Need help backing my CD 28

[Mac Taylor]

I have just purchased a CD 28 and am terrified at the prospect of backing her from the slip. Miraculously, I did manage to get her in the slip without hitting anything.
I have about 38+- feet from my stern (when docked) to the guy across the way. I have a finger to port and I am the fourth boat in from open water which is also to port. Will the prop walk the boat to port and thus enable me to back the boat all the way to safe waters (since I am the fourth in) or is this a baad idea?? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.



Mtaylor673@aol.com

[Richard Gelfand]

Generally I think that you will find that most full keel boats will not back well. My method of getting my CD27 out of my slip is to walk her out, push the bow over and step on board over the life lines, walk back to the tiller and either sail away or motor away. Backing has always been a near disaster for me. There are other postings on this site that you can search out that deal with this topic. Some talk about spring lines and other methods. I still find the one that I have adopted to be the best for me. It helps greatly that I have an up wind slip.

[Tom]

I have just purchased a CD 28 and am terrified at the prospect of backing her from the slip. Miraculously, I did manage to get her in the slip without hitting anything.
I have about 38+- feet from my stern (when docked) to the guy across the way. I have a finger to port and I am the fourth boat in from open water which is also to port. Will the prop walk the boat to port and thus enable me to back the boat all the way to safe waters (since I am the fourth in) or is this a baad idea?? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Mac, I doubt if you will be able to back out to port and get all the way to the clear way past four slips. You will probbly back out and then back right around into one of the boats in those four slips. To steer in reverse when under power you have to get up speed. In tight quarters you don't have room to get up the required speed and speed is the last thing you want in tight quarters. All is not lost, however, there are ways to finesse this. The best way as the previous post said is to have your crew push the bow off in the direction you want to go and then go into forward. Your prop pushes water past the rudder in forward and enables you to turn just as if you had speed.

If you don't have a crew and are unable to push yourself off and climb aboard, there are many other tricks. Push your boat about 3/4s of the way out of the slip. Leave the bow line cleated to the cleat at the end of your finger. With a boat hook or a line pull the stern around so that you are more or less pointed in the right direction. (Grab a piling or the boat next to you with your boat hook.) With the engine running but in neutral go forward and let go your bow line. Get up a little speed (but not much) in reverse and then put your engine in neutral. The boat will steer in reverse without the prop turning over because it doesn't walk it around, but there has to be movement through the water. You only have to get it turned a little bit since you are already more or less pointed in the right direction. Then shift into forward and drive away.
Without knowing which way the wind blows and how the current runs at your slip it's hard to know exactly what you're up against, however,
this will work in the abscence of wind or current or with a little adverse wind or current, but you want to practice this in flat conditions until you find out what works for you. This is just one of many techniques, but one thing you can always do is watch experienced skippers on your dock get their boats out in various conditions of wind and current. Don't forget to always have an anchor ready to let go also. In really hairy conditons you can always stop yourself until you get organized or wait until conditons improve to maneuver.

If you have a specific problem post it up in detail and we'll try to solve it for you. Good luck!



TacCambria@thegrid.net

[Don Carr]

I have just purchased a CD 28 and am terrified at the prospect of backing her from the slip. Miraculously, I did manage to get her in the slip without hitting anything.
I have about 38+- feet from my stern (when docked) to the guy across the way. I have a finger to port and I am the fourth boat in from open water which is also to port. Will the prop walk the boat to port and thus enable me to back the boat all the way to safe waters (since I am the fourth in) or is this a baad idea?? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Here is my input. I have a CD25 which being a full keel boat does not back well. I have about 28 feet between my stern and the boat across from me so that steerage way can't be safely attained. Here is what I do and it works like a charm. First I have my deckhand cast off the forward spring line. Second I take the bow line and bridle it around the dock cleat with the bow deckhand holding the bow in place. I cast off the stern line and bridle the aft spring line. Putting the boat in reverse I signal the foredeck to slack the bow line as the boat moves astern. I slack the aft spring line until my bow is at a point that the swing will not hit the boat sharing the slip. When I have reached the correct turning point I signal the foredeck to cast off the bow line, take a purchase on the aft spring and she just turns 90 degrees as pretty as you please with no problems. Once I have her pointed in the correct direction, kick her in forward and give her a good throttle boost to get forward steerageway ..and off we go. Spring lines are wonderful for single screw boats.



