David:
Just remember, docking a boat has always been, is now and will always be a contact sport. Also, when I hear a Capt. bring in his boat and yelling at his crew, I always tell the crew that if he were a better Capt. he could of docked the boat all by himself.
info@hobbymarine.com
"Parking Lessons"
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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D. Stump, Hanalei
Re: Catherines' method and direction of stern....??
John,
Sorry to hear of the gear box problem John, but I was wondering if maybe there was a problem in the way you described Cathys' method.
If I read what you wrote correctly, she walks the boat out of the slip with HER stern pointing in the right direction! The question then is, what direction should Cathy's STERN be pointing in? Up, down, left or right?
Ha, ha, I thought you'd get a kick out of that. Hope Catherine doesn't read this......
Did the dink take much of a beating? Hope it is easy to repair and not destroyed.
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30
Sorry to hear of the gear box problem John, but I was wondering if maybe there was a problem in the way you described Cathys' method.
If I read what you wrote correctly, she walks the boat out of the slip with HER stern pointing in the right direction! The question then is, what direction should Cathy's STERN be pointing in? Up, down, left or right?
Ha, ha, I thought you'd get a kick out of that. Hope Catherine doesn't read this......
Did the dink take much of a beating? Hope it is easy to repair and not destroyed.
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30
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len
Re: "Parking Lessons"
dave
we have all had the same problems when we first had our boats - i had the experience of having a "crew member' fall overboard between the slip and the boat while his two little daughters watched (he was embarassed and wet but ok) - you have no control over the boat unless it is moving through the water (or the water is moving against it), but as everyone has said, you need to learn to have control at as low speed as possible - good luck, have fun, and forget about the armchair admirals
len
md.frel@nwh.org
we have all had the same problems when we first had our boats - i had the experience of having a "crew member' fall overboard between the slip and the boat while his two little daughters watched (he was embarassed and wet but ok) - you have no control over the boat unless it is moving through the water (or the water is moving against it), but as everyone has said, you need to learn to have control at as low speed as possible - good luck, have fun, and forget about the armchair admirals
len
md.frel@nwh.org
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John Vigor
Re: Catherines' method and direction of stern....??
Captain Stump, you have me, sir! What I meant to say was that the boat, not Cathy, should have her stern turning in the right direction. I'm sure Cathy does everything nautical with flair and elegance. It's just the boat we have to worry about.
Yes, the dink took quite a beating. It's a substantial fiberglass dink, a 10-footer that I towed through 300 miles of open North Pacific when I circumnavigated Vancouver Island in 1999, but it wasn't a match for a 25D doing four knots.
Both wooden gunwales folded up like rubber bands, and the buoyancy compartment up forward splintered and parted from the hull. But I can fix everything with some wood, fiberglass tape, and epoxy resin, and perhaps it's better to have a sacrifical dinghy than to splatter your Cape Dory against the pier.
John Vigor
CD25D "Jabula"
jvigor@qwest.net
Yes, the dink took quite a beating. It's a substantial fiberglass dink, a 10-footer that I towed through 300 miles of open North Pacific when I circumnavigated Vancouver Island in 1999, but it wasn't a match for a 25D doing four knots.
Both wooden gunwales folded up like rubber bands, and the buoyancy compartment up forward splintered and parted from the hull. But I can fix everything with some wood, fiberglass tape, and epoxy resin, and perhaps it's better to have a sacrifical dinghy than to splatter your Cape Dory against the pier.
John Vigor
CD25D "Jabula"
jvigor@qwest.net
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Captain Jack Aubrey, RN
Watch YOUR stern young man
Captain Stump,
Perhaps a flogging on YOUR stern...... then again,...you might like that !!
Captain Jack Aubrey RN
Capatain Commanding Surprise
Perhaps a flogging on YOUR stern...... then again,...you might like that !!
Captain Jack Aubrey RN
Capatain Commanding Surprise
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Dave Low
Re: "Parking Lessons"
Thanks for all of the responses. In addition to getting a lot of good advise, the knowledge that everyone else has struggled with this issue before is comforting.
Dave
davidlow@erols.com
Dave
davidlow@erols.com
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Olli Wendelin
Re: "Parking Lessons"
Something I learned (was beat into me over and over) as OD on a 5000 ton submarine. Never assume you can reverse. Any time you change gears "assume" you will lose propulsion. Position your vessel accordingly.
BTW when I dock I normally go in slow, shift to neutral, and glide to a stop. But then I normally have an opposing current.
A few years ago (18) I watched a buddy bring his 45 ft schooner into the wind and drop his sails in preparation for docking. At the same time he put his engine in gear. He was about 500 ft upstream of a bridge. As he started to drift toward the bridge he went to full power. Still drifting. He jumped down in the engine room and saw the prop shaft spinning as it should. Back on deck he threw an anchor over. By the time the boat stopped his backstay was hard against the bridge and the his mainmast was bent into an upside down "J". Fortunately the mast was wood and recovered after towing the boat upstream. The propellor key had sheared. While the shaft spun the propellor just sat there.
