How not to dock

[eastont]

At our marina when a boat comes in everybody moves to help with the docking. On Sunday one of our supposed experienced boaters was coming back from his weekend tour. The boat is new to him and it is a fairly high sided boat (30' Carver) with a flybridge, so you know it will catch any wind coming.

He blew his horn, as he always does, and we were there waiting for him to come in. The approach to his dock is always into the wind and if coming in astern, it's on his starboard beam. As he was coming into the docks we noticed he was moving pretty quick, so some one yelled slow down. Then as he started to back in he was again going way to fast and when he noticed that he instantly put it in forward and jumped on the throttle. His wife, who was in the cockpit, almost fell out of the boat he went so fast. Then he tried to come back again.
This time he failed to use the twin screws to steer and came in at a45 degree angle. Fortunately the boat that is usually docked beside him was not in yet so he had a lot of room to maneuver. I grabbed the stern line and passed it to the person next to me and was going to grab the bow line when I could reach it. Then..... the wind caught the boat and started to swing it counter clock wise and he started to panic. We yelled for him to shut down the engines and let the wind and us guide him in. Did I mention there were at least 8 of us on the dock?
He screamed back..I CAN"T< I'M LOSING IT!!!!! Then he again puts it in forward and bang WOT hard to port and out he goes. We let go of the stern line and he bounced of the end of his slip and "adjusted" the rudder and swim ladder on the boat in the next slip. With his wife hanging on for he life, she starts to pull in all the port side lines.
After he is back out in the bay, some one grabbed a hailer and advises him to come bow first and at idle and we will do the rest. He finally got into his slip and his wife was just a basket case....she looked like she'd seen a ghost and couldn't stop shaking.My wife insisted she have a rum & coke before anything else. Just to help calm her down. Her husband was completely embarrassed and had his tail between his legs looking for forgiveness.

So after much talk and advice, we told him if he didn't go out and spend as much time as possible getting a feel for his boat and the way the wind catches it by docking and such around the easy docks at the front by the restaurant, we wouldn't be there to help him in again.

I always thought he was a boater, he talked about his days sailing around the globe, but I realized he had no concept of the difference between a sail boat and a powerboat. I was at the marina yesterday and he said he was going to spend this week learning his boat..... I reminded him of just one thing. Do it slow.....

Hopefully this coming weekend will show an improvement.

It certainly scared his wife, and us also.

 

[arks]

Re: How not to dock

Since the boat was new to him, he obviously hasn't yet learned how to control her to counteract the wind and/or current. Every boat reacts differently, so even with his years of experience, he'll need to get a feel for the 'new' boat. He'll eventually get over his embarrasment, but the wife- well, she might not want THAT kind of adventure anymore!

I've owned a bridge boat for 6 years and still get anxious when docking under tough conditions. The BEST medicine is practice. If he blows an approach, he's got to know when to give it up and try again. It is IMPERATIVE for him to know the wind/current at the dock so he can anticipate how the boat will react. He may want to consider hiring a professional to work with him for a few hours and teach him what to do- and NOT to do.

Some tips I've learned about managing control of a flybridge boat:
- In a breeze. open all windows and enclosure panels. Helps tremendously to minimize those big 'slab' sides.
- Lay the boat gently against the downwind/downstream piling when needed to pivot the boat into the slip. This works well when the boat isn't responding well to the helm controls due to current or wind.
- The wheel doesn't need to be touched- it has no effect at low speed. Control the boat with the shifters. Throttles should only be used in short, quick bursts never exceeding 1500 RPM.
- NEVER hold a line directly from a large boat. It needs to be immediately warped ONCE around a cleat or piling to hold the boat. Let the hardware take the load. The linehandler can easily adjust it as needed.
- Sometimes 'help' from on the dock can be confusing, especially if the captain is stressed.

Rule of thumb #!: "Around the docks, never go any faster than you are willing to hit something." Sage advice!

After all this, I hope this guys boat doesn't become a floating living room like so many others. Let him know that we're pullin' for him!

 

[DJ]

Re: How not to dock

NEVER shut down the engines! In a breeze, a human cannot hold onto a sail "flybridge".

You may need those engines to save the effort. Restart time means the difference between saving it and not. Keep EVERY option open.