The Awkwardness of Prop Walk, Illustrated [and Propeller Choices]

[bgary]

I'm a bit spoiled, in that my slip faces directly into the prevailing westerly

My mode is very much like Christian's (was?), except I leave the boat in neutral while walking the boat out of the slip. before untying I position the wheel about a 1/4-turn to port, so that when I am walking the boat out it slide the stern to port. When the shrouds pass the dock-piling, I give the boat a last shove, jump on and head to the cockpit. In general (*) by the time I'm at the helm the boat is in the fairway, generally pointed toward the exit, and it's a simple matter to center the helm, put the motor in forward, goose it a little to kill any remaining stern swing and I'm on my way.

(*) there have been two occasions where the westerly was sufficiently stiff that I didn't feel I had the luxury of being off the boat that long so, as you say, at the helm and motoring straight out under assertive control works much better. I've also had a case (at Port Ludlow) where I had a stiff northerly cross-wind pushing me off the dock and toward the boat in the other half of the slip. Managed to do it with a cleverly-tied spring line amidships that kept the boat alongside the dock until the bow could swing clear. Mildly nerve-wracking, but no yelling and no crunchy-noises....

 

[Filkee]

It’s backing anxiety that keeps me out of the Mediterranean. But I can pick up a mooring in just about any weather

 

[bsangs]

It’s backing anxiety that keeps me out of the Mediterranean. But I can pick up a mooring in just about any weather

Yeah, moorings are such a sigh of relief from dock anxiety. Counting down the days when they can run shore power and a water hookup to moorings. Perfection.

 

[Dave G.]

Yes you definitely have to power up to get rudder control otherwise the paddlewheel effect wins out quickly. No fun playing bumper cars exiting a slip

 

[Filkee]

Gunning it just feels so undignified.

 

[Vtonian]

Since Christian's original post, I have used our partially closed public dock to learn how to handle my boat better in docking situations.

Two things I've learned that I hadn't considered before:

There is much more 'sail area' in the hull, mast, rigging and stack pack than I would have thought, which in one crosswind backing and turning test kept my bow pinned to the dock even though I'd first sprung the stern out about 25deg. Also, lulls are your friend. Wait for your friends. Waiting is cheap.

The other was that the easy way the E38 pivots on its fin keel is significant at very slow speeds in very tight spaces: the end you're not steering is doing nearly equal and opposite things. Christian mentions protecting the bow pulpit with tape but also think about the anchor, if you have one hanging out there. In slow reverse, even on a light wind day, that could be a gnarly grappling hook to swing through a neighbor's rigging.

Side note, one video analysis of a failed Mediterranean docking mentioned that, if things go wrong, just stop doing anything. The worst that can happen if you do nothing is a collision at wind drift speed, where if you try to throttle jockey your way out of a jam, the worst can be disastrous.

And if you have a reversed throttle on your boat, like I did, fix it. In panic mode, we go into instinctive/muscle memory reactions, so anything that doesn't conform with them will just amplify the problem and feed the panic loop. Youtube makes millions on that.

 

[Bolo]

I’m going to ask the question that maybe the ”elephant in the room”. Christian, why not back the boat into the slip when docking so that it’s stern first? Then leaving would be much easier. I’ve been backing my E32-3, that is much lighter and sometimes squirrelly down my fairway and into the slip for years (after much practice) by turning around at the wheel and facing the stern. Works great 90% of the time but…..I’m sure you’ll have a good reason as to why you don’t dock stern first.

 

[Christian Williams]

Too public. Exposes cockpit to dock. And I like being pointed into prevailing wind.

 

[Filkee]

Maybe if you had a double-wheeled Beneteau with a swim step?

 

[Loren Beach]

Maybe if you had a double-wheeled Beneteau with a swim step?

Yeah, right. Their "secret" is a swiveling pod drive and bow thrusters. They are designed for ease of control by new owners with little or no boat handling experience.
(Very similar to how an even a smaller Ranger Tug is marketed with thrusters on both ends. I know an R-25 owner and cost of maintenance is scary after a few years.)
Given that the mechanical additions to the 'Bene' likely add 30K-plus to the finished boat, including the underlying required electrical infrastructure to support them, they also cater to owners with huge credit limits or bags of cash. It's a way Different world.

 

[Bolo]

Too public. Exposes cockpit to dock. And I like being pointed into prevailing wind.

Most boat, power and sail, dock stern first at our marina and at many we’ve visited on the Chesapeake Bay. It seems to create a more friendly “marina neighborhood” allowing other boat owners to stop and chat when you’re in the cockpit. It can sometimes even lead to impromptu “parties” at someone’s boat filled with good conversation, snacks and of course, adult beverages. Reminds me of summers in the city neighborhood I lived in when I was a kid where the row homes all had porches and neighbors stopped to chat.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

Most boat, power and sail, dock stern first at our marina and at many we’ve visited on the Chesapeake Bay. It seems to create a more friendly “marina neighborhood” allowing other boat owners to stop and chat when you’re in the cockpit. It can sometimes even lead to impromptu “parties” at someone’s boat filled with good conversation, snacks and of course, adult beverages. Reminds me of summers in the city neighborhood I lived in when I was a kid where the row homes all had porches and neighbors stopped to chat.

This sounds lovely and homey. It strikes me that you could walk down the dock and tell the extroverts from the introverts. If we were not on a mooring ball, I'd park bow in. (Don't get me wrong, I enjoy people, but I need to meter out social time.)

