Docking monohull sideways advice wanted

[usdivers61]

Hey guys, need a little technical advice on berthing in a tight sideways berth.


I am sure you old salts have a tried and true approach for this, but I can't find an example on YouTube or anywhere else.


As can be seen in the picture, it is pretty tight. I have aprox 13m between both boats, to somehow put my 10m yacht in there single handed without scratching anything.


First of all, generally I won't have anyone to help me, so I need to learn to do this by myself.


I have a couple ideas, hope they are not too insane.


1. Was thinking of buying one of those cheap electric thrust motors from BCF, then when coming back home to dock, setting it up just midships from the cockpit. Then when bringing my girl in, timing it right so I am just about perfect lined up with no forward movement, and then using the electric thrust motor to push stern sideways into dock, tie up quickly and then grabbing side of boat and walking the bow in....crazy??


2. 2nd idea, which I don't really want to do, is backing stern up to one of the adjacent boats, tie there with a little forward momentum from engine, but secure enough so I don't bump boat in front, jump out, secure bow, and then run back and grab stern line and secure.


I could use a little advice, all my career I never had to berth in such tight quarters.

[boatman61]

You could always just walk her in sideways alternating reverse and forward thrust on your engines.. find an open space somewhere and mark it out to practice if need be.. thats what I do.

[Tillsbury]

This is one of those berths that are all about the conditions. It looks like you're on a river, is that right? Mooring against the current will be the trick then. If you have anything over a knot you should be able to line up against it and steer very slightly towards the pontoon, with enough forward thrust to keep you stationary relative to the other boats. Some call this "ferry gliding" but it will look like you're going directly sideways.

Not enough current? Use the wind if there is any. Get one part of the boat upwind to the pontoon (stern or bow) and get a rope on, letting the other end of the boat to hang off in the wind where you want it, then pick up the other line and pull the boat in at your leisure.

Trickiest would be with little current and strong wind directly off the pontoon. Remember that with appropriate fenders you could always moor alongside one of the other boats, then take a long line to the pontoon walking over those boats, and manhandle the boat into position from there with no danger of losing control. Your neighbours would far rather you walked over their boats (always in front of the mast) than you hit them with your boat.

Find another empty pontoon on the same river and put marks on it, then do some practise.

[usdivers61]

Thanks guys! that is some really great advice. I have about 2 weeks to practice before moving. One thing is for sure, I will have to invest in 2 large fenders to hang from the stern to protect the aft boat, as I have to tie up starboard.

[usdivers61]

To leave the dock. My plan is to untie springs, then push bow out, and rotate on stern line, and motor out.

[El Pinguino]

Hmmmmm....
Rule Number One... always berth 'head to stream' .... the stream will beat the wind every time....

If you have a 'right handed' prop your stern will kick to port when you go astern.... if you have a Volvo it is most likely left handed... make prop walk your friend...

Leave a headline and a sternline ashore ready to be picked up with your boat hook...leave a small loop hanging over the edge to make that easier... and hope that some well meaning person doesn't tidy it up.... don't ask...

Rig a midships backspring on the walkway...... with an eye in the end... sort so that it is just the right length.... you do have midships cleats? yes?... so that when you drop the eye over your cleat you can motor ahead on it without hitting the boat ahead.

Nose in to the berth... pick up that midship's line ... motor ahead on it..... you can sit on that until you pick up your head and stern lines.

If you want to see how this works take a Sydney Harbour ferry that does the 'stop and go' runs to the lesser landings...

If there is no tide and the wind is off the berth just nose in ... pick up your headline .... then just warp her into her berth....

Rule Number Two....
a) Never approach anything at a speed greater than you are happy hitting it..
b) Make speed your friend..
c) A stopped ship is a drifting ship...

Rule Number Three... see Rule Number Two

Hope this helps

[usdivers61]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Hmmmmm....
Rule Number One... always berth 'head to stream' .... the stream will beat the wind every time....

If you have a 'right handed' prop your stern will kick to port when you go astern.... if you have a Volvo it is most likely left handed... make prop walk your friend...

Leave a headline and a sternline ashore ready to be picked up with your boat hook...leave a small loop hanging over the edge to make that easier... and hope that some well meaning person doesn't tidy it up.... don't ask...

Rig a midships backspring on the walkway...... with an eye in the end... sort so that it is just the right length.... you do have midships cleats? yes?... so that when you drop the eye over your cleat you can motor ahead on it without hitting the boat ahead.

Nose in to the berth... pick up that midship's line ... motor ahead on it..... you can sit on that until you pick up your head and stern lines.

If you want to see how this works take a Sydney Harbour ferry that does the 'stop and go' runs to the lesser landings...

