Tips for learning to dock single handed

[dgsail]

I have a CD 26. I would like to learn how to move the boat in and out of my dock when single handed which I've not tried. Most docking info I read is not for a full keel boat. Tips, ideas, and suggestions welcome.

[Steve Laume]

Set everything up ahead of time. Do not go faster than you want to hit anything. Try to come in port side to the dock so prop walk will move you towards the dock. the wind will always blow the bow down. Choosing the right dock, if you have a choice, is an
important factor.

[JD-MDR]

I always have the spring line ready at the midship cleat. I can stop the boat with that and fix the other lines after. Also when anticipate problems i keep the stern anchor ready

[Paul D.]

I recommend investing in a copy of the Annapolis book of Seamanship. It is a great learning tool and reference for all sailors and may give you some ideas for your situation. But I think that a full keel on any boat just takes some hands on practice. While CD's do not take the PhD it takes to dock a Westsail 32 (Ask me how I know this!) they do take some getting used to.

I would pick a safe slip to try going in and out of on a calm day and see how she behaves. Try coming in and tying up both to port and starboard. I would think prop walk would be somewhat less with an outboard but in backing on a calm day you can see how she responds. Still, this book has some great techniques to have on hand. And so much more. When I was teaching sailing I referred to it often. Still do.

https://www.amazon.com/Annapolis-Book-S ... B00CCX9CTI

[csoule13]

Things that would help the hive mind here would be 1) Do you have a mid-ship cleat(my 27 does not) 2) What's your prop walk like in reverse, both strength and direction.

Not that I'm terribly skilled at single-handed docking, but the thing that helped me the most was doing a fair amount of not-singlehanded docking. I had hired an intrusctor to tighten up basic sailing skills, and we also spent an hour or so in the marina working on docking. Being able to try things out knowing you have someone who can hold a fender or grab a dock line allowed me to focus on the boat.

Lastly, my previous marina had tall pilings, and I could basically drape my lines over the top of them. It made it much easier to grab by hand or hook and get them on a cleat. My current slip doesn't allow this. But the point is think through the easiest way to have your lines so you have a higher likelihood of getting ahold of them.

[fmueller]

Can’t remember. Do some 26s have inboard diesels ? Or do some have an outboard in a well ?? Makes a huge difference in what your boat can do. I dock my 27 singlehanded 95% of the time. Best thing you can do first is enlist a crew and then practice practice practice. Borrow lots of fenders and find an empty dock space or two you can safely knock about … then at some point fire the crew and go solo.

- With most sailboats the wind will blow your bow down. Use this knowledge to your advantage. It can be very dramatic in a fresh breeze giving you only seconds to arrive or depart. Sometime leaving the dock is just as difficult or more so than approaching

- You can use a stancheon midship if you don’t have a cleat. The good thing about your boat is she is light enough for you to manhandle once you step off onto a dock. All you really need to do is learn to place your boat next to the dock nearly stationary and calmly step off. This will happen best if you anticipate all the sequential moves that this will require and practice those in open water (except for the stepping off part. Then bring the actual dock into the mix. For a period of time I used a 50 ft line on my 27 so I could step off with both ends of the boat in hand so to speak but it was only one line. Now with familiarity I just use a single line midship more or less perminantly hitched to a stancheon even tho I have MS cleats.

- Always have a boat hook at the ready. Until you are comfortable have a loose fender ready.

- Learn to do what is called a K turn at first in open water - usually to starboard for a boat that walks to port in reverse. This will save your bacon when you inevitably find yourself pointing in the wrong direction. Propwalk can help you almost pivot in place.

How much practice? I probably put in 20 hours over a few weeks in the first year I had my boat. Our boats are much harder to dock than some fin keel spade rudder types. Think of it like flying. The hardest part is takeoff and landing and that is what you need to master first. I still go out periodically now and make some approaches to unfamiliar docks.

Cheers

[wikakaru]

+1 on Paul D's comment to study the sections on docking in the Annapolis Book of Seamanship and also Chapman's Piloting. If you don't have copies of those books, look for them in a used bookstore--the older the better. They will be dirt cheap, maybe $1. The new versions are updated to cover newer electronics, but some seamanship skills are timeless and the old books are just fine, perhaps even better, for those skills.

I used to run 6-pack charters singlehanded and had to dock and undock 3 times a day every day with a boatload of people watching my every move who were also getting in the way of my moving around on deck, and who (being of unknown skill and reliability) I wouldn't allow to help me. I got pretty good at docking by myself. Here are some tips I have learned.

