How to get off of a windward dock

[TrentePieds]

@ #30

Hello Hellosailor :-)

You got it to a "T" :-)!

We had more wood than we could reasonably use. Or even sell! So wood was used for everything. Back when I came to these shores, British Columbia was not only BRITISH - it was the last remnant of Kipling's Empah :-) There was NO transport on this coast other than steamships. Every two-bit settlement along the coast, and in Lord knows how many inlets, had a pier. Now, Union Steamships could afford to by 2-foot horn cleats from McClelland, McPheeley and Prior in Vancouver, but no-one else could. So every pier that didn't belong to USS had to do something else. A coupla lads were told off to the saw-pit and, using a "Swede saw" produced as many 4be4 sticks as were required to encompass the pier-head. The sticks were held by drifts. We still have many of the old piers in full operation, though some have now been turned into tourist attractions like the one at White Rock on Semiahmoo Bay and have thereby become useless for the likes of me :-)! There is one at Irvine's Landing that saves me the marina fee at Pender Harbour that, in the season, usually teams with Yanks and has prices to reflect it.

The etymology of the terms is simplicity itself. As "bole" is, in English English, as you probably know, the trunk of a tree, and in a broader sense, a heavy piece of wood. Thus ships have bullwarks, (i.e. "bole works", something wrought of heavy timbers). Just so, a "bull-rail" is a "bole"-rail.

Cheers

TP

[hellosailor]

Thanks, TP. I still can't figure why they used horizontal slats, that you simply can't throw a line around, instead of standing bollards or pilings. I can see the slats would be stronger, but for small craft and short crew, they're a PITA. Maybe they're the equivalent of a rope line and bouncer outside a club: You know, if you can't deal with it, don't come in. Keeps the riffraff out?

Just seems peculiar to continue the tradition.

[deblen]

This hitch makes a bull rail easier / Len

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neEVkss3ZlI

[boatman61]

Think I'd rather just take the line under then toss all the extra back on the boat and tie off on a deck cleat..

[deblen]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Think I'd rather just take the line under then toss all the extra back on the boat and tie off on a deck cleat..

I prefer to bring my lines back aboard also,but the problem with a bull rail is that there is nothing to stop your line from sliding horizontally along the bull,unless you tie a knot or take several turns around the bull. I don't know of a solution to this. / Len

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by deblen

I prefer to bring my lines back aboard also,but the problem with a bull rail is that there is nothing to stop your line from sliding horizontally along the bull,unless you tie a knot or take several turns around the bull. I don't know of a solution to this. / Len

Hmmm..!!! don't they stand on uprights.?
Some concrete docks/pontoons over this side have something similar only its steel rod on verticals stuck in the concrete.

[deblen]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Hmmm..!!! don't they stand on uprights.?
Some concrete docks/pontoons over this side have something similar only its steel rod on verticals stuck in the concrete.

Yes-we have similar and usually call them staples.

As TP described, bull rails are an inexpensive way to equip a dock with something to tie to.One thing that Canada & Alaska have in abundance is trees-very inexpensive trees!
Here is a link that will show pics of bull rails that we are talking about. They are simply long lengths of squared timber that sit on short spacers of the same timber. The timber can be 4x4,6x6...12x12... & the spacer blocks are placed at random distances apart,leaving random lengths of rail between spacers.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ng-170473.html

[hellosailor]

A hitch is no problem, but I also prefer to take a line back to the boat and that way when I want to adjust the lines or cast off, it is always done without having to go to the dock again. It is hard to toss a line and catch one of those "holes in the dock" though. Coming in solo or not, I'll usually throw a line, catch a cleat, and that way I can snug up the boat without anyone having to jump and fall on the dock.

I guess I'll just have to take some small grappling hooks next time I'm out that way.

[deblen]

What happens locally is that a user will take the time to lash a loop of substantial line to the bull rail at mid berth & leave it there.
This loop can be gaffed by future users & they can run their mid line thru it without leaving the boat. Len

[Kiwi.]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Have I been getting it wrong all these years? I always thought that if the wind was blowing from the port side and the dock was on the starboard side it was a leeward dock.

It all depends if you are on the dock or the boat! Silly but true. I'm normally on the boat so, like you, I would call it a leeward berth. A landlubber on the dock can quite reasonably call it a windward berth.

