Captain Tom Tursi, that was the best well described presentation on docking techniques I have watched. Thank you for this class and for offering it at no charge on youtube.
Thank you very much sir. Picked up my 1st boat, a 40 year old 25 foot single stright shaft right turning power boat APR 2013. Drove it 5 miles from launch point to marina, 5th boat in, tied up alone and haven't left the dock since. Looking forward to a few short trips. Prop walk, so that's what made me look good pulling in. Thank you for posting and doing such a great lesson.
Many thanks for a very detailed lesson. I was looking for a instructor to learn how to dock a single inboard fixed with rudder and here it is. I reallly appreciate your time you have put into this lesson. One of the best instruction videos out there to follow and practice. Happy and safe boating.
Awesome! You sir are an ace instructor. I thought I would never understand propwalk until I watched this video. You are methodical and you know exactly what a novice may be thinking which makes you intuitive. Thank you:)!
Great instruction. Very methodical. CaptainTursi confirmed a number of things I've been doing and I learned a variety of new techniques and tips. Thank you very much!!
Very much and many thanks, Sir, for this great explanation and offering for free out here. I am heading into an app to practice these theories and soon in real life onto the water. Looking forward to it. So, a part of your spirit in here will always be with me when I am docking in for the first time. Wishing u a happy living and fair winds. Kindest regards, Efkan
Each boat is very different. I find an isolated buoy or anchor a fender at sea and practice coming up to it foward or reverse at different angles. Great practice with no risks.
Some great tips there thanks. To some off the unanswered questions below I'd recommend really thinking about how the wind at different speeds and directions affects the bow, and where prop walk will take you and try to come up with answers of your own. Any ideas that include higher speed or high power are higher risk... Thinking it out, then time on the water is what makes you proficient. I learn by trial and error trying different suggestions ha ha. Cheers.
Thanks for your excellent help....For years, every time I entered my slip at Marina Del Ray, I always yelled "Stand by for a RAM" and you would be surprised how fast people appeared ready to help me manhandle my 42 foot Grand-banks on a gusty Day.
My slip gives me about 8 inches on either side of my 28' sailboat boat, past the fenders, but we only have piling on the starboard side, and an old PT boat on our port, which we don't want to nick and sink. Your video showed me how to use that piling. Thank you!
Just took ASA 118 yesterday. Regarding "Parallel Docking - Hemmed in Dock with Forward Spring "(52:00), our instructor demonstrated this maneuver with a bridle / one long line tied between bow and midship cleat. The bow crew used a boat hook to help place the line over the cleat. A little cumbersome for set up but worked like a charm.
@mdschoolofsailing Great! Just watched it. Very helpful. Thank you! We used your slide show as a handout in our class. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge.
Thank you so much for this valuable information. I think I am going to have to watch this video a good few times for all the info to sink in. Thanks once again.
I really enjoyed this presentation, lots of takeaways. For backing a boat into a slip, all of the examples start bow first and then turning to setup the boat to back the stern into the slip. Any thoughts about backing down the fairway stern first and approaching the slip? This is how I normally do it and and its worked well....so far. That said, I'm going to practice some of these techniques.
Backing may be easier overall if it's into the wind or for a starboard approach when going forward and the boat has significant prop walk. It avoids the problem of prop walk working with the wind during a turn from bow forward to stern into the slip. In other words it avoids some of the problems of the starboard approach.
Choose the tide to park into your slip backwards, into stream and a light breeze from anywhere other than against stream. Blown-on is good. 2 crew. One for the 1st line. One for roving fender and 2nd line. Stop the boat stern into the stream (out in the river) Stand forward of the helm facing aft. Never move from this helm position. Hold it there. Stationary in relation to pontoons. Glance at the bow sometimes but 90% look aft (where you're going). Practise just with the throttle. Ease and she creeps forward. A tad more revs and she holds. A little more and she creeps backwards into the stream. Keep holding it in reverse against the stream for a long long time. Until voyeurs get bored and wonder off while you really get the feel of hanging her off the prop, equaling the stream. Now driving like a car, turn the wheel slightly slightly left. Wait. She will ferry glide left. Then have a go at ferry gliding right... Forget port/starboard. You're in control. Reverse Ferry glide into your fairway. At first she'll lose against the stream so Increase revs, just momentarily. Turn more and more into the fairway. Use the +/- throttle to stay central. Get nervous? Turn the wheel back toward the river and ferry glide back out. So, the further in and closer to shore, the weaker the stream. Compensate with helm adjustments. You're 45%-70% now and as your slip opens up will need to turn back towards it with a tad more revs. You are moving slooowly into your slip, fewer revs as you go. No matter how slow, because you're into stream you will always have water over the rudder and so steerage and you have a clear view of the finger and the pontoon (end of your berth that you will stop 11 inches away from). Slide her in, slow to a stop and hang off the prop again. Tie off the stern breastline first, hang off it and into neutral. Tie off bow breastline and bow spring. Finished with engine. Stern spring. Kettle on. Remember the bow spring is the aft one and the stern spring is the forward one. Now reread the lines order again.