 

[Slick470]

Interesting thread, and find that my current slip is pretty easy compared to many others described. It's mostly sheltered with a one sided fairway, so plenty of room to make maneuvers.

We back into our slip for ease of loading/offloading since we have short fingers that only go to midships, and the two biggest things that helped with docking was (1) upgrading our 2-bladed folding prop from the undersized Martec to a properly sized Gori, and (2) staying slow until after I turn to back in then give it enough throttle to get way on in reverse then mostly idle with the occasional quick burst of reverse to keep up speed. The Gori has substantially less prop walk than the Martec did but I still line up a bit to the right of our slip and let the prop walk that I do have push the stern left as I'm getting up to speed.

 

[bsangs]

This sounds lovely and homey. It strikes me that you could walk down the dock and tell the extroverts from the introverts. If we were not on a mooring ball, I'd park bow in. (Don't get me wrong, I enjoy people, but I need to meter out social time.)

Recently had to be stern-in for two weeks while getting my radar installed and hated it. A) It completely ruined my gorgeous cockpit view of lower Manhattan, and B) While I’m not what I’d consider an “introvert,” I like my privacy and you get absolutely none being stern-in at the dock. Whenever making dock reservations for trips, I make a point of letting marinas know I carry a dingy on a davits and that stern-in docking is not an option. They‘ve all complied, so far. We did get better at backing up ”Radiance” during those couple weeks however.

 

[Bolo]

Interesting thread, and find that my current slip is pretty easy compared to many others described. It's mostly sheltered with a one sided fairway, so plenty of room to make maneuvers.

We back into our slip for ease of loading/offloading since we have short fingers that only go to midships, and the two biggest things that helped with docking was (1) upgrading our 2-bladed folding prop from the undersized Martec to a properly sized Gori, and (2) staying slow until after I turn to back in then give it enough throttle to get way on in reverse then mostly idle with the occasional quick burst of reverse to keep up speed. The Gori has substantially less prop walk than the Martec did but I still line up a bit to the right of our slip and let the prop walk that I do have push the stern left as I'm getting up to speed.

Same problem here too, short fingers protruding from the docks that don’t even go to midships. So docking stern first is preferred for easy access on or off the boat. I still have a fixed two blade prop and when reversing down the fairway I use the prop walk to my advantage. You can see the whole maneuver in my YouTube video entitled “First Sails of the Season” starting at time stamp 6:40. It’s the simplest way I’ve found to back into a slip.

 

[Vtonian]

... I make a point of letting marinas know I carry a dingy on a davits and that stern-in docking is not an option. They‘ve all complied, so far.

Funny, reminds me of a guy at our little YC who wanted a larger slip and added davits + dinghy so they had to give him one of the few 50 footers. Otherwise, they tend to juggle boats/slips around depending on who needs what, when.

 

[bsangs]

Funny, reminds me of a guy at our little YC who wanted a larger slip and added davits + dinghy so they had to give him one of the few 50 footers. Otherwise, they tend to juggle boats/slips around depending on who needs what, when.

We hang out a little bit from our marina slip, though we‘re not alone in that department. The hanging dingy makes a nice, huge rear fender. Marina asked me if I wanted a bigger slip, which I wouldn’t mind, but I like my dock neighbors too much to move. (Plus, having my 35-3 tucked in with the behemoth boats would be a blow to my fragile ego. )

 

[southofvictor]

Gunning it just feels so undignified.

It sure does, and with the associated turning of neighbors‘ heads it always makes me feel a little bit like announcing “nothing to see here.”.

It works though. I find that making a short sharp burst of power in reverse and then quickly back to neutral gets some way on but cuts the prop walk down. Our prop walk seems as much a function of the time the prop is turning in reverse as it is the speed it’s turning.

BTW I ordered this book after somebody here (Matthew?) recommended it. I’ve only spent a half hour so far doing any of the exercises in it but I like the different take on developing boat handling skills. If you only practice when coming alongside it’s hard to get enough practice.

Amazon.com

 

[AdventurousAnton]

Christian, we have a 2 blade Varifold folding propeller on our 1984 E30+. I have turned the boat in a complete circle in a narrow fairway using low speed forward/reverse and had no issue with the propeller during this maneuver. Our propeller is a geared one, so I don't know if it would work as well with the older non-geared folding propeller.
Frank

Hey Frank…which model? Our E30+’s prop walk is murderous, and I want to change it as soon as I have her hauled.

 

[Frank Langer]

Hey Frank…which model? Our E30+’s prop walk is murderous, and I want to change it as soon as I have her hauled.

Anton,
I'm not sure exactly what you're asking. Our boat is a 1984 E30+, our propeller is a Brunton Varifold two blade geared folding prop installed by a previous owner in 2001. It's a 13 x 9 RH prop, with prop walk to port. I spoke with a propeller shop which recommended a 15 x 9, but there is not enough clearance under the hull/rudder for that size.
The prop walk can be strong and a bit annoying, but I've mostly learned to work with it and use it to my advantage.
When backing up I initially give it quite a bit of throttle, but then put it in neutral and turn the rudder in the direction I want to go, then put it in reverse again with less throttle until it "grabs" and I can feel the boat move where I want it to go in reverse. It took a while for me to figure out how much throttle, when to shift to neutral, etc.
I hope this helps, but let me know if I haven't answered your question.
Frank