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Leaving and ariving into the dock singlehand with a crosswind over your beam

patrscoe

Member III
I am sailing more and more singlehand these days and duirng the fall, we start to get a good breeze but it comes accross my beam, so my stern and bow is under tension, sometimes a lot with a 15 kt breeze. Two people, no problem as I have the one person tend the bow line as a loop / spring and when I tend the stern, fairly straight forward as I typically reverse into my slip.

Singlehand is a different story. As I soon as I go up front, remove the last bow line that is under tension, run back and remove my mid-ship / stern line and jump back behind the wheel. NO matter how fast I do this, the time I get to my wheel, my bow is all the way on the other side of my slip and now I am fighting a piling on the leeward side, rubbing aginst it. Same struggles coming into the slip, as soon as you get the sailboat into the slip in the perfect postion, you jump to it and start tying of a stern and bow, or sometimes a midship tight to the sailboat, but in that 10 seconds for the first line, the bow has already started to move to the other side of the slip.

It's timing of when you step away from the helm and get to the critical lines to secure the sailboat in place, it's too late.

I saw on youtube, a bow spring line, secure to your geneo winch, outside of the hull and looped aroudn the farthest forward piling and then to the bow cleat, around the cleat and run inside of the shrouds and back to the cockpit. both ends are in the cockpit.

This morning I had about 12 kts to 15 kts accross my beam and so I tried this. All was good until I released my mid-ship / stern line, and then started to pull in the bow spring line from the inside for about 10 seconds but my stern started to wonder while I was doing this and result was the same. I need to duplicate myself only when I leave the dock and arrive, just the extra pair of hands for that 10 seconds....

Lighter winds or winds on my nose or stern is fine. Is the cross wind that gets me every time.

Any thoughts on a better technique?
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
I am sailing more and more singlehand these days and duirng the fall, we start to get a good breeze but it comes accross my beam, so my stern and bow is under tension, sometimes a lot with a 15 kt breeze. Two people, no problem as I have the one person tend the bow line as a loop / spring and when I tend the stern, fairly straight forward as I typically reverse into my slip.

Singlehand is a different story. As I soon as I go up front, remove the last bow line that is under tension, run back and remove my mid-ship / stern line and jump back behind the wheel. NO matter how fast I do this, the time I get to my wheel, my bow is all the way on the other side of my slip and now I am fighting a piling on the leeward side, rubbing aginst it. Same struggles coming into the slip, as soon as you get the sailboat into the slip in the perfect postion, you jump to it and start tying of a stern and bow, or sometimes a midship tight to the sailboat, but in that 10 seconds for the first line, the bow has already started to move to the other side of the slip.

It's timing of when you step away from the helm and get to the critical lines to secure the sailboat in place, it's too late.

I saw on youtube, a bow spring line, secure to your geneo winch, outside of the hull and looped aroudn the farthest forward piling and then to the bow cleat, around the cleat and run inside of the shrouds and back to the cockpit. both ends are in the cockpit.

This morning I had about 12 kts to 15 kts accross my beam and so I tried this. All was good until I released my mid-ship / stern line, and then started to pull in the bow spring line from the inside for about 10 seconds but my stern started to wonder while I was doing this and result was the same. I need to duplicate myself only when I leave the dock and arrive, just the extra pair of hands for that 10 seconds....

Lighter winds or winds on my nose or stern is fine. Is the cross wind that gets me every time.

Any thoughts on a better technique?
Hi,
I single hand alot, in various winds. I have found two things useful. Firstly, I have a short, about 4 foot, line tied through the outside jib track holes at the centre of the boat so it parallels the track with a slight sag in it. When I come into my dock, boat essentially stopped, I grab this line with both hands a bit apart which allows me to control both bow and stern and position the boat where I want at the dock.
Second, I have a short line with a knot at one end, the other end is threaded thru the hole under the jib track at the centre of the boat. Once I have steadied and positioned the boat with the first line I tie the second line tightly but quickly to the dock rail. Then I can reach for and tie off the bow and stern lines. At my home dock I have lines tied to the dock at the correct lengths so I just have to place the loops over the cleats, rather than retie every time.
This has worked well for me but I'll be interested in what others suggest.
Frank
 
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bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
I don't know if this will be helpful, but... here goes.