@@Dan_C604 I'm slow as drying paint. Those looking for calamity get fed up and stop gawping. Also, I think slow. I like time to see what the the boat wants to do and use that rather than fight it. I like to be going slow enough to have more time and less (wrong) momentum to change if I need to goto plan B. You can always add revs. It's harder to unadd momentum. My own take is a little different. Swap the contingency and mission. Plan A. Go up the fairway, turn the boat and leave the fairway. Keep doing that. (survival confidence) Plan B. When you master plan A, go up the fairway again and if you see a good opportunity to get her in her slip have a go at that. Otherwise complete plan A. Priority is avoiding collision damage, it is not "to park the boat at all costs". Or stick with dive in as soon as you're back, barrel up the fairway, take a flier at the turn point, get it wrong. Use even more revs to undo the momentum. Get screamed at because you didn't allow for drift. Wonder what the plan B should have been that you can never visualise anyway. Get teeboned across bow rollers or worse (because you were giving it manly welly to beat whatever "element was king" ).
Thanks for the seminar. Very helpful! I'm doing a flotilla in a few weeks in the med, so this is a great refresher before this. If you could have the mouse pointer larger, or more highlighted it would be a little easier to follow, but this is only a tiny thing.
Very informative and helpful video. Your presentation is planned and executed very well, so that it's logical. In the case by case scenarios, you address all the key forces that may be involved, except for current. You do mention current forces and describe how they affect the boat in the early portion of the video. In cases where there are also current forces, it's important for sailors to also consider and account for these forces in addition to all the others.
I'm curious: why such strong emphasis on backing into a slip at the end? My marina has very consistent westerly winds which blow me toward my slip neighbor. PLUS my prop walk is to the right. Thus, if I were to back in - prop walk would carry me toward my neighbor as the wind carries my bow toward my neighbor. So I go bow in to counter-act. This was a great video... I realize that my smartest choice is to get myself turned around bow to wind. Thus I have to do a standing turn in a narrow fairway. Thank you for sharing this video!
Tom, Great presentation...EXCEPT...the small white cursor arrow is very difficult to see. Please consider ENLARGING the size of the cursor and CHANING it's COLOR to a higher CONTRAST color like YELLOW. Much easier to follow. Raymarine is now using this.
I was gonna comment and say my boat will do a standing turn at idle, but like you said only right hand turns.. this is a good explanation for me to do a left hand turn, maybe I missed that part but idk... very good explanations.
Really useful video, thanks a million. One comment though, from a Mediterranean sailor . . . . You guys in Maryland seem to think nothing of using the side of your boat in docking, eg when pivoting around a slip post during the 'water man's turn'. At sailing schools on this side of the pond we'd get eaten alive at sailing schools for doing that. Similarly I note you tend only to have a couple of fenders out on the approach side whereas I was always taught to put out every damned one, maybe 6 or 7! Just shows . . . there's more than one way to skin a cat! Thanks again.
Interestingly the technique comes from fishermen on working boats. Perhaps they're less worried about scuffing their paint. ;) Note also that it was intended for heavy winds. Sees like a good technique for getting control of a boat and turning it in heavy winds. A fenderboard or horizontal fender could be used on the piling to protect the boat better.
Took the class about a month ago (loads of fun and super useful; learned lots of stuff not in this video too). Fenders were only used for flat dock work (i.e. springing in/out). But note that those Island Packets have a nice stainless steel rub rail, which is the only place, that contacted the pilings. And at no time should you be sliding on a piling; at most only rotating around one (else it leaves some wood bits in the rubrail screw heads; how do I know?) But I asked the instructor about boats with pretty gelcoat sides and no rubrail in just the right place to protect them from the pilings. He showed me a flat boat fender (Google it; I'd never seen one before), that was aboard the boat just for that case. Another solution for (against?) pilings is fender boards, which I've seen a couple of times. In New York/New Jersey, where I do much of my sailing, docks are different: Chesapeake has a small tidal range, so often docks are fixed, but in my area it's almost a given that they are floating and typical cylindrical fenders rule. But unlike the Med, stern to docking is rare, so usually only two or three fenders are used per side.
I love this channel. I'm wondering if you have a channel you'd recommend for power boaters. I'm particularly interested in docking techniques for twin engine inboard engine powered boats.