Olli Wendelin
BLUE MOON
Charleston, SC
wendelin@spawar.navy.mil
BTW when I dock I normally go in slow, shift to neutral, and glide to a stop. But then I normally have an opposing current.
A few years ago (18) I watched a buddy bring his 45 ft schooner into the wind and drop his sails in preparation for docking. At the same time he put his engine in gear. He was about 500 ft upstream of a bridge. As he started to drift toward the bridge he went to full power. Still drifting. He jumped down in the engine room and saw the prop shaft spinning as it should. Back on deck he threw an anchor over. By the time the boat stopped his backstay was hard against the bridge and the his mainmast was bent into an upside down "J". Fortunately the mast was wood and recovered after towing the boat upstream. The propellor key had sheared. While the shaft spun the propellor just sat there.
Olli Wendelin
BLUE MOON
Charleston, SC
wendelin@spawar.navy.mil
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John Vigor
Re: "Parking Lessons"
Olli, I take your point when you say "any time you change gears, assume you will lose propulsion." Well, I changed gears but I never
lost propulsion. I was stuck in forward gear, idling along and unaware of it until I revved up in what was reverse gear for the gear lever, but turned out to be forward gear for the engine, because the cable was no longer connected to gearbox.
I, too, always glide into my slip slowly in neutral--except when my gearbox is stuck in forward. That's when a sacrifical dinghy comes in handy.
John Vigor
jvigor@qwest.net
lost propulsion. I was stuck in forward gear, idling along and unaware of it until I revved up in what was reverse gear for the gear lever, but turned out to be forward gear for the engine, because the cable was no longer connected to gearbox.
I, too, always glide into my slip slowly in neutral--except when my gearbox is stuck in forward. That's when a sacrifical dinghy comes in handy.
John Vigor
jvigor@qwest.net
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Warren Kaplan
Re: "Parking Lessons"
Olli,
Talk about your seagoing nightmares. That story about the 45 foot schooner hitting the bridge would have had me in a sweat as it unfolded!
Setsail728@aol.com
Talk about your seagoing nightmares. That story about the 45 foot schooner hitting the bridge would have had me in a sweat as it unfolded!
Setsail728@aol.com
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John Sill
Re: "Parking Lessons"
Use forward to turn the boat. Use reverse only to kill the forward speed. Keep alternating and you can turn the boat on a quarter!
John
Beholder's Eye - CD31
jesill@erols.com
John
Beholder's Eye - CD31
jesill@erols.com
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Lou Ostendorff
Re: "Parking Lessons"
Congratulations David!
Your question has generated quite a 'thread' on this board...sometimes the simplest of inquiries get everybody to contribute. I read something the other day in Good Old Boat Magazine that had me wondering...most of the problems with backing up begin with a fixed pitch prop that was only designed to push the boat in one direction. There have been attempts at variable pitch props with questionable results; the main problem is they're usually mechanically complicated and foul fairly easily in sea water. Well, enter the 'PerfectPitch Prop' (www.perfectpitchprops.com) The makers claim that you can get variable pitch from their urethane (plastic) props. It's even supposed to be good in reverse !(Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger) They aren't cheap, either, but the idea is pretty novel. I have no idea how well they work...but you can read about it yourself on the website. Otherwise, do as everybody else has stated...practice, go slow, use lines if necessary, and have fun!
Lou Ostendorff
"KARMA", CD25D
'82, #63
louosten@ipass.net
Your question has generated quite a 'thread' on this board...sometimes the simplest of inquiries get everybody to contribute. I read something the other day in Good Old Boat Magazine that had me wondering...most of the problems with backing up begin with a fixed pitch prop that was only designed to push the boat in one direction. There have been attempts at variable pitch props with questionable results; the main problem is they're usually mechanically complicated and foul fairly easily in sea water. Well, enter the 'PerfectPitch Prop' (www.perfectpitchprops.com) The makers claim that you can get variable pitch from their urethane (plastic) props. It's even supposed to be good in reverse !(Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger) They aren't cheap, either, but the idea is pretty novel. I have no idea how well they work...but you can read about it yourself on the website. Otherwise, do as everybody else has stated...practice, go slow, use lines if necessary, and have fun!
Lou Ostendorff
"KARMA", CD25D
'82, #63
louosten@ipass.net
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Mark Yashinsky
Re: "Parking Lessons"
if it is the prop causing the steerage problmes in reverse, then why to fin keel sailboats w/ fixed props, tend to back much nicer???
The props we use are not effcient in reverse, they are made for efficent forward motion (yet thin for low resistance when sail). The problem is more a function (of the under water design (trade offs). The full keel just has more area for the for prop induced currents to act on (and rudder location could hinder also). Look at reverse operation in an FULL keel boat.
The props we use are not effcient in reverse, they are made for efficent forward motion (yet thin for low resistance when sail). The problem is more a function (of the under water design (trade offs). The full keel just has more area for the for prop induced currents to act on (and rudder location could hinder also). Look at reverse operation in an FULL keel boat.