Posted by Kevin Taylor (kevin683@…>)
Hi All,I usually sail solo or with only one crew on my Freedom 32. We keep it at a pretty standard floating dock slip. We have port and stbd bow lines, a stbd spring line and a stbd line attached to the aft cleat near the stern.
When singlehanding the boat, what would be the recommended line handling procedure for undocking and then the all important return docking? Should the spring line be the last one released and then the first one re-cleated upon returning? Do singlehanders bring their lines with them or leave them on the dock and try to hook them?
Thanks,-- Kevin
Posted by Alan Kusinitz (akusinitz@…>)
I frequently singlehand. My approach
varies significantly depending on the slip. Is it parallel parking, t-bone head
straight for it and spin or pull straight in between two floating fingers. What’s
the wind and current.
However generally I go for a spring line
on return and then leave the boat in forward turned away from the dock with the
spring. When I say spring line it’s a short line to the mid cleat usually.
When leaving the slip I usually release
all lines except the one I need to pull the stern in the needed direction . Sometimes
I use a spring if wind or current is strong.
At my own slip I always leave lines on the
dock. They are set lengths and easy on the return. If the slip is not between
two finger piers then on the return I have other temporary lines (just two or
three) that I use so I have them with me when I step off on the dock.
So far I haven’t hit anything but ocassionally
the dock (if its my slip its padded) but I can’t say its always pretty. lthough
currently I have a very easy slip to get in and out of and a big condo across
from me as a wind block. My last slip, well let’s not discuss that. J
Alan F-33 Hull #51 1982
From: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com [mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Taylor
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 9:52
AM
To: freedomownersgroup
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup]
Docking/Undocking Line Handling
Hi All,
I usually sail solo or with only one crew on my Freedom 32. We keep it at a
pretty standard floating dock slip. We have port and stbd bow lines, a stbd
spring line and a stbd line attached to the aft cleat near the stern.
When singlehanding the boat, what would be the recommended line handling
procedure for undocking and then the all important return docking? Should the
spring line be the last one released and then the first one re-cleated upon
returning? Do singlehanders bring their lines with them or leave them on the
dock and try to hook them?
Thanks,
Kevin
\
Posted by jlittle@… (jlittle@…)
I have a 39 Express which a sail alone most of the time. I have a finger slip to starboard and use a length of old fishing pole secured to the slip amidship with an open metal hook attacked to the top end. From an eye on the float I run a 3/4" line looped over the hook. Upon docking I grab the line and secure it to the boats midship cleat. At that point I can secure the rest of the lines with the boat under control.
My only problem is leaving the dock, if alone with a good wind from starboard. That mast up on the bow makes a great sail with no way on. If they are aboard the Owners of the boat to my port are more than heplful.
John Little
WINK
Posted by rick_simonds (rick_simonds@…>)
— In FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com, “Kevin Taylor”
<kevin683@…> wrote:
Hi All,
I usually sail solo or with only one crew on my Freedom 32. We keep
it at a
pretty standard floating dock slip. We have port and stbd bow
lines, a stbd
spring line and a stbd line attached to the aft cleat near the
stern.When singlehanding the boat, what would be the recommended line
handling
procedure for undocking and then the all important return docking?
Should
the spring line be the last one released and then the first one re-
cleated
upon returning? Do singlehanders bring their lines with them or
leave them
on the dock and try to hook them?Thanks,
Kevin
I singlehand a lot and even when I’m not, from a “help” standpoint I
might as well be. I’m often with people who are friendly and
enjoyable but know very little about boats and sailing.
I dock alongside a floating finger pier that sticks out at a 90
degree angle from the floating main walkway dock. My starboard side
is toward the finger pier. It’s a little tight with my neighbor to
port but a F32 handles so well under power that most of the time dock
maneuvers are really not an issue at all. Docking, I normally just
try to get 2 lines on in the 30 seconds or so before the boat blows
away from the dock too badly. Undocking is just a matter of getting
some sternway going as quickly as possible once I let go of
everything. Once I have any sternway at all my F32 will back up
beautifully
I normally take my dock lines with me on the “you can’t use em if you don't have em” theory. If I have a problem while going through
the channel (say, an overheating engine) I have lines rigged and
available to use at the nearest available dock. For day sailing I
just make sure they’re secured well enough so they can’t drag under
the boat and foul the prop. For overnights or longer, I stow them.
The mast on an F32 is where all the windage is and it’s far forward
and ahead of the keel. The large rudder all the way aft is going to
hold the stern from much sideways slippage but the bow has nothing
like that under water. Given that, when you let go of the lines in a
crosswind, it’s the bow that is going to go zinging off downwind.
With the wind fore and aft it doesn’t matter much but in a crosswind
whichever bow line is preventing the bow from blowing downwind should
be, if possible, the last line to release and the first line to
secure.
At my own dock I have a better solution for heavy crosswind; it’s
swim noodles! I have heavily padded the walkway dock directly in
front of the boat. I used a bundle of swim noodles covered with some
old Sunbrella fabric (the remnants of my old mainsail cover.) I’ve
just made a sturdy pad, about 5 feet long, on the corner of the dock
where the stem of the boat will touch.