Step 1 is prep work: When you are well away from the dock, have plenty of sea room and can leave the helm, set up your dock lines. After attaching the lines to the appropriate cleats and running them through the chocks, flake the lines back and forth over the top lifeline towards the center of the boat. The center is the widest part of the boat, and it's where you will step off from, so having the dock lines where you can grab them easily helps a lot.

Some people suggest using a midship cleat to control the boat when docking, but in my experience midship cleats are in the wrong position for single-line docking and tend to pivot the bow towards the dock and the stern away from the dock if you snub up on the dock line. What you want to do is put your primary dock line around your genoa winch. This line is used as an after spring, that is, it runs aft from the genoa winch to the dock. Again, if you flake this line over the lifelines, it is easy to grab any piece of it and the whole thing will run out without fouling.

If you've read your book on seamanship, you should know the difference between an after bow spring, forward bow spring, after stern spring, forward stern spring, after midships spring, forward midships spring, bow brest, stern brest, etc. So I guess you'd call this main dock line you use while singlehanding an "after genoa spring".

Approach the dock bow first, get that one after genoa spring line on the dock, and use it as a brake and as an after spring line. To do this, the dock line needs to go to the aftmost cleat on the dock.

Tip: learn the proper way to tie a cleat hitch (again, read Annapolis or Chapmans, because how you tie it matters) so that you can easily control the forward speed of the boat on the dock cleat without the line jamming or tangling.

Once the primary dock line that is run to your genoa winch is cleated off on the dock, get back aboard and put the engine in forward gear at idle speed. On most boats a line led aft from the genoa winch will balance the boat nicely and hold it in place, giving you as much time as you need to affix the rest of the dock lines. If the wind is really blowing you off the dock, it may take a little more than idle, but generally not. On an inboard powered boat you may need to lock the rudder off the centerline slightly and let the prop wash help keep the boat parallel to the slip; with an outboard powered boat you may need to turn the outboard a bit. Experiment beforehand to find out what the right rudder angle is.

Undocking is mostly the same process in reverse. First, run your after genoa spring line in a slip (that is, run it from the genoa winch, around the dock cleat, and back to a cleat on the boat near the genoa winch). This way you don't need to be on the dock to cast off that last line. You can just uncleat it and pull in the end attached to the winch. Put the engine in gear with the strain on the after genoa spring. Then remove the rest of the dock lines at your leisure. You can even coil and stow them while the boat is held in place with the engine and after genoa spring so you don't have to do it later on when you are dodging all the other boaters coming out of their marinas.

Step aboard, take the engine out of forward gear, then neutral, then reverse. As you are backing out, uncleat your after genoa spring and pull it aboard from the genoa winch end.

It takes a lot more effort to write about it than it does to do it. With a little practice you can easily dock by yourself.

Here's a photo of me using the "after genoa spring" on my little Typhoon:

IMG_4925.JPG

The outboard is in gear, the after genoa spring is taking the load, and I am just coiling the last of the dock lines before leaving the dock. Easy peasy.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[gonesail]

it is good to have your finger pier on the port side. also good to have the exit to starboard. that way prop walk pulls you into the dock while coming in .. and turns the bow towards the exit when you are backing out.

[s2sailorlis]

Try YouTube….8,589 videos on this topic..

This one is very very good for beginners…..

https://youtu.be/PoGMAEjiHmU

[ropeslope2]

All those who have replied certainly have valid comments as to how to dock singlehanded but my comments are much more brief.
Very slowly approach the dock, if your boat goes port turn starboard, if your boat goes to starboard turn to port. When you are close to the dock shut off the engine and coast to the dock. Finely be brave, don't be hesitant to follow these instructions.

Dixon Hemphill former owner of VASA CD28

[dgsail]

LOL! I'll work on the brave part. AKA the timing of getting off the boat when used to having other people to do that.

[jbenagh]

I left this slip Friday:
Not too tough but wind was 15-20kts from the right. Due to prop rotation I couldn't get pointed straight out and needed to rotate 270 degrees. Always be flexible. I'm not proud in the slips! Know the depth in the marina. Blah, blah, blah. I could keep talking but I'm sure there's someone who knows more and could get the boat out with fewer turns. My advice is, do what's needed and keeps you safe, and the crew. Our boats are pretty tiny so can turn around in the slips. Take advantage of that!
Jeff

[Carl Thunberg]

I'll steal a line from Bob Dugan that I've heard him use more than once. "Before I dock, you might want my proof of insurance". That generally brings the dock hands running.

[dgsail]

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