Close quarter maneuvering in a swift current The vast majority of time, close quarters maneuvering at low speed is fine. But the strong currents in Beaufort South Carolina can greatly reduce the margin for error. We recently got a great lesson and saw an example of exactly what can happen if you are not experienced with river sailing. My sailing partner Jim got to the marina early and packed and readied the boat for our afternoon departure. He de-berthed her and repositioned her on the face dock. The problem was the direction she was faced put her back to the wind and her stern in the current. A new moon phase that weekend made for especially swift currents. Here’s where we got into trouble. I was at the helm. Jim was at the ready on the dock, ready with the lines. I fired the trusty 2gm Yanmar diesel and warmed it up. I checked my position. I was nervous. I had an instinctive feeling this departure was not right. He untied the bow first, at my command and shoved it out a few feet, then the stern and jumped on board. I yelled wait Jim!!! Were not right I yelled! Jim, get the boat hook, I screamed! I had no steerage at all. We began to pick up speed with the incoming tide. I had a huge sinking feeling in my stomach. We have 4 boats down the dock and we are now cross ways of the dock moving sideways to the dock with our bow toward the dock. We were now headed straight, well “sideways” for the other docked boats. I have a folding prop on the boat and this prop gives almost no reverse propulsion. In desperation, I threw in into reverse and gave it my best shot. Jim could not find the boat hook so he sat down on the bow with his feet hanging over in the hopes to push off the oncoming boats with his feet and we all know this is against the rules. His instinct kicked in to at least try and stop a collision. With what seemed a lifetime and after pushing off 2 moored boats, we were able to finally get the bow into the current and find some steerage. It was so dangerous... We had no less than 5 possible insurance claims that day. Not to mention the near heart attack I had. I learned. Oh yes. I learned the hard way just how volatile a situation can become when you have no experience in close quarter maneuvering in a swift current with a large vessel. I know a lot more today about Close quarter maneuvering; in fact I have been practicing on the face dock over, and over again. I spend a considerable amount of time studying the tides and wind next to the marinas dock. For now on, before I unhitch the boat, I know just what the boat is going to do. Just thought, I would share my near miss in the hopes that someone might read and get inspired to practice in close quarters with their boat before something bad happens. I read and read and practice. I’m doing the best I can, not to get hurt or hurt anybody. I take full responsibility for this near miss. I was at the helm. I knew better. I knew it was wrong when the stern line was taken off. Won’t happen again under my watch.
On Sun, Jan 5, 2014 at 6:21 PM, dwight <dwight...@gmail.com> wrote: > So sailing really is a spectator sport...I would love to have had a ticket > for that one > > -----Original Message----- > From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Wally > Bryant > Sent: January 5, 2014 7:17 PM > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Re: Stus-List single handed docking; People Watching > > Yeah... I actually got it perfect twice with a big audience. The most > memorable was pulling into a new marina for the first time ever, and > discovered a center cockpit Catalina/Morgan 45 in my 36 foot slip. Full > reverse. (I was too busy to blow my horn three times.) They were > actually supposed to be on the other finger, but pulled the boat over to > my slip because they were waxing the hull. And they had dock lines like > a spider web all over the place, so I couldn't even take *their* slip. > I backed up and side tied to the end of a finger, and then expressed my > feelings in an eloquent fashion. <VBG> (How many times can you use the > A word, the F word, and the S word in the same sentence?) > > After about ten minutes of scrambling, the slip was clear. I told them > I was going to go out, come back in, and pretend it never happened. > > Now, I don't know the beam on a Cat/Morgan 45, nor do I know why a boat > that big was in a 36 foot slip. But it extended 10 feet into the narrow > fairway, and took up way too much room. By this point there were about > 30 people standing on the dock watching. The owner of the big boat was > hiding, but his wife was on the stern waving a a boat hook in my face. > I did the perfect 30 degree entrance, spun the wheel at the last moment > and slammed into reverse for 1/2 second to let the prop walk do its > thing and stop the boat and spin it just a touch**. > > The crowd went wild. > > Wal > > > Richard N. Bush wrote: > > Wally I had to chuckle when I saw your post; we call it the "People > Watching Rule; The amount of difficulty one encounters while docking is > directly proportional to the number of people watching" > > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.2247 / Virus Database: 3658/6477 - Release Date: 01/05/14 > > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > -- “Sailors, with their built in sense of order, service and discipline, should really be running the world.” - Nicholas Monsarrat
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