This isn’t my standard procedure but if I’m singlehanding in a
serious cross wind (which is common on many summer afternoons), or if
things get out of hand, I use this pad as a “can’t miss” docking or
undocking technique.
Docking – In a serious crosswind I only concentrate on intentionally
touching the stem of the boat into the swim noodle pad as gently as I
possibly can. It doesn’t matter how cockeyed the boat is or where I
contact the pad, it only matters that I GENTLY put the stem into the
pad. That’s actually very easy. Once the stem of the boat is in
contact with the pad I put the engine back in forward and the bow is
held there, it can’t blow downwind because it’s stuck into the pad. I
can now use engine power in forward to walk the stern any way it
needs to go. Hard left wheel, a good bit of forward power and after a
few seconds the stern will walk itself to starboard and up against
the finger pier, even against a strong cross wind. I leave the helm
with left wheel on and the engine idling in forward as I step to the
finger pier and leisurely get a few lines out. Once it’s tied well
enough to not get away, I put it in neutral, pull the boat back a few
feet off the pad then tie the spring lines to hold it there.
Undocking – In a serious crosswind I take off the spring lines and
let the boat gently drift forward until the stem is into the pad. I
put the engine idling in forward to press the stem into the pad and
have some left wheel on to hold the stern to the finger pier to
starboard. The boat will hold itself there while I leisurely remove
the rest of the lines. With that done I get aboard and just put it in
reverse and gun it, trying to get sternway before the bow blows too
far downwind. I normally make it out okay but once in a while the bow
still blows downwind and I can’t turn to starboard like I want to. In
my case it doesn’t matter much, I just let it go to port, go down a
few docks and make a 180 degree turn where I can.
All of this may sound like blasphemy but, really, there’s absolutely
nothing wrong with touching the boat up against the dock as long as
you don’t damage either one. The trick to it is having a good pad and
that you always only bump into it GENTLY. I’ve done this dozens of
times and, with a good pad, you can inspect my stem all you want; you
won’t see any dings or scratches in it (well,… except for the ding
from the restaurant dock where the boat refused to shift into reverse
for a few critical seconds. I’ rather not talk about that one.) The
advantage of this is it works every time, there isn’t any dashing
around and it’s all done from the helm without any assistance from
anyone. It works with any boat. My father was the captain of ore
carrier ships on the Great Lakes for 45 years. I once watched him
turn a just-launched 1000’ ship around in a 1250’ harbor, partly by
gently nudging the stem of the ship into the mud banks at the edges
of the harbor and swiveling the stern around. I just sometimes do the
same thing with my swim noodle pad.
Rick
Tallahassee
Posted by Bob Weeks (rweeks6508@…>)
Sail magazine had a terrific article on
single-handed docking and undocking. I will see if I can find the article
again for you. But the short of it is:
You need a center cleat or a block
centered on the toe-rail. Block is best since you can move it around to
get the right position. With this you then have a 30 foot (approx) 3/8
mooring line with a large loop at one end. Large loop so you are not
missing the piling. Leaving the looped end outside your lifelines and
running through the block and then to your winch (mine are on either side of
the end of the cabin at the cockpit end) leaving enough of the looped end to
work with on a boat hook. My finger pier is on my port side with two
pilings first at thirty feet out and the second at end of the finger pier.
Remember this will work on either the port or starboard sides. If you
have a long finger pier then use the last cleat (furthest out) to loop your
line over. I also have a long fender tied sideways that matches the pillar
at the pier, this is key for non-scratching or denting of your boat. Now
to get the boat to sit right you have to move the block back or forward so that
the pressure of the motor and the line will hold the boat almost perfectly
parallel to the pier. Ok here goes….As I am coming into the pier
(slowly of course) I use the boat hook to loop the piling furthest out and pull
out a lot of the slack out with the wench. Now this is important you need
to measure this length so that once tighten the boat will sit against the pier
on the fender and go no further ahead, I have a red mark on my line at the
right position. With a self-tailing wench you can easily control the
line. With the line secured at the right length and with the motor in very
slow forward the boat will sit against the pier while you go and tie up the
rest of the lines on your boat. I have all my mooring lines adjusted with
the loops at the right length so all I have to do is loop them over the cleats.
Once tied up kill motor and take the looped line off since you now have
all your regular mooring lines in place. When I am leaving I set it up
again put the motor forward gear in a very slow forward setting and now I can
take all the lines off without worrying where the boat is floating to and then
reverse out taking the loop off the last piling as I am slowing backing out.
I use this method whenever there is enough
wind to push me around and I must say it works!!!
Bob
From: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com [mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Taylor
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 9:52
AM
To: freedomownersgroup
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup]
Docking/Undocking Line Handling
Hi All,
I usually sail solo or with only one crew on my Freedom 32. We keep it at a
pretty standard floating dock slip. We have port and stbd bow lines, a stbd
spring line and a stbd line attached to the aft cleat near the stern.
When singlehanding the boat, what would be the recommended line handling
procedure for undocking and then the all important return docking? Should the
spring line be the last one released and then the first one re-cleated upon
returning? Do singlehanders bring their lines with them or leave them on the
dock and try to hook them?