If there is no tide and the wind is off the berth just nose in ... pick up your headline .... then just warp her into her berth....

Rule Number Two....
a) Never approach anything at a speed greater than you are happy hitting it..
b) Make speed your friend..
c) A stopped ship is a drifting ship...

Rule Number Three... see Rule Number Two

Hope this helps

Thanks for that....awesome advice and direction.

[El Pinguino]

So... a right handed prop and you are trying to go starboard side to.... point well into the hole... helm hard a port .... big kick in the guts to get the head swinging to port... once she starts swinging give her some astern... before she starts coming astern - which will have the head going back to stbd- give her another kick in the guts... repeat as required...

Leave the helm hard a port...

Pic 1 ... one of my old - single screw - day jobs having just been given a kick in the guts.... having a 5000 hp bow thruster helps..

Pic 2 ... spent some time coming and going from here single handed... wind invariably off the berth but not quite this strong... used to nose in, run a headline, and then warp her round... no shame in that..

[B23iL23]

As the previous poster (El Pinguino) suggested, warping it back is not a bad choice. Don't be shy about docking to the boat upwind/upsteam and then roping or warping it back into the berth.



I've done that many times on my previous 40 footer with no thrusters. Sometimes it's the smart thing to do.

[Snore]

Similar to el pinquino,

1- when departing leave to mid-ship mounted forward spring line as forward as possible and next to bow line.

2- when returning put the bow in first, the angle of attack should be about 30 degrees or less.

3- pick up the bow and spring.

4- drop them on their respective cleats

5- back down on the spring line. Boat will slide next to dock, leaving you only to add aft running spring and the stern line.

[Peeew]

I found a great inexpensive book on amazon called maneuvering your sailboat under power. Great tips and links to videos. Also included a bunch of confidence building exercises to practice

[akprb]

Plenty of good advice so far.

Prop walk is key along with throwing your rudder around ;-)

Practice backing up all over the place, spinning her in a circle, using your throttle and gear.

Dealing with springs while single handing is tough.

Have fun, this is one of the most fun parts of boat handling!

Wrote a post on this on blog below, the name escapes me.

Enjoy!!!

[taxwizz]

Two words....

"Bow thruster"

Thank you.

[tweitz]

I dock in that exact situation, though with no current, every time, and it is pretty easy with practice. I usually do it singlehanded. I dock so that I am port side to the dock. The exact current will complicate it, but what I do is head in toward the berth at very slow speed at a pretty sharp angle to the dock (roughly 60 degrees). As I get quite close I turn the wheel pretty sharply to starboard, so that the bow just misses the dock. I use just enough reverse thrust to assist in the turn. I don't touch the wheel again. I find I am easily able to use the throttle and reverse thrust to bring the boat to a virtual stop in the right position, namely with the stern close to the dock.

The other important thing is that I leave the lines on shore set up for me. From the wheel I just reach out to port to grab the stern line and slip it over the cleat. If there isn't much wind I can then head up to the bow and secure the other lines. If there is a lot of wind pushing me away from the dock, all I do is add a slight forward throttle once the line is secured, and the boat nicely snugs up to the dock.

I am aided in what I do by using mooring whips to keep me from hitting the dock once secured. I need the whips to accommodate the tide range on my non-floating dock. I always set up the mooring whips when i leave the dock so that the mooring line is held in the loop of the mooring whip. This makes it easier to grab the mooring line when I arrive.


When departing I usually go out in reverse. I push off the dock at the bow, then go back to the stern and push off there. I then reverse into the fairway and once clear head forward. I do always keep an eye out if the wind is strongly towards the dock to make sure that I don't hit the boat behind me.


If you adopt the mooring whips, one thing that is very helpful is to realize that instead of just pushing off the dock, all you need to do is pull down on the whip line and it pushes the boat away from the dock.

[BillCH]

OK, I admit that is a pretty tight spot.

But here is my approach, maybe a little peculiar but it works for me.

When I am single-handing, I prepare a stern line loop on the dock side.

Back in very slowly, nose to wind and current and fenders in place, at about 35-45 degrees to dock. Backing, because I can see how close I am to other boats, dock, etc., and also blast out in forward if needed.

When I get close, I toss a loop over the furthest back pollard or dock cleat I can hit, and cleat it off short on the boat.

Drive forward at idle (or a little more if necessary) which will swing the bow around toward the dock.

When you are up close, leave it in idle forward and go to the bow to toss a line over another dock cleat or pollard.

Stop the engine and adjust all the moorings, springs, etc.

Always slow and calm and gently, (conditions permitting)!
Happy sailing!