Supper and poor docking procedure

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

I'm thinking if you show up in a marina swinging a grappling hook, you'll find all KINDS of help docking...

Only ever had to use it twice.

The first was sailing into my pen during an 18 month period when I did not have a motor. I was almost ready to turn upwind into the pen when the light breeze quit on me. I grabbed me trusty grappling hook and heaved her over Heinz's pushprit and applied a steady pull. The clunk awoke Heinz from a nap and he stormed up the companionway. As he attempted to pull enough slack to disengage the hook I applied more pull to prevent it and the boats eventually gently drifted together. I defused the situation by suggesting he assist me in penning my boat and I would then buy him a coffee so that he could verbally abuse me for my transgression in comfort.

The second instance was a new user, an old bloke in a 45' ferro monster, attempting to get into his pen for the first time. He would approach like a bat out of hell, miss the turn into the pen and then madly go astern. A goodly group of jetty layabouts had collected to properly critique his technique and someone suggested we should either throw rocks at him to drive him out of the marina before he sunk someone or get a line on him somehow and drag him into the pen. RaymondR grabbed his trusty grappling hook, made a couple of mighty heaves and snagged his pullprit. On his power bursts forward I'd retrieve the slack and on astern cinch him on a dock cleat. In spite of all his attempts to escape we managed to get him into the pen.

POSTSCRIPT

The old blokes name was Rudi and eventually he learned to get the boat in and out of the pen and learned to sail it single handed. He developed some interesting techniques. He would sail into an anchorage with all sail up, drop the anchor, drop in the pall and bring her to a crashing halt as well as fully setting the anchor. He would then, at his leisure, take down and stow the sails. This technique became known on that section of the coast as a "full Rudi" and if he only had the main up it was referred to as a "half Rudi".

[valhalla360]

As long as no one is injured, docking and boat launches are great fun to watch...of course it's always more fun when you don't have to pay the repair bill.

We always pop up on deck when you hear an engine racing, almost a guarantee of some antics about to happen.

PS: Some people need to unbunch their panties. We've all been there but some of us can laugh about it.

[Clamdigger]

Down at the AH harbor marina they have a boat launch area directly adjacent to the harbor office. The nice place that it is the harbor office placed 2 long parrallel benches in the shade of the building facing the ramps. While the guys that sit there are generally in their 80's, they found it useful to have a young whippersnapper do the food and drink runs, so they made a space for me in their little click, uh, club lol!

These guys showup around 0700hrs eeryday just to watch the free launch shows. Have to admit I started to see what they found so amusing, what with the newbie, youtuber types thinking that money buys brains lol! These guys just keep such a funny running commentary going that one can just sit there laughing all day from their dry wit type humor.

I knew they had accepted me into the club when I was asked to attend the funeral of one of the guys who passed away last year. Most comical funeral I have ever attended. Everyone showed up in shorts, Hawaian shirts, knee socks and old fishing caps! Including the deceased immediate family! The wake was a bbq in the parking lot! These guys are living their retirements right to the end, none live in a senior home, their friends, kids, or relatives drop them off and pick them up daily!

I have screwed up plenty of my own docking over the years, and launchings, so I dont laugh so hard when I see something I ve done.

[evm1024]

Any docking or launching that I don't have to swim away from is a good docking or launching.

[Hardhead]

It's one thing to know what to do, and honestly screw it up. We've all been there, and with luck, there are about 50 bystanders.

It's another to be completely ignorant, and simply not care. The second kind are usually also rude and "know it alls" to boot. Such is life..

[Nicholson58]

It took us (me) a long time to learn the patience required along with requisite skill judging prop walk, current, prop wash, wind to come to rest at the dock or slip. Once in the Caribbean, we found backing in is often demanded. Turns out to be scary but easier. We are 58 feet, 40 tons. Sliding in to a dock is dangerous and line handlers never seem to pick up on not being able to hand us in. I fear the Samaritan who puts himself between us and a dock. I like to use our powered primaries to secure the boat.

