Dennis:
One guy at our club single hands his J120 regularly.....he installed a
deck cleat about mid ship....he approaches the finger pier at approx. 1
to 2 knts, steps off the boat as the starboard gate meets the pier,
picks up his spring line which has a 'snubber' and attaches to the mid
ship cleat....if he wind is strong to blow him off the pier, he leaves
the engine in gear at idle speed and the boat just lays up against the
pier. Like you, he has little room for forward movement once the spring
line is attached. The big Nonsuch 36 next to me does the same thing.
Another member has a 'line catcher' at the end of his pier where he
hangs his spring line when he leaves. On approach, he either reaches
out or uses a pole to grab the spring line and attaches to his mid ship
deck cleat....once attached and the boat comes to a stop leaving the
engine in gear at idle speed, he gets off the boat and attaches his
lines. He doesn't step off his boat to attach the spring line as there
is too much freeboard and he is not comfortable making a jump to the
pier from that height.....it's a big boat, centre cockpit and no one is
going to 'man handle' it the way we can with our C&C's
My method, earlier described, is similar however I use my main winch
because I don't have a mid ship deck cleat.....I have one of those SS
toe rail cleats which I don't think was designed to stop the forward
movement of the boat, at least I am not going to experiment to find out.
Rob Abbott
AZURA
C&C 32-84
Halifax, N.S.
On 2018-07-31 12:58 PM, Dennis C. via CnC-List wrote:
OK, after 20 years of ownership, I'm pretty good at driving Touche'.
Touche's "home" slip in Louisiana is in a fairly protected bayou, has
both outboard and midships pilings on either side and a port side
finger pier. I can competently back Touche' in using propwalk, etc.
without touching any pilings. Whoopee.
However, the "temporary" slip I use in Pensacola is a whole different
scenario. First, it has a starboard side finger pier which extends to
just short of full boat length. Second, it is a double slip with NO
pilings between Touche' and my neighbor, an IP 37. Third, the
prevailing wind is from the starboard side.
In Pensacola, I dock Touche' bow in for privacy and scenic view
issues. Docking stern in isn't a desirable option because the bow will
fall off towards my neighbor while docking and looking at a scenic
bayou is preferable to looking at a working boatyard.
So, docking bow in with a wind from starboard and prop walk which
pulls the boat to port is a challenge. The wind pushes the boat
dramatically to port when docking. The prop walk exacerbates the
movement to port. The wind and prop walk both working against the
boat sucks.
I've tried several techniques with limited to moderate success. The
best the Admiral and I have come up with is to approach at a slight
upwind angle to the finger pier, have a spring/warp line attached a
bit forward of midships, have crew leap off the boat and secure the
spring to the outermost cleat on the finger pier to stop forward
motion. Once the line is secure, we warp the stern in with forward
propulsion and left rudder and secure a stern line. The stern still
tries to swing to port midway through this process but we manage it.
Now for my main issue. Docking single handed. I can't see myself
approaching the pier, putting the boat in reverse, scrambling out of
the steering station past the Bimini bows, securing the spring line,
jumping back on the boat, warping the stern in and then securing the
stern line by myself.
Any secret tricks I haven't explored?
Dennis C.
Touche' 35-1 #83
Mandeville, LA
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_______________________________________________
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every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal
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