Great seminar. Thanks. How do you best SOLO dock a 26' (Pearson 26 OD) sailboat in a river? It has a 9.8 HP outboard. Slip is 2 pilings on each side as shown in seminar. Slip is perpendicular to river. River current is average 3 knots. Current depends on tide shift, so unless I hit it at slack tide, I have current ripping in or out, perpendicular to slip. Wind is usually 10 knots, parallel to river--so when the wind is opposite the current, it's easier to dock, but that is not often the case. It seems like the waterman's spring seems the best option, but once I get the stern in, the bow quickly spins with the current and against the opposite piling. Is there a way to use the waterman's spring and prevent the boat from twisting as I back in? (Going in forwards seems impossible solo.)
Very instructional, however I thought you short-changed the discussion regarding heading in to a slip. Perhaps that is because you don't use that method as much at your school, but a lot of boaters are relegated to heading in to their slip and must do so in some pretty difficult conditions.
Great presentation. - In a parallel undocking wind opposed situation you mention that you prefer stern out vs bow out. Would explain why you believe this to be the case? Thanks..
Rich Jobin I prefer stern out because it's easier to fend off the bow, if necessary, than to fend off the stern. Also, when going bow out, you use your rudder to avoid the boat ahead, and this pushes your stern toward the boat ahead... So in my view, stern out is the better of two evils
Thanks for an awesome video. Question regarding: @43:16 (Backing out of slip bow to wind) - What do you do if you are on the right in a double slip i.e. no pilings on the port side AND it's a left handed propeller (stern walks to port) AND there strong crosswind blowing from the fairway exit? I would prefer not to exit fairway stern out
Sir. Thank you for the video, some very good ideas there, well presented. Could I ask one question? You say that most boats are most wind affected at the bow. If so, using a stern spring and reversing onto it to force the bow out with the wind on the beam or behind the beam night get the bow out, but wind would just blow it back in again when the spring is released. Would it not be more likely to be successful if you motor ahead against a bow spring and get the stern up to wind when being blown onto the dock/pier from the beam or behind the beam? Your three pronged wind arrow could be a little misleading. Other than than great presentation. Best Regards Phil
+philipkenneth24 If you are speaking about parallel undocking, I agree and prefer to use an after leading spring line from the bow and power ahead slowly to push the stern out, and then back out from there... MDS
FYI This video assumes your boat has an inboard engine. If you have an outboard some of these methods don't work so well. For an outboard the prop is aft of the rudder so prop wash never really flows over it. For these boats the rudder is only effective when moving through the water, at a stand still such as the "standing turn" the rudder won't do much. If the outboard rotates then use that and let the rudder follow. I've been on a boat with a stationary outboard so all you got is the rudder. Tricky business that boat is. The point is understand what works on your particular boat.
With an outboard, you can still steer very well in reverse because you essentially have a directional drive unit. You don't need to think about it because you are constantly steering to correct it. Prop walk is only an issue in an inboard situation. If a person has issues docking an outboard or IO because of prop walk, they probably can't park a car either. A person can't understand truly difficult docking until they "stern in" a single screw inboard.
I use a doubled line a lot, when I'm getting ready to leave somewhere ill switch my lines over to this, so they can all be released and retreated from the boat ... it works good for me...
Can some one tell me if I'm wrong about the position of the rudder at the 43:10 mark of this video? In this particular photo it is showing the rudder facing the port side of the boat but if it's a right turning prop wouldn't the rudder want to be towards the starboard side due to the prop walk??? any help is appreciated in advance. thx, RJ
@@sailingsvtesla9052 Also, at low speed through the water, prop walk would have more effect than the rudder. But the spring line is doing most of steering the boat at that point.
If the rudder is held hard to s/bd during the entire manoeuver; wouldn't the reversing stage be compromised by the rudder in that position? Would it not be correct to steer port when reversing?
SunriseBoy Boat speed is slow when backing into a slip, so the rudder has little effect on steering the boat. The more important factor, is one of timing. Shifting the rudder to steer in reverse takes time, and the small benefit gained is more than offset by missing the necessary timing for your next action. I usually don't shift the rudder until the fore and aft centerline of the boat crosses the centerline of the slip, since in this case you need to be prepared to throttle kick ahead to avoid a slip piling or dockage that you may be angled toward. Thanks for the question...
For a "Mediterranean mooring" at roughly 33:00, is there a recommended distance that the anchor is let out? Seems you run the risk of fouling passers-by's props if left out too far? It looks in the schematic to be roughly the length of the boat. Is that to scale?
