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Subject: RE: [worldcruising] Singlehanding Coastal, Techniques
From: Rick Kennerly (nh2f@XXX.XXX)
Date: Sat Nov 24 2001 - 11:35:05 EST
Bryan's just about covered singlehanded anchoring. I'll try docking.
A few years back I brought our Westsail 32 up to the Chesapeake from Ft
Meyers, Florida, along the ICW, mostly singlehanded.
The boat was new to us and had an unreliable (and difficult to isolate)
starting problem, so I was at a dock most nights, which meant close
maneuvering 10 tons of new toy by myself. You gotta know you're boat. I
drag around a big fixed 3-blade prop on a 50 hp engine and could walk the
stern all over in forward or reverse. If you've got one of those little
switchblade folding props spinning on an 18-hp volvo 2002, you're going to
have to be more circumspect about being able to force the boat around. Go
find a buoy and practice approaching it and "docking" with it from every
direction--downwind, upwind, down current, cross current, up current until
you can predict what you're boat's going to do..
Avoid slips whenever possible. Instead, look for the places that have very
long face docks for overnight transients or, if you're a fairly late arrival
and will be gone early, ask to stay on the gas dock, which is usually easy
to maneuver near. There are a lot of those long "runways" along the ICW,
and I almost never took a slip.
"I have always relied on the kindness of strangers, " said Blanche Dubois.
And so you, too, should become the Blanche Dubois of the waterways. When
you make a marina reservation over the radio, tell them you're singlehanding
and would appreciate some help. As you approach, remind again them on the
radio. If there's no official dock help, it's a rare marina that doesn't
have somebody lounging about who would be willing to help with lines, hail
them and ask. I don't care about your boat, but you shouldn't endanger
innocent boats by trying to force a situation. If you're not 100% sure you
can make a safe landing, standoff, anchor, and go ashore in the dinghy.
Most boaters will work for beer. Ask a couple to come out to the boat with
you or see if they will stand-by on the dock to handle lines. If nothing
else works, hire the yard help.
You gotta have a system. You'll notice that most pedestrian ferries, tugs
and tour boats don't actually tie up for short stops. Instead, they drop a
short midship spring over a cleat and power ahead slow. This holds the boat
against the dock. This is the system I used most times. You've got to plan
ahead, though. You don't say where you are coming from or going to, but
down south in northern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, where tidal
ranges were large (9 ft with spring tides to 12) floating docks were the
norm. These usually have well "bumpered" edges but you've got to watch the
current. Still, the tug boat stop (for lack of a better name) worked quite
well down there.
However, be sure you don't approach a dock going down current. I remember a
tiny marina in the Savannah grasslands where there was a good 2 or 3 knot
current nearly parallel to the dock. There were transient boats fore and
aft of a nice little hole just big enough for Xapic. I headed up into the
current and powered up until I matched it exactly, standing perfectly still
about 10 ft off the dock. By nudging the tiller just a bit to get the bow a
little out of parallel with the flow, the boat slid sideways and right into
the spot. It wasn't my most exciting docking incident, but it was certainly
my most satisfying. Approach a dock going down stream (regardless of how
the other boats are tied up), and you're chances of singlehanded success are
nearly zero.
Once I got to NC, VA, and MD floating docks became scarce (as did wicked
tides and currents). Here you've got to drag by your assigned spot scoping
out the lay of the land. Circle as many times as you need to, even to the
point of exiting the marina and going to an area where you can drift while
you leave the helm to set lines and fenders. I hedged this a bit by having
the loop ends of docking lines threaded through the hawse and run back to
positions port and starboard near the forward end of the cockpit (the bitter
ends were always attached to cleats fore and aft). But the basic drill was
the same, if you can get a midships spring to the dock and power very slow
ahead, you can usually do okay.
Practice "Roy Rogering" piling and such whenever you can.
Finally, if you're traveling the ICW during migration season, each day
you'll be traveling in a herd of boats with like speed. You'll become know
in your "herd" and every night there were people in the herd doing their
best to take care of you.
Rick
----------------------------------------------------------
Rick the Mouseherder - nh2f
Westsail 32 Xapic, Hull #438
Cabo San Juan, Puerto Rico
A small boat and a suitcase full of money
beats a 40 footer tied to the Bank.
Creative graphic solutions in vinyl for your boat lettering & designs
http://www.mouseherder.com
Visit our Westsail 32 Xapic
http://www.mouseherder.com/xapic
The Westsail Owners Assn. Homepage
http://www.westsail.org
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