Gate Bridge, but considering the wind was against us and the currents were flukey it would have been madness. The pass underneath Lions Gate Bridge is a major transit area for commerical shipping.

So we sat outside Lions Gate Bridge waiting for some one to come by and tow us through. Finally a freindly sailboat did just that, at 10pm at night in the moonlight.

He cast us adrift off of Brockton Point and we sailed to Mosquito Creek Marina.

It was a clear full moon night in June and I sailed past barges, and other obstacles, mostly on my genoa. I thought it was wonderfull. A great sail and a little bit of an adventure. Ghosting up into my berth at the very end of the Marina, next to the brokerage office, where I was trying to sell her. I didn't find any real problems in bringing her into the berth. My then girl freind, now wife, was not so impressed.

I didn't know then that that was my last sail on her. After I fixed the engine and got her ship shape, she sold. I now own a 42' Taiwanese Trawler, with all kinds of different systems and complicated stuff that keeps on going wrong and costing me time and money. The simplicity of that 28' sloop was wonderful. All I had was a depth sounder, a hand bearing compass, and paper charts. I sailed everywhere, anytime, just about any weather. Mind you that was 30 years ago. Good memories on the good ship 'Maggie J'

[roverhi]

Buying towing insurance could be a good investment before you try and move the boat. It's less than $200 a year and 1/2 of a tow will pay for it. It's relatively easy to sail a 25' boat into a slip if the winds cooperate but there may come times that you can't. Have sailed for 60 years and haven't had to call for a tow or get other peoples help till this year. Because of engine failure, difficult slips/marinas to get into, a boat that is difficult to maneuver even with a motor, and guests who had to catch planes, have had to be towed twice. Guess not having insurance was a good investment for me as I saved 5 figure thousands of dollars not having insurance all those years vice the cost of the tows needed this year.

If you do lose your engine, it's kind of nice to have an anchor and especially an anchor that you can deploy right now. I never leave the sllip without an anchor ready to go over the side. It's possible to sail even a large boat into close proximity to its slip. Other than getting the boat into a slip, the biggest problem is stopping the boat before you take out the dock. Dropping the anchor can solve that. You can also sail right up to your slip and drop the hook in the fairway. If you have a dinghy or don't mind a swim, you can then take a line ashore and pull the boat into the slip. A few extra hands would be nice to help you, though. If the winds are light to non existant, it's possible to tow a boat, even a biggish boat, using a dinghy and oars. Of course, an inflatable with a motor makes it almost a no brainer.

SF Bay seems to be a particularly expensive place to need a tow. I was sailing solo in a boat my new to me boat a short distance from one marina to another when the engine quit. Because of light flukey winds and especially strong ebb tide, a sail that would normally take a couple of hours ended up taking 12 hours. Didn't have a dinghy, nav lights that weren't working, and going to a slip known to be tight that I'd never been into before when the engine quit. Sailed the boat as far as I could till the wind almost totally failed. Managed to sail the boat into a slip right next door to the local Tow Boat less than a mile from the destination marina. The paperwork to initiate the tow took almost as long as the tow, $525, and they gave me a discount, later and I was in the slip.