![[All About] Boat Propellers and Prop Walk | Sailing Wisdom](/img/1.gif)
great tips need a convenient search
00:00 - Intro
04:00 - Agenda
04:34 - Theory
05:02 - Pivot point
05:40 - Propeller direction
06:30 - propeller wash
07:33 - Rudder control of prop wash
08:30 - Prop walk
09:47 - Turning arc
10:30 - Tiller vs. wheel steering
11:18 - Effects of wind
12:08 - Effects of current
12:24 - Momentum
13:23 - Throttle speeds
14:04 - Throttle kicks
15:05 - Rudder position
16:04 - Standing turn
20:25 - Doubling a line
20:54 - Shifting gears
21:26 - Mooring lines
23:15 - Essential knots for docking
24:21 - Heaving a line
24:42 - Docking safety
25:55 - Crew assignments
27:47 - Glossary of some terms
29:36 - Mooring arrangements
29:44 - Mooring in a slip
32:08 - Parallel mooring with an anchor
32:52 - Mediterranean mooring
33:11 - Undocking
33:19 - Pre-departure preparations
36:19 - Parallel undocking, favorable wind
37:22 - Parallel undocking, wind opposed stern out
39:03 - Parallel undocking, wind opposed bow out
39:45 - Heading bow out of slip
43:22 - Backing out of slip bow to wind
45:45 - Backing out of slip stern to wind
47:07 - Parallel docking
47:20 - Pre-docking preparations
50:15 - Pre-docking options
51:15 - Parallel docking - Hemmed in dock with forward spring
55:45 - Parallel docking - Open dock with after spring
57:06 - Docking bow into slip
57:45 - Wide turn with crosswind
59:59 - Backing into slip
1:00:03 - Backing into slip principles
1:00:57 - Backing in - Portside approach, no wind
1:08:58 - Backing in - Portside approach, wind ahead
1:12:33 - Backing in - Portside approach, wind astern
1:14:33 - Backing in - Starboard approach, wind ahead
1:15:55 - Backing in - Starboard approach, wind astern
1:17:37 - Backing in - Other wind conditions
1:18:57 - Waterman’s spring line
1:20:39 - Docking summary
lio-shai... Thank you for doing this catalog. I do appreciate it and hope it will help others in reviewing this video... Tom
@@mdschoolofsailing u br welcome sir. Your lessons r excellent and very useful
Captain Tom Tursi, that was the best well described presentation on docking techniques I have watched. Thank you for this class and for offering it at no charge on youtube.
I've watched this many times. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing this. You're making the waters safer and helping a lot of people
Thank you very much sir. Picked up my 1st boat, a 40 year old 25 foot single stright shaft right turning power boat APR 2013. Drove it 5 miles from launch point to marina, 5th boat in, tied up alone and haven't left the dock since. Looking forward to a few short trips. Prop walk, so that's what made me look good pulling in. Thank you for posting and doing such a great lesson.
Many thanks for a very detailed lesson. I was looking for a instructor to learn how to dock a single inboard fixed with rudder and here it is. I reallly appreciate your time you have put into this lesson. One of the best instruction videos out there to follow and practice. Happy and safe boating.
One of the best docking technique videos that I've come across. Excellent content. Thank you for creating and sharing this video.
From all those who are not in Maryland (or even in USA) - thanks for a great series of videos!
Awesome! You sir are an ace instructor. I thought I would never understand propwalk until I watched this video. You are methodical and you know exactly what a novice may be thinking which makes you intuitive. Thank you:)!
