Hi Jeremy, I haven't had any problems when there's no wind (knock on wood), but crosswinds definitely make it a tough go. On my last sail of the season this year, I came into my side of a double slip single handed with a strong crosswind blowing me off. Just missed my window for a safe step off mid-ship and nearly took out the electrical box at the bow, but fortunately just glanced it. I understand your reluctance to try again, but as they say, practice will make perfect. I managed to pull myself back over with my boat hook, so I recommend always keeping it handy when single handing. No damage to any property, but my pride was pretty shot.
In my opinion, the key is to get the mid-ship cleat attached first because it mitigates both bow and stern swing, and I've seen guys do it from the midship with a boat hook without even stepping off. I believe you can also turn the wheel/tiller hard steering toward the dock and put the boat in very gentle forward, but I would try it with extra crew first. Best Regards, Gene "Hawk" C&C 29-2 Message: 4 > Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2016 13:14:15 -0700 > From: Jeremy Ralph <jeremy.ra...@gmail.com> > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Re: Stus-List Boat Handling Skill > Message-ID: > <CAH+dcdG=0N_fbqwXAQbaL3U=8R_k_QFbCAY6AbFTOmi6bS=PYA@mail. > gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Had the pleasure of trying to single handedly dock in a strong wind this > summer. Tried to dock bow in starboard side and the wind kept blowing the > bow off. Oh, I'll back in I thought since the prop walk will pull me to > port against the dock... The prop walk, wind, ferry wash and current made > me do a full 360 before the rudder would bite in reverse. Amazingly I > didn't hit anything. I've been afraid to single hand ever since. > > I'm looking into using a spring line and keeping the engine in gear to keep > the bow from blowing off. Need to practice that technique. Any comments > on spring line docking techniques? >
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