If the wind is pushing the boat onto the dock, I find undocking fairly easy. I start the motor, leave it in neutral, turn the wheel slightly to steer the stern upwind (which, in my case, points the boat the right way down the fairway). Then I undo the various docklines, and the boat pretty much stays put with the wind holding it against the dock. When it's time to go, I walk the boat out of the slip (walking on the dock, moving the boat by hand) until the shrouds get near the end of the slip. Grab the shrouds, climb on, go to the wheel and take control. I have a LONG bowline attached to the bow so that if I ever miss my jump and the boat leaves the slip without me, I still have a line on it.

If the wind is pushing me OFF the dock.... yeah, that's harder. I haven't yet found a method I really like. I've experimented with a couple of things, such as a double-ended line run through a car on the rail near max-beam - dead-ended on a cockpit cleat, then through the eye on that car, looped (not tied) around the base of a cleat, then back through the eye to a cockpit winch. When pulled taut it should (*) hold the boat in place against the dock long enough to get the bow and stern lines untied. Then jump on the boat, get to the helm, put the boat in reverse, and cast off the cockpit end of that double-ended line so that it can be pulled through and free of the dock.

(*) this "can" work.... but it depends on a couple of things. First of all, it needs the right spot on the rail AND there needs to be a cleat on the dock just below it. if the line meets the boat too far forward, the boat will pivot around the line and the stern will blow to the downwind side of the slip; if the line is too far aft on the boat, the bow will blow off the dock. Some experimentation required. It also helps to have a pair of fenders, one positioned on either side of that line, to keep the boat from pivoting around that single point of contact. The other thing is timing.... there is always a moment where the boat is starting to move, and it's time to cast off that midships line, but the boat isn't yet moving fast enough for the foils to give directional control. It's... uncomfortable. Best approach I've found is to throttle up in reverse before casting off that line, so there's already water flow over the foils, but I don't love that approach.

More often than not, I tend to use the "manual" approach - walk the boat aft in the slip until it's well into the fairway, then jump aboard and go to the helm.

$.02
Bruce
 
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patrscoe

Member III
Same. wind pushing me on the dock across the beam. I have a few options and it is managable by myself. It's the wind pushing me away from my dock, which I have a finger dock, is the problem that I have not found a good way to deal with.
Fortunately and unfortunately, the winds on the bay are stronger and better in the fall but they typically come from the NW, which is 'across the beam'. My son, which is a senior in highschool is typically my second hand but well, he needs to focus on school this year to get into a good college so no sailing for him for while...
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Quite a few of us here are using a mid ship line when docking short handed. The trick is to get a loop over a cleat and pull in hard on it.
Set up fenders quite ways up and down the side so that both forward and aft areas of the hull are protected. As one lady puts it who single hands a 30 footer all the time, "once I get that mid ship like on a cleat I know the boat's not going further than (4) feet no matter what".
:)
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
fighting a piling on the leeward side, rubbing aginst it.

I've had piling berths and they were a bear under crosswind conditions. I covered the pilings with carpet, since contact was inevitable.

Some people strung lines between two pilings, parallel to the boat, as a windward-side grab aid.

But I may misinterpret your situation.
 

G Kiba

Sustaining Member
I am sailing more and more singlehand these days and duirng the fall, we start to get a good breeze but it comes accross my beam, so my stern and bow is under tension, sometimes a lot with a 15 kt breeze. Two people, no problem as I have the one person tend the bow line as a loop / spring and when I tend the stern, fairly straight forward as I typically reverse into my slip.

Singlehand is a different story. As I soon as I go up front, remove the last bow line that is under tension, run back and remove my mid-ship / stern line and jump back behind the wheel. NO matter how fast I do this, the time I get to my wheel, my bow is all the way on the other side of my slip and now I am fighting a piling on the leeward side, rubbing aginst it. Same struggles coming into the slip, as soon as you get the sailboat into the slip in the perfect postion, you jump to it and start tying of a stern and bow, or sometimes a midship tight to the sailboat, but in that 10 seconds for the first line, the bow has already started to move to the other side of the slip.

It's timing of when you step away from the helm and get to the critical lines to secure the sailboat in place, it's too late.