4:04 ------ AGENDA ------
4:32 ------ CHAPTER 1: THEORY------
4:36 The Pivot point
5:38 Propeller Direction
6:24 Prop Wash
7:32 Rudder Control of Prop Wash
8:32 Prop Walk
9:47 Turning Arc
10:30 Wheel Steering vs Tiller
11:16 Wind effect
11:55 Current effect
12:18 Momentum
13:18 Throttle Speeds
13:54 Throttle Kicks
15:06 Rudder Position
15:59 *** Standing Turn
17:18 *** Standing Turn - Diagram
20:20 Doubling a Line
20:50 Shifting Gears
21:07 Mooring Lines
23:16 *** Knots for Docking - Check website: animatedknots
24:08 Heaving a Line
24:42 Docking Safety
25:55 Crew Assignments
27:42 Terms Glossary
29:35 ------ CHAPTER 2: MOORING ------
29:41 Mooring in a Slip - Pylons
31:31 Crossed Stern Lines
31:42 Parallel Mooring: Pier
32:06 Parallel Mooring: Anchore
32:46 Mediterranean Mooring
33:07 ------ CHAPTER 3: UNDOCKING ------
33:14 *** Pre-Departure Preparations
36:19 Parallel Undocking - Wind OUT the Dock
37:15 Parallel Undocking - Wind IN the Dock - *** Stern Out
38:56 Parallel Undocking - Wind IN the Dock - *** Bow Out
39:43 Pylons - Heading Bow out of Slip
43:11 Pylons - Backing Out of Slip Bow to Wind
45:33 Pylons - Backing Out of Slip Stern to Wind
47:10 ------ CHAPTER 4: PARALLEL DOCKING
47:20 Pre-Docking Preparations
50:12 Parallel Docking Options
51:15 Parallel Docking - Hammed in Dock with Forward Spring
55:40 Parallel Docking - Open Dock with After Spring
57:06 ------ CHAPTER 4: DOCKING BOW INTO SLIP (Pylons)
57:13 Docking Bow into a Slip - Steps
57:44 Docking Bow into a Slip - Diagram - Wide Turn with Crosswind
59:58 ------ CHAPTER 5: DOCKING STERN INTO SLIP (Pylons)
1:00:03 Backing into Slip Principles
1:00:55 Scenario-1: Portside Approach No Wind
1:08:52 Scenario-2: Portside Approach Wind Ahead
1:12:30 Scenario-3: Portside Approach Wind Astern
1:14:30 Scenario-4: Starboard Approach Wind Ahead
1:15:49 Scenario-5: Starboard Approach Wind Astern
1:17:36 Other Wind Conditions
1:18:52 Waterman's Spring Line
1:20:31 ------ CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY
thank you!!!
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Amazing content! I just purchased a 35' trawler with a single screw and I'm so happy I found this! Well done.
Thank you, Capt Tom, for a great (and free) detailed seminar! This is a great service to learning boaters like myself. Much appreciated.
Excellent course from expert instructors. I took this course in person, they are great.
Great instruction. Very methodical. CaptainTursi confirmed a number of things I've been doing and I learned a variety of new techniques and tips. Thank you very much!!
Excellent. What a comprehensive coverage! Thank you for sharing.
Very instructive, detail oriented like not other. Simply the best.
Very much and many thanks, Sir, for this great explanation and offering for free out here. I am heading into an app to practice these theories and soon in real life onto the water. Looking forward to it. So, a part of your spirit in here will always be with me when I am docking in for the first time. Wishing u a happy living and fair winds.
Kindest regards,
Efkan
Each boat is very different. I find an isolated buoy or anchor a fender at sea and practice coming up to it foward or reverse at different angles. Great practice with no risks.
Thank You for a great presentation. I liked it so much, just purchased your book through the ASA. Thanks again!
Excellent session on docking. Very informative. Looking forward to my upcoming class in March.
Thank you for a great video - just what i need to “understand” my first boat.
Some great tips there thanks. To some off the unanswered questions below I'd recommend really thinking about how the wind at different speeds and directions affects the bow, and where prop walk will take you and try to come up with answers of your own. Any ideas that include higher speed or high power are higher risk... Thinking it out, then time on the water is what makes you proficient. I learn by trial and error trying different suggestions ha ha. Cheers.
Excellent video, Thank you for sharing. Paul, Ireland
Thanks for your excellent help....For years, every time I entered my slip at Marina Del Ray, I always yelled "Stand by for a RAM" and you would be surprised how fast people appeared ready to help me manhandle my 42 foot Grand-banks on a gusty Day.
My slip gives me about 8 inches on either side of my 28' sailboat boat, past the fenders, but we only have piling on the starboard side, and an old PT boat on our port, which we don't want to nick and sink. Your video showed me how to use that piling. Thank you!
Awesome video on docking techniques, liked it very much.
I appreciate the instructions very much. Would love it if you did a presentation on single-handed docking.
Just took ASA 118 yesterday. Regarding "Parallel Docking - Hemmed in Dock with Forward Spring "(52:00), our instructor demonstrated this maneuver with a bridle / one long line tied between bow and midship cleat. The bow crew used a boat hook to help place the line over the cleat. A little cumbersome for set up but worked like a charm.
Josh... We published a video on the Docking Bridle last year at ruclips.net/video/ZJF7nr6TJx4/видео.html
@mdschoolofsailing Great! Just watched it. Very helpful. Thank you! We used your slide show as a handout in our class. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge.
it is a art in docking properly. Take time to present your boat in arriving and departing from your slip or dock side.
Thank you so much for this valuable information. I think I am going to have to watch this video a good few times for all the info to sink in. Thanks once again.
Thank you for sharing this great information. Truly appreciated.
I really enjoyed this presentation, lots of takeaways. For backing a boat into a slip, all of the examples start bow first and then turning to setup the boat to back the stern into the slip. Any thoughts about backing down the fairway stern first and approaching the slip? This is how I normally do it and and its worked well....so far. That said, I'm going to practice some of these techniques.
