How to get off the dock safely

[Donald Tyson]

I have a scenario that I never thought of before. I am tied fore and aft btwn two poles that are almost further apart that my boat is long. I have no boats up wind as those slips are empty. The wind is always from starboard and is almost always brisk. To port is a 34 foot Hunter sailboat that I really don’t care to hit. I can’t figure out a way to single-handedly leave my slip because as soon as I untie my boat it slides sideways towards the Hunter. I was going to tie a dock line to the post in front of me and to the post behind me and run them to the cleat outside the helm window. That might work, but then what do I do when I come in later at night when the wind is really kicking. I’m in a spot, That’s for sure, a spot. What would you do to come and go?. When the wife is aboard She is a big help. I used to have a Sailboat here and the wind was never an Issue. The open deck of the sailboat allowed me to grab the lines easily as I pulled into the slip but with the Dory I’m inside the cabin and can’t redact quickly enough. The neighbor told me to just use the motors and steer with the shifters while the motors are straight. But it’s too much to manage with these slow cable drive shifters. It’ll be fun to hear how you might approach these issues and might provide a good natured chuckle for us all.

 

[Pacificcoast101]

I always warm up both of my motors, then walk the boat to the end of the slip before stepping aboard. From your position of stern-in, you could then use your throttles to turn the boat in the desired direction of travel.

 

[Donald Tyson]

Can’t walk the boat and be at the helm at the same time. And the finger pier is only 8 or 10’ long. Only comes as far out as the cabin. With the winds pushing me to port I’ll be on the sailboat by the time I walk from the dock to the helm.
It amazes me how long it takes for the heavy boats to move in the wind.

 

[DaveInRI]

I’d certainly CYA with some fenders on the expensive side, both coming and going. And have a shove-off (/mooring) stick at ready.

Approach stern to the elements so the momentum of the bow swinging into them buys you extra time to tuck in and hook a line. Going with the elements is bad. Going into the elements bow first can also be tricky, as the bow is already swinging into the other boat from the momentum of its own turn. Slow is pro, yes, but speed at the right time gets you into the slip where the elements should be less. Practice. Don’t take the easy sides of docks when given a choice. How would you do this solo? With crew? What would it look like if it were easy? How can I automate that?

Depending on the distances between the stubby piling and your helm window, and also your propeller clearance from the start of the slip, a spring line type ready-made or endless/ whole line loop are most likely in your future. Don’t let the bow drift and get you on an angle in that slip. (Say it again- don’t lose the bow). I would try a line secured to both my stern cleat and my midship cleat, in a big loop of sorts, and toss or hook that over the stubby piling. Have a hook ready as backup if not used, you may have a couple seconds for a mulligan. Have fenders ready this side also, and once you hook the stubby piling, if you size it up first before untying one day, it should hold the stern and midship to the dock with enough space behind to have a minimal reverse throttle, props pointing to port, assisting the midship cleat with bow containment. Then tie properly before turning motors off; adjust after..

For departing, I’d have to see your front piling (tall one) options (like a lock wall) but otherwise having your lines able to slip off cleats by themselves with supervision rather than direct intervention (not into the water, either), is helpful. Hook one horn with a loose untied line, etc.. Speed is also helpful in the right dose (the dose makes the poison, right?) Outboards need a little rev higher to get a pilothouse boat moving, then back to your clicks, if just clicking into gear isnt getting the results in time (but don’t be a revver guy).

Can likely use your twins one forward one reverse or to help punctuate this also, but I have no insight into that personally. But I do dock on a short dock float with strong currents and decent winds and some fetch, and have spent heaps of time practicing spring line variants. The game slows down eventually and you can walk to the cockpit.

Remember your fenders on the expensive side, or take a nap. It’s better to be in wishing you were out, than out wishing you were in

 

[ssobol]

I would put a cleat along the dock a little forward of the helm side window. When departing I'd use a loose line looped around the cleat (i.e. holding both ends). When departing I would use this line and the motors to keep the boat straight as I left the dock. When far enough out, release one end of the line, let it pull past the cleat, and recover through the window. When coming in, I'd have a line or a boat hook ready at the helm to grab this cleat when backing in.