How to dock with strong wind

[JimZeigler]

All these comments are great. You mentioned beneteaus and jeauneaus, many of which I have observed, do not have rub rails. It has been my experience, that rub rails are critical when trying to dock a larger recreational boat especially in heavy wind or current. It is my experience that if we can get the rub rail against a piling and one line on the piling, then we can use lines to control and warp the boat. Yes, prop walk makes it more interesting, but you compensate when setting up your docking, using the prop walk plus back and fill, warping and springing.

[PineyWoodsPete]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

slotpole sez: "I've been trying to figure out how to learn how to dock a 40 foot sailboat in reverse with a strong (20 knots+) wind blowing off the dock."

Why would you do that? Why not learn to do it in a 10-knot wind? A 10-knot wind has only 1/8 of the "persuasive power" of a 20-knot wind. Once you can do that, you work up to the 20-knotter, 2 knots at a time.

You haven't told us just what you home slip is like, and you haven't told us just what boat you have. Tell us those things, and we can be more helpful.

It's entirely possible depending on the nature of the slip, that you cannot do the job at all. Or put another way — that I, for one, simply wouldn't try to do it. A significant part of seamanship is knowing what you CANNOT do!

You probably have a fin keeled boat with a roller furling headsail. Right there you have two strikes against what you are trying to do. So why not just come in forwards, which will be plenty dodgy for a novice in a 40-foot boat in a 20-knot wind. When the wind dies, you a can warp the boat around to lie the other way if you must, but why bother? Why not just bask OUT?

Len talks about "backing and filling", and well he might. The evolution he refers to is one that every skipper worth his salt should be able to do as easily as he can fall off a log. The term "backing and filling" belongs in square riggers. It really has no place in "fore'n'afters". It is an evolution used in square rigged ships without auxiliary power to turn 'em in a confined space. In our kind of ships, we turn 'em in confined spaces by using the engine and letting what is called "propeller walk" do the work for us.

In a 40-footer, you should be able to work 'er though a change of heading of 360º within a circle of 40-foot radius centered on the point on the ground above which the pivot point of you boat was when she was lying dead in the water at the beginning of the evolution. Because "backing and filling" doesn't really apply, I call it "doing a pirouette".

Go out into open water, chuck a marker overboard and practice doing a pirouette in 20 knots of wind without straying from the marker. You will learn a LOT about your boat. Once you can do it with confidence in open water, practice doing it in the fairway at the end of your finger slip - which is what I assume you have for a home berth.

Remember that in twenty knots of wind the TRACK a modern boat will take over the ground is NOT the same as her heading!

Bonne chance :-)!

TrentePieds

A bit of an error in wind forces @ 10 and 20kts, as doubling of wind velocity gives "only" a 4X force increase, as velocity differential is squared rather than cubed.

Assuming that the question is about side docking into the wind, the technique I've used is to back into the wind to the dock with a long mid-ship cleated spring line taken or heaved ashore, to be secured on dock near stern, then motoring slow-FWD to bring the boat broadside in, and holding it while bow lines are rigged with stbd. rudder if stbd side in, then stern line.

Pete

[deblen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smd6GvJhnts

[aberglas]

First thing, if I have crew, I keep one with a roving fender in case it all goes terribly wrong.


In a wind, you cannot go too slow, cannot change reverse direction. You need to keep control and get it right first go.


And my main tip. Just don't do it. I have been told to go into difficult berths with very little room to the next boat in strong winds. So having looked at it, I just went into a much bigger and easier berth nearby. Marina was fine with it as long as I moved when the wind died down. So always have a plan B, and discuss it with the marina before entering.


Anchoring out is another options but I have never needed to do that.


Yachties are generally friendly, unless you hit their boat (I am told...).