Backing may be easier overall if it's into the wind or for a starboard approach when going forward and the boat has significant prop walk. It avoids the problem of prop walk working with the wind during a turn from bow forward to stern into the slip. In other words it avoids some of the problems of the starboard approach.
Excellent instructive. One of my hardest and still not mastered (and I hate it too) is backing in. Thank you!
Choose the tide to park into your slip backwards, into stream and a light breeze from anywhere other than against stream. Blown-on is good. 2 crew. One for the 1st line. One for roving fender and 2nd line.
Stop the boat stern into the stream (out in the river)
Stand forward of the helm facing aft. Never move from this helm position.
Hold it there. Stationary in relation to pontoons. Glance at the bow sometimes but 90% look aft (where you're going).
Practise just with the throttle. Ease and she creeps forward. A tad more revs and she holds. A little more and she creeps backwards into the stream.
Keep holding it in reverse against the stream for a long long time. Until voyeurs get bored and wonder off while you really get the feel of hanging her off the prop, equaling the stream.
Now driving like a car, turn the wheel slightly slightly left. Wait. She will ferry glide left. Then have a go at ferry gliding right... Forget port/starboard.
You're in control.
Reverse Ferry glide into your fairway. At first she'll lose against the stream so Increase revs, just momentarily. Turn more and more into the fairway. Use the +/- throttle to stay central. Get nervous? Turn the wheel back toward the river and ferry glide back out. So, the further in and closer to shore, the weaker the stream. Compensate with helm adjustments. You're 45%-70% now and as your slip opens up will need to turn back towards it with a tad more revs.
You are moving slooowly into your slip, fewer revs as you go. No matter how slow, because you're into stream you will always have water over the rudder and so steerage and you have a clear view of the finger and the pontoon (end of your berth that you will stop 11 inches away from).
Slide her in, slow to a stop and hang off the prop again. Tie off the stern breastline first, hang off it and into neutral. Tie off bow breastline and bow spring. Finished with engine. Stern spring. Kettle on.
Remember the bow spring is the aft one and the stern spring is the forward one. Now reread the lines order again.
Ellul Walker thanks for taking the time to respond. Good advise to stand on until one gets the feeling, i’m always trying to rush a bit. Cheers!
@@Dan_C604 I'm slow as drying paint. Those looking for calamity get fed up and stop gawping.
Also, I think slow. I like time to see what the the boat wants to do and use that rather than fight it.
I like to be going slow enough to have more time and less (wrong) momentum to change if I need to goto plan B. You can always add revs. It's harder to unadd momentum.
My own take is a little different. Swap the contingency and mission.
Plan A. Go up the fairway, turn the boat and leave the fairway. Keep doing that. (survival confidence)
Plan B. When you master plan A, go up the fairway again and if you see a good opportunity to get her in her slip have a go at that. Otherwise complete plan A.
Priority is avoiding collision damage, it is not "to park the boat at all costs".
Or stick with dive in as soon as you're back, barrel up the fairway, take a flier at the turn point, get it wrong. Use even more revs to undo the momentum. Get screamed at because you didn't allow for drift. Wonder what the plan B should have been that you can never visualise anyway. Get teeboned across bow rollers or worse (because you were giving it manly welly to beat whatever "element was king" ).
Great job. Very informative and well presented. Thanks.
Excellent and detailed review.
Thanks for the seminar. Very helpful! I'm doing a flotilla in a few weeks in the med, so this is a great refresher before this. If you could have the mouse pointer larger, or more highlighted it would be a little easier to follow, but this is only a tiny thing.
Great video -- can't wait to put this to good use soon! ❤⚓
Great Videos. Thank you. I hope you are well.
Nice and detailed lessons. Thanks.
Great video! Thanks a lot!
Very informative and helpful video. Your presentation is planned and executed very well, so that it's logical.
In the case by case scenarios, you address all the key forces that may be involved, except for current. You do mention current forces and describe how they affect the boat in the early portion of the video. In cases where there are also current forces, it's important for sailors to also consider and account for these forces in addition to all the others.
Definitely, though wind is a bit more confounding since it can turn the bow.
Great lessons, super video, greetings from Quebec
I'm curious: why such strong emphasis on backing into a slip at the end? My marina has very consistent westerly winds which blow me toward my slip neighbor. PLUS my prop walk is to the right. Thus, if I were to back in - prop walk would carry me toward my neighbor as the wind carries my bow toward my neighbor. So I go bow in to counter-act. This was a great video... I realize that my smartest choice is to get myself turned around bow to wind. Thus I have to do a standing turn in a narrow fairway. Thank you for sharing this video!