I used to get very uptight and angry with the antics around us as we pulled to our Great Lakes slip but eventually this morphed to viewing it as the daily entertainment. I really wish we had a videographer to record these. For several years we docked opposite Docker’s restaurant in Muskegon, Michigan, Harbortown Marina. They had vallet line handlers and a long wall 90 feet away. Live bands added musical punctuation to the boat ballet. Several times, there were skippers with a seeming death wish playing chicken around us as we maneuvered to our slip. Nearly had a collision with a drunk skipper on a 60 foot power yacht who insisted on squeezing between my bow and my dock as we were turning in. He had no idea what 5 blasts of the Kalenberg horns meant. We were already rotated when he ran in front of us. Lynn was on the bow with the boat hook. Ten of our dock mates were lined up to take lines. ROCNA 55 missed him by inches. Hattaras 60 behind me on the wall. The guy ran between the pilings of my slip and nearly T-boned my neighbor. Just a normal occurrence where money buys you ownership and a skippers hat.

[Suijin]

This has been posted before but is worth a redo:

https://youtu.be/9qHdPhkSSNQ

[Tornadosailing]

Here's how it's done. Single screw (I think), no thrusters.

https://youtu.be/Gw8F_GyUBYU

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Tornadosailing

Here's how it's done. Single screw (I think), no thrusters.

https://youtu.be/Gw8F_GyUBYU

Twin screws. No way in hell that is one screw.

Awhile ago I was tied up to a bulkhead and this big PDQ cat docked behind me, squeezing in between two outboard pilings that were maybe three feet wider than the boat was long. I was muttering to myself as he started to maneuver and I got ready to catch a line “Well THIS ought to be interesting...”

It was a thing of beauty. Turned out the owner was a recently retired military helicopter pilot. :P

[Tornadosailing]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Twin screws. No way in hell that is one screw.

You are correct. It would help if I read the description.


I managed to back a Lagoon 440 (completely blind behind the helm) into a slip barely wider than the boat. Maybe a foot on each side once it was tied up.

The charter co. dockhand waved me off a much wider slip and directed me to this tiny slip with concrete fingers. Got it done in one try. There was a pretty fair audience watching the action, so it totally counted.

[thinwater]

Let he who has never screwed up a docking throw the first stone. I've screwed up, though I've never done material damage. But quite a few were ugly. I'll admit it.



I say either help or avert your eyes. Staring is rude.

[markpierce]

My current car can park itself. Well, the car does the steering while I control throttle, brake, and gear shift. 'Fraid I'll lose a driving skill.

[Simi 60]

Ours is a pita to park
Single screw
High windage
No steerage in reverse (nozzle around prop)
No thrusters.
65 tonne

Thankfully we live at anchor and only need to come into a fuel/water dock a few times a year.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Let he who has never screwed up a docking throw the first stone. I've screwed up, though I've never done material damage. But quite a few were ugly. I'll admit it.



I say either help or avert your eyes. Staring is rude.

The difference is that, while I make mistakes, I really do try to get it right.


One of the worst I've seen is a ~35' twin screw power boat coming into a fuel dock. Brought in hot, full (full!) reverse at the last minute, placing the boat around 10' laterally away from the dock. Bow and stern thrusters applied to move boat towards dock. Bow and stern thrusters applied to stop movement of boat towards dock. Dock boys attached lines. There was no current, and little wind.

[HankOnthewater]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

The old blokes name was Rudi and eventually he learned to get the boat in and out of the pen and learned to sail it single handed. ".

Was Rudi's boat by any chance a ferro ketch (converted to sloop later) called "Psycho"? If it is, I know the boat well, and met that Rudi only once, but know his family. Your description fits this Rudi well.

Regarding docking: yes, it is always good entertainment, except when I am the one who does the docking. Like others described up-thread before, I use a springer 90% of the time. Works for me (.... most of the time).