Thanks,
Kevin
\
Posted by michel.capel (michel.capel@…>)
I have a nose/tail in slip with piles at the transom and a
fingerpier to strdrd. I have two spring lines with loops in each
end, my ‘catch-lines’. They are made at exact length to reach from
mid cleat to rear piles. When entering the slip, I quickly drop the
catch-lines over the piles while standing in the cockpit. Then I
slowly let tje engine on in forward. Ther catch-lines keet the boat
in place in the slip. Then I have all the time I need to get my 4
mooring lines around the piles and bollards.
— In FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com, “Kevin Taylor”
<kevin683@…> wrote:
Hi All,
I usually sail solo or with only one crew on my Freedom 32. We
keep it at a
pretty standard floating dock slip. We have port and stbd bow
lines, a stbd
spring line and a stbd line attached to the aft cleat near the
stern.When singlehanding the boat, what would be the recommended line
handling
procedure for undocking and then the all important return docking?
Should
the spring line be the last one released and then the first one re-
cleated
upon returning? Do singlehanders bring their lines with them or
leave them
on the dock and try to hook them?Thanks,
Kevin
Posted by Thomas Wales (twales@…>)
Hi Kevin,
The sequence of events is dependent upon a number of
factors, such as wind speed and current. When I single hand, I
prepare all my lines and fenders ahead of time so when I approach the
dock. I can jump off with a stern line and a mid boat line in each
hand. I usually secure the stern line first and then the mid boat
line, all of course depending upon the wind and current. The best
case is when you have a helper from the dock who can secure one of
these lines. Once the stern and mid-boat lines are secured, you can
secure the bow line and adjust as necessary. When leaving the dock,
I simply reverse the process leaving the stern line last and securing
it so I can pull it back aboard from the cockpit. My rule is to make
sure I go a slow as possible to maintain necessary steerage to avoid
any hard bumps.
Good luck,
TW Anoush Koon, Pemaquid, ME (where the current can run at
about 2kts making docking a challenge)
At 09:51 AM 7/6/2008, you wrote:
Hi All,
I usually sail solo or with only one crew on my Freedom 32. We keep
it at a pretty standard floating dock slip. We have port and stbd
bow lines, a stbd spring line and a stbd line attached to the aft
cleat near the stern.When singlehanding the boat, what would be the recommended line
handling procedure for undocking and then the all important return
docking? Should the spring line be the last one released and then
the first one re-cleated upon returning? Do singlehanders bring
their lines with them or leave them on the dock and try to hook them?Thanks,
Kevin
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Posted by Kevin Taylor (kevin683@…>)
Hi All:Thanks to everyone for the great tips. In summary, it looks like everyone has their own “system” that works for them.FYI, my dock is a floating style finger pier with cleats on the dock (not bollards or pilings). When I dock I go head first and then tie up on the stbd side. I do have the option of adding cushions or other devices to prevent damage.
I think I will play with balancing the spring line with a bit of forward prop and hard port wheel. If I can get that to work, then I only have one line release when undocking and only one to scramble to reattach when docking again.
My most common problem has been that I have to take a hard stbd turn to get into the dock and then end up having to give it some aggressive reverse prop to slow down. Then my stern ends up drifting to port and sometimes I don’t have time to scramble on to the dock with the lines and end up bumping up against the boat tied up on my port side. Embarrassing to say the least… 
Maybe that is more of a helming issue than linehandling issue.
–KevinOn Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 9:41 AM, Thomas Wales <twales@…> wrote:
Hi Kevin,
The sequence of events is dependent upon a number of
factors, such as wind speed and current. When I single hand, I
prepare all my lines and fenders ahead of time so when I approach the
dock. I can jump off with a stern line and a mid boat line in each
hand. I usually secure the stern line first and then the mid boat
line, all of course depending upon the wind and current. The best
case is when you have a helper from the dock who can secure one of
these lines. Once the stern and mid-boat lines are secured, you can
secure the bow line and adjust as necessary. When leaving the dock,
I simply reverse the process leaving the stern line last and securing
it so I can pull it back aboard from the cockpit. My rule is to make
sure I go a slow as possible to maintain necessary steerage to avoid
any hard bumps.
Good luck,
TW Anoush Koon, Pemaquid, ME (where the current can run at
about 2kts making docking a challenge)
At 09:51 AM 7/6/2008, you wrote:
Hi All,
I usually sail solo or with only one crew on my Freedom 32. We keep
it at a pretty standard floating dock slip. We have port and stbd
bow lines, a stbd spring line and a stbd line attached to the aft
cleat near the stern.When singlehanding the boat, what would be the recommended line
handling procedure for undocking and then the all important return
docking? Should the spring line be the last one released and then
the first one re-cleated upon returning? Do singlehanders bring
their lines with them or leave them on the dock and try to hook them?Thanks,
Kevin
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.526 / Virus Database: 270.4.6/1538 - Release Date:
7/7/2008 7:40 AM
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Version: 7.5.526 / Virus Database: 270.4.6/1538 - Release Date: 7/7/2008 7:40 AM
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