Excellent and very clear - great info.
Nicely done. Very informative. Thank you!
Tom,
Great presentation...EXCEPT...the small white cursor arrow is very difficult to see.
Please consider ENLARGING the size of the cursor and CHANING it's COLOR to a higher CONTRAST color like YELLOW.
Much easier to follow.
Raymarine is now using this.
Fantastic instructions!! It’s just so good. Thanks a lot from Denmark 🙂👍
Hi! Is it possible to download that PowerPoint file? Thx!
Thank you very much. Much appreciated!
I was gonna comment and say my boat will do a standing turn at idle, but like you said only right hand turns.. this is a good explanation for me to do a left hand turn, maybe I missed that part but idk... very good explanations.
Really useful video, thanks a million. One comment though, from a Mediterranean sailor . . . . You guys in Maryland seem to think nothing of using the side of your boat in docking, eg when pivoting around a slip post during the 'water man's turn'. At sailing schools on this side of the pond we'd get eaten alive at sailing schools for doing that. Similarly I note you tend only to have a couple of fenders out on the approach side whereas I was always taught to put out every damned one, maybe 6 or 7! Just shows . . . there's more than one way to skin a cat! Thanks again.
Interestingly the technique comes from fishermen on working boats. Perhaps they're less worried about scuffing their paint. ;)
Note also that it was intended for heavy winds. Sees like a good technique for getting control of a boat and turning it in heavy winds. A fenderboard or horizontal fender could be used on the piling to protect the boat better.
Took the class about a month ago (loads of fun and super useful; learned lots of stuff not in this video too). Fenders were only used for flat dock work (i.e. springing in/out). But note that those Island Packets have a nice stainless steel rub rail, which is the only place, that contacted the pilings. And at no time should you be sliding on a piling; at most only rotating around one (else it leaves some wood bits in the rubrail screw heads; how do I know?) But I asked the instructor about boats with pretty gelcoat sides and no rubrail in just the right place to protect them from the pilings. He showed me a flat boat fender (Google it; I'd never seen one before), that was aboard the boat just for that case. Another solution for (against?) pilings is fender boards, which I've seen a couple of times. In New York/New Jersey, where I do much of my sailing, docks are different: Chesapeake has a small tidal range, so often docks are fixed, but in my area it's almost a given that they are floating and typical cylindrical fenders rule. But unlike the Med, stern to docking is rare, so usually only two or three fenders are used per side.
Comprehensive, indeed. Dealing with all situations of docking!
great lesson. greetings from Germany!
I really enjoyed your video on exiting and entering your slip. Could you please do one using a pontoon boat
Very Useful. Thank you Sir!
I love this channel. I'm wondering if you have a channel you'd recommend for power boaters. I'm particularly interested in docking techniques for twin engine inboard engine powered boats.
very good, very informative to seamanship subject!
Thank You, I looked like a pro my first time
great lessons. greetings from Denmark
Great seminar. Thanks. How do you best SOLO dock a 26' (Pearson 26 OD) sailboat in a river? It has a 9.8 HP outboard. Slip is 2 pilings on each side as shown in seminar. Slip is perpendicular to river. River current is average 3 knots. Current depends on tide shift, so unless I hit it at slack tide, I have current ripping in or out, perpendicular to slip. Wind is usually 10 knots, parallel to river--so when the wind is opposite the current, it's easier to dock, but that is not often the case. It seems like the waterman's spring seems the best option, but once I get the stern in, the bow quickly spins with the current and against the opposite piling. Is there a way to use the waterman's spring and prevent the boat from twisting as I back in? (Going in forwards seems impossible solo.)
Many thanks, really helpful.
Best videos on the web
Thank you! Very helpful video!
very informative and comprehensive. thx
Very useful presentation :-) I learned a lot :-)
Just what I needed
Thank you for this informative tutorial!
The rookie practicing the cleat hitch around @23:00 mark is starting from the wrong horn :3 Yes, I watched the video about it!
I have a folding prop. i seem to have problems with kicks in reverse. what do i need to do?
George Lippitt folding props typically are lousy in reverse. My martec prop was great going forward..reverse not so much.
Helped me a lot, thank you so much. Do you sell the slideshow?
Excellent instructions!
Very instructional, however I thought you short-changed the discussion regarding heading in to a slip. Perhaps that is because you don't use that method as much at your school, but a lot of boaters are relegated to heading in to their slip and must do so in some pretty difficult conditions.
Great. Thank you for posting
Great presentation. - In a parallel undocking wind opposed situation you mention that you prefer stern out vs bow out. Would explain why you believe this to be the case? Thanks..