We have just booked a 70ft berth in the Wharf Marina at Mooloolaba, Australia. They asked us: "Do you want a Blow-On or a Blow-Off berth in the currently prevailing south easterly?" I thought that was a smart question because it completely avoids this windward/leeward confusion. I'll be arriving with half a dozen crew on a 65ft Clipper and leaving with only one, so a "Blow-Off" berth was my choice.

[TrentePieds]

Yes, it's a "problem" that the bull rails are square in section, and therefore most hitches don't grip them well. The "standoffs" are short bits of the same timber as the rail and are 8" to 12" long so they won't split then the drifts are driven. In consequence they are even more of a pain to lay a hitch around.

My preferred hitch is the "round turn & two half hitches". My mooring lines are made up so I DON'T ever have to tie the hitch on the bight, and because each line has its designated position, they are hung separately in their proper order in the locker. Thus I can "set up" while still well off, lay the boat dead along the pontoon/dock/whatever, step off and belay. The lines are long enuff to give me about a fathom to flemish on the pontoon after all is secure.

In keeping with an earlier part of the discussion: Because I have a right hand screw I strive to come "port side to" on the weather side of the pontoon. The wind will drift me in gently after I'm dead in the water. There is no hurry, I just wait till I can step off with a certain degree of insouciance. In fact JUMPING off TP is am strengstens verboten! This can become VERY important when coming to the lee side of a pontoon. When I have a deckhand, he steps OUTSIDE pullpit, facing aft, with the forward breast in his hand. I come in square to the pontoon and stick my bows over the rail on the pontoon and hold it there so the (wo)man can step off GENTLY, BACKWARDS, still holding on to the pulpit for security. The breast is brought around the rail close to the neighbouring boat, to serve as a short, half-assed spring, and a little deft work with helm, shift and throttle brings me parallel to the pontoon and I step off and set the after breast. We then tidy up, resetting any lines that don't yet please me.

The windage of TP is such that I've never had the temerity to BACK up to the lee side of a pontoon, There'd be no way I could convince her, using helm and engine, to come parallel to the pontoon. Warping her in with the "warping line" (a line separate from the regular mooring lines) would obviously be possible, but wouldn't that look clumsy :-)? I spose I'll be driven to do it that way some day when I'm single-handing, but I'd consider this an extremely dodgy evolution. If I blew it she could drift off on the wind with no-one aboard!. Better just to find a better spot!

Departing, just like coming alongside there is no hurry. I set up with a fore-after spring, letting the wind hold me onto the pontoon till I'm ready, the execute the standard evolution backing off. Departing from the lee side of a pontoon I just let the boat drift on the wind till I'm in the clear.

And for HS: Come on over - I'll show you how easy it is ;-0)!

And one last thing - I obviously don't know enuff Alaskan fishermen. I'm gonna play with the "Douglas Hitch" this spring. That is downright elegant, and on of those "why didn't I think of that" things :-)!!

TP

[Mithril Bham]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

You BACK out. The bow is skinnier than the transom. And if your boat has port prop walk in reverse, that's even more helpful. Use a midship spring line to maneuver the boat so the port stern starts sticking out.

Absolutely. Backing into the wind can be a good tactic in many situations including docking. Surprising how many people don't know this. Practice it.

[SeaSon]

Ask someone on shore to release the springline and fend the bow if the fender slips.

[TrentePieds]

What about those of us who go where there is no-one ashore :-)?

Best to be able to handle your boat so that you don't NEED anyone ashore even if there is!

TP

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

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And one last thing - I obviously don't know enuff Alaskan fishermen. I'm gonna play with the "Douglas Hitch" this spring. That is downright elegant, and on of those "why didn't I think of that" things :-)!!

TP,

Except for the fact that the DH leaves the line on the TOP of the bull rail, whereas all I've seen says to run the line under the rail to get it back aboard "smartly". I, too, may practice it, partly to see if this old geezer can actually learn a new trick. Then I'm a gonna tie some string to that danged grapnel hook I bought before I left San Francisco in 2016, and practice that sucker, too! One summer season under my belt with bull rails. I have mimicked your procedures with longer breast lines, have always used a long midship spring line. I don't like hopping off my boat, ever, without me being ON the boat. I have modified my technique when coming in to dock from midships line first from the boat, to breast lines first after stepping down to the dock. I still leave with the spring line last. Even with crew I singlehand when docking, and you're right, folks on a dock can really F up a good plan, try as hard as they do to be nice.

A friend with a sense of humor (?) told me bull rails were better 'cuz they provided a handy dandy step from your boat down to the dock.