carrd@erols.com

[Mike Everett]

I agree with the previous comments.
I also have a CD28 (s/v Dr. Pepper), which is usually on a mooring, but a couple of weeks ago I found myself alone backing her away from a dock between two other sailboats with about 25 feet of clearance between them. The wind was blowing in the direction I needed to go.
I decided to motor out. You can guess what happened then -- as Dr. Pepper went into reverse, she rotated clockwise toward the boat on the starboard side, not responding to her helm in any coherent way.
A quick shift into neutral and some desperate leaping about with a boat hook saved me the hassle of a huge insurance claim and a world of embarrassment.
The lesson learned was: don't even try to steam out of a tight spot in reverse. Leave her in neutral and ease her out manually and handsomely, and don't be shy about asking for help.




everett@megalink.net

[Neil Gordon]

>>I have just purchased a CD 28 and am terrified at the prospect of backing her from the slip.<<

You'll get over the terror once you know how your boat reacts to the prevailing wind.

I back out of a slip into a fairway as well... usually with the prevailing wind in the direction I want to go. Forget about steering in reverse... you usually won't be able to compensate for the bow swinging downwind. So you need some other means of getting the bow up into the wind.

In lighter air, you can walk the boat back, stream the stern downwind and have someone on the dock give the bow a big push to windward. Or, as suggested, try backing against a spring line that will turn the bow up. Otherwise, I've been successful letting the bow turn downwind, then hitting the throttle forward with the tiller hard over to keep the boat spinning. Use enough reverse to kill any headway, then hit the throttle again. Keep an escape plan in mind, including heading back into your (or another) slip if need be.

Don't let the backing thing bother you... the reason it doesn't back is also the reason it's one of the best boats around.


Regards, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167



neil@nrgordon.com

[Lyn Heiges]

Mac,

AMEN! To what Neil Gordon and Richard Gelfand say! Fifteen years of trying to back CDs (27 & 28) and not too long ago we still look the Keystone Cops! SLOW! SLOW! SLOW! You don't want to wreck some other piece of "plastic" with your CD, number one, and second you don't want to put any scratches in your CD! All kidding aside, we have found the slow approach the best and "walk" the boat with lines and boathooks to the clear space. Most marinas encourage the use of boathooks to keep you "off" other tenants as they don't mark up the other boats and they are sturdy. I must admit I was using a plastic tipped one from West Marine and it did "snap" the end off when I was in my own slip. I probably had a crack in it, so that is one caution. Be prepared for the unexpected.

The point of the bow into the wind is unbelievable and it is better at effecting the position of the vessel than you and a crew of three! Remember that hands, fingers and arms without a pole, boathook or line SHOULD NOT BE USED or you may have some broken or missing parts to yourself. Warn your guests too. I have a friend across my canal who had a visitor lose half of her ring finger with a less weighty fishing boat. He and his wife still go out, but their sprits are really changed and probably always will be.

Lyn Heiges
CD28 MOON CHILD

>>I have just purchased a CD 28 and am terrified at the prospect of backing her from the slip.<<

You'll get over the terror once you know how your boat reacts to the prevailing wind.

I back out of a slip into a fairway as well... usually with the prevailing wind in the direction I want to go. Forget about steering in reverse... you usually won't be able to compensate for the bow swinging downwind. So you need some other means of getting the bow up into the wind.

In lighter air, you can walk the boat back, stream the stern downwind and have someone on the dock give the bow a big push to windward. Or, as suggested, try backing against a spring line that will turn the bow up. Otherwise, I've been successful letting the bow turn downwind, then hitting the throttle forward with the tiller hard over to keep the boat spinning. Use enough reverse to kill any headway, then hit the throttle again. Keep an escape plan in mind, including heading back into your (or another) slip if need be.

Don't let the backing thing bother you... the reason it doesn't back is also the reason it's one of the best boats around.


Regards, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167

lheiges@compuserve.com