Rich Jobin I prefer stern out because it's easier to fend off the bow, if necessary, than to fend off the stern. Also, when going bow out, you use your rudder to avoid the boat ahead, and this pushes your stern toward the boat ahead... So in my view, stern out is the better of two evils
Excellent. Thank you!
This was an amazing seminar!!
Can you help me figure out how to back out of a slip qith fairway exit to the left with wind on the nose. Thank you!
Great presentation , thanks!
Thanks for an awesome video.
Question regarding: @43:16 (Backing out of slip bow to wind) - What do you do if you are on the right in a double slip i.e. no pilings on the port side AND it's a left handed propeller (stern walks to port) AND there strong crosswind blowing from the fairway exit? I would prefer not to exit fairway stern out
Thank You.....
Sir. Thank you for the video, some very good ideas there, well presented.
Could I ask one question? You say that most boats are most wind affected at the bow. If so, using a stern spring and reversing onto it to force the bow out with the wind on the beam or behind the beam night get the bow out, but wind would just blow it back in again when the spring is released. Would it not be more likely to be successful if you motor ahead against a bow spring and get the stern up to wind when being blown onto the dock/pier from the beam or behind the beam? Your three pronged wind arrow could be a little misleading.
Other than than great presentation.
Best Regards
Phil
+philipkenneth24 If you are speaking about parallel undocking, I agree and prefer to use an after leading spring line from the bow and power ahead slowly to push the stern out, and then back out from there... MDS
Actually you're both agreeing. :)
Incredible video! thank you!
Every way works depending on conditions. The only thing you miss out is you need a calculator for all your angles.
Thank you!
FYI
This video assumes your boat has an inboard engine. If you have an outboard some of these methods don't work so well.
For an outboard the prop is aft of the rudder so prop wash never really flows over it. For these boats the rudder is only effective when moving through the water, at a stand still such as the "standing turn" the rudder won't do much. If the outboard rotates then use that and let the rudder follow. I've been on a boat with a stationary outboard so all you got is the rudder. Tricky business that boat is.
The point is understand what works on your particular boat.
With an outboard, you can still steer very well in reverse because you essentially have a directional drive unit. You don't need to think about it because you are constantly steering to correct it. Prop walk is only an issue in an inboard situation. If a person has issues docking an outboard or IO because of prop walk, they probably can't park a car either. A person can't understand truly difficult docking until they "stern in" a single screw inboard.
I use a doubled line a lot, when I'm getting ready to leave somewhere ill switch my lines over to this, so they can all be released and retreated from the boat ... it works good for me...
Can some one tell me if I'm wrong about the position of the rudder at the 43:10 mark of this video? In this particular photo it is showing the rudder facing the port side of the boat but if it's a right turning prop wouldn't the rudder want to be towards the starboard side due to the prop walk??? any help is appreciated in advance. thx, RJ
It's the spring line that is steering the boat backing out in this view, not the rudder
Understood... Thank You
@@sailingsvtesla9052 Also, at low speed through the water, prop walk would have more effect than the rudder. But the spring line is doing most of steering the boat at that point.
Going into the slip is much better starting from downwind position and going in one go with slow speed
If the rudder is held hard to s/bd during the entire manoeuver; wouldn't the reversing stage be compromised by the rudder in that position?
Would it not be correct to steer port when reversing?
SunriseBoy Boat speed is slow when backing into a slip, so the rudder has little effect on steering the boat. The more important factor, is one of timing. Shifting the rudder to steer in reverse takes time, and the small benefit gained is more than offset by missing the necessary timing for your next action. I usually don't shift the rudder until the fore and aft centerline of the boat crosses the centerline of the slip, since in this case you need to be prepared to throttle kick ahead to avoid a slip piling or dockage that you may be angled toward. Thanks for the question...
very excellent ,learnt a lot of thingsready ,,
Standing turn in boat with outboard. Same rule right rudder only applies or is different than with inboard?
Very helpful👌🏻 thanks for sharing🙏🏻
Great advise on dock lines. My boat is left hand screw....lol.... Newfie once more.
Can you please do a video on how to use The capstan Of a Windlass for docking or other sailing procedures?
For a "Mediterranean mooring" at roughly 33:00, is there a recommended distance that the anchor is let out? Seems you run the risk of fouling passers-by's props if left out too far? It looks in the schematic to be roughly the length of the boat. Is that to scale?
Thanks
thanks for video, it was very informative.
Thank you so much
Woah. Thank you for the information .
Very Informative.
thank you so much. sametimes i need this video note for print.can you help me sir?
The illustration of arc was helpful in determining which way to steer to partially minimize prop walk.
Irrelevant! Prop walk appears on reverse only.
Michael J - I disagree