I saw on youtube, a bow spring line, secure to your geneo winch, outside of the hull and looped aroudn the farthest forward piling and then to the bow cleat, around the cleat and run inside of the shrouds and back to the cockpit. both ends are in the cockpit.

This morning I had about 12 kts to 15 kts accross my beam and so I tried this. All was good until I released my mid-ship / stern line, and then started to pull in the bow spring line from the inside for about 10 seconds but my stern started to wonder while I was doing this and result was the same. I need to duplicate myself only when I leave the dock and arrive, just the extra pair of hands for that 10 seconds....

Lighter winds or winds on my nose or stern is fine. Is the cross wind that gets me every time.

Any thoughts on a better technique?

I singlehand a lot and use this method even when I have other aboard now. A single line tied to from bow to stern with enough slack to cleat both ends. When you step off the boat, you can control both ends. You can go to ether end, cleat off, and keep control of the other end prior to cleating it off. It sound simple and works after a little practice getting the right length of rope. The person who showed me this lived aboard for many years and sailed a lot of miles. I now have a favorite docking rope that I know is always just the right length.
 

TimTimmeh

Member II
I single hand all the time and cross winds in a narrow finger is always the most challenging, doesn't take much wind to start swinging the bow out towards my neighbor. Fortunately I'm in a 42' slip so I can usually just walk the boat out and hop on; It is much easier to go forward out of the slip then back out, of course this means you have to back in first.
 

Bepi

E27 Roxanne
At my location I get winds from all sides. I only use the engine and tiller to enter and exit on good days. Even then depending on the wind direction either have to reverse out of the dock area and sometimes I can drive straight out. Otherwise 90% of the time I lock the tiller so the rudder is turned towards the wind. I physically back the vessel out. I keep hold of the stern line with one hand as long as possible to keep her in check and then throw it on board if the momentum is right then I keep pushing her all the way until I'm at the end of the dock then I grab the bow pulpit swing it over, grab the fore stay and haul myself aboard and that momentum gives me time to get back to the stern grab the tiller and the throttle and even then sometimes I have to wait 15 to 20 seconds for the bow to come completely over then I kick her into gear and off I go. On the return trip I will usually cut power leaving enough way and momentum to enter my slip then I lock the tiller in the position I want and then as the boat coasts into the slip I walk up to the bow, hop off onto the dock and guide her in. This method is great with my 27. I can't imagine it would be viable with more than a 32
 

GrandpaSteve

Sustaining Member
I have a short finger pier and the boat is tied to pilings. I am in my slip bow first. With the engine running in neutral, I release my leeward dock lines and spring line first. Then I use a boathook to hold on to the windward line between the pilings as much as possible while I am releasing my windward dock lines. Then I use the use line tied between the pilings to walk the boat out standing on the boat until the bow pulpit is just about clear of the pilings. Then I get to the cockpit and use the engine. Coming back in I grab the spring first and get it over a mid ship cleat, that makes sure the bow doesn't hit the dock. I have no problem letting the boat rest on a piling while I am getting her dock lines tied.
 

GrandpaSteve

Sustaining Member
I have a short finger pier and the boat is tied to pilings. I am in my slip bow first. With the engine running in neutral, I release my leeward dock lines and spring line first. Then I use a boathook to hold on to the windward line between the pilings as much as possible while I am releasing my windward dock lines. Then I use the use line tied between the pilings to walk the boat out standing on the boat until the bow pulpit is just about clear of the pilings. Then I get to the cockpit and use the engine. Coming back in I grab the spring first and get it over a mid ship cleat, that makes sure the bow doesn't hit the dock. I have no problem letting the boat rest on a piling while I am getting her dock lines tied.
Visiting a slip away from my home slip I set lines and fenders out ahead of arrival, and let the marina I am visiting know that I will need a hand.
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
I will ask for help, or accept if it's offered, in windy conditions, and have appreciated the extra hands keeping the boat and us safe. However, I usually decline help in less windy conditions, cause well meaning people will pull on the bow line, changing my position as I come into the dock so the stern moves out, making it harder for me to get off the boat to tie her up. I also come into the dock more slowly than most at just enough speed to keep forward control against wind and tide, so the boat is almost stopped when I reach the dock. A bit of reverse at the end will stop her completely, allowing me to step off and tie her up. I was told "only go as fast as you want to hit something", probably good advice! :)
Frank
 
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