Try a quick release DOCKING STICK that snaps onto your boat hook. I made mine with some pvc and a couple pop rivets. Secure its end to a midships cleat, drop its rope loop over the bollard, yank the boat hook away, and gently keep your boat in a forward idle until it pulls itself against the dock. Easy Peasy.

very very good lessons! thanks a lot.

Sounds good to me.

In this video you demonstrated how to do two things single-handedly: docking a sailboat and shutting the haters' mouths :) Please stay positive, your videos are what people need. I wish more such material was available some time ago, then maybe the Croatians wouldn't mock the people from other European countries for the lack of their boat manoeuvring skills and call them the "alpine navy".

As someone who has recently been in the market for a charter sailboat, with all your respect Nick, I don't know who in their right mind would ever buy this thing. Now I admit, Hanse has never been my cup of tea and that's for a handful of very good reasons. First I just never liked the interior styling, it always seemed very esthetically repulsive compared to what other manufacturers are producing at this price point. This is mostly a matter of taste so I don't think I should bash it too much on this. As the antient romans once said "De gustibus non disputandum est"! The more objective reasons why I will never own a Hanse are: availability of replacement parts and price. Waypoint yacht charter has been operating since 1993 (yes they even operated during the war) and they have had many many different styles of boats in their fleet. From your regular Beneteaus and Bavarias to privileges, gulets, 75 footers and even ketch rigged boats. Their manager has said to me once that out of all the boats they have maintained over the years, nothing was more expensive tiresome and annoying to maintain than the 3 Hanse boats they had the misfortune of keeping in charter. You know how most of the industry uses the exact same door latches for all their cabinets? The little button ones that when you press, the cabinet pops open? The entire industry uses that same design of cabinet door latch, but not Hanse. You see, Hanse want you to order parts straight from them and not some 3rd party website. The cabinet door latch is just one example, but you can say the exact same thing for many other things around the boat. Specially made components that hanse tends to use that nobody else does include: light switches, pumps, light base plate fixtures... the list goes on. Sourcing those special components is expensive, time consumming, difficult and annoying. Just remember the drawr latches that Janina has in her galley! Those are a typical example. They aren't any better than the normal button ones that everybody in the industry uses, but Hanse uses them to drain owners pockets. And that brings me to the second reason why I will never own a Hanse and that is price. The boat shown in the video (Hanse 508) certainly has some advantages over a Bavaria C50, but is the Hanse 508 necessarily worth 100 000 euros more than the C50? I contacted one of my mates who knows a bavaria dealer and we specked a C50 that has similar equipment to this boat (no bimini, no electric winches, the most basic interior wood colour, wenge floor option, upgraded upholstery, roller furling mast etc.) we got a price that is just under 100 k € less than this particular hanse 508. When I was in the market for a 45 foot boat last year I contacted the owner of my charter company to ask him what manufacturer of boat I should ask for an offer. When I asked him should I contact a Hanse dealer he said to me:" No man, don't buy a Hanse, that will get you bankrupt!" He was not wrong. A fully equipped charter ready Bavaria 46 is 30k€ cheaper that the starting price of a Hanse 460. The starting price of a Bavaria is 80 grand below the starting price of a Hanse. When you start to put options on it that price difference only widens. Yes, the Hanse is better in many areas, but is it really worth 80 grand more!? And don't even get me started on interest rates. For a Bavaria 46 I managed to negodiate a 6.5 % fixed rate for a 5 year loan. For a Hanse, I heared from some people it doesn't go below 9% for that same period. Banks know what they're doing and even they know that a Hanse charter boat is a bad investment. People tend to spit on charter boat owners for being "greedy" and "penny pinchers", when in reality nobody understands just how narrow the profit margins of this industry are. I ran the numbers and concluded that a Hanse 460 can be profitable, but only if the booking price was raised by about 1 500€ per week compared to the Bavaria competitor. Who in their right mind would pay that!? I just don't understand. And Nick, if you are reading this, my Iskra is financially barely afloat even with her older bro hepling to pay her off. I would kill to be able to see the financial calculation of Janina or a boat similar to her, as I just don't understand how can a boat like that be profitable. The only way I can see a Hanse being profitable is if the owner is a millionaire so he/she can afford to go a couple of tens or even hundreds of thousands in debt for a couple of years.

Catamaran!!!! 😂 Yeah!

Thanks for this, Nick. Would it have been an option to stop the boat with the Centre/Point of rotation in line with the middle of your parking spot and then rotate then reverse straight in? Or is it better to reverse in as you did? Thanks.

That was extremely helpful and informative. Thank you.

Katastrophe

really great review totally honest, wish more reviewers were like you

Nice! Can you do similar videos for other marinas?

I am on vacation and i saw huge smoke coming out fron Seget Gornij direction, scary... hope everyone is okay

Oh sh*t! That's not gonna be stopped quickly, is it? Hope everyone can be safe! 🤞

Is it a bush fire? Considering the temperatures during the last weeks everything must dry AF!

Boat fire?!

Hope it is contained and everyone is safe

Wow, hope they get it under control and no one hurt

Is it the actual one you are sailing in the video? Looks like she can shift

Crap

So what I have done this thousand’s of time, you are ignorant

The worst office I've ever seen. No annoying colleagues, no AC, no nothing... I would never...

Looking good, sounds fine!

In that situation I prefer to turn the boat to the right, following the wind, and then exiting from the channel in reverse gear, stern to wind; much more control of the boat. What do you think? If you prefer going bow to the wind, I would expect to use the portside line as pivot, which is windward, keeping the boat in the middle of the other two ones. Please explain if something is wrong in my opinion. Thanks

My wife, it turns out, is the "37th wind"!

Add another turn or 2 on the cleat before you lock it with a hitch to prevent binding. You should have mentioned "crabbing" in R for boats without thrusters. Good Story . . . . Harbor Master told me to renew my slip permit my J/24 had to have a motor. It was racing season, and my motor was tied tight down in the floor of the boat. I explained to him that by the very definition of a sail boat, I have a motor. They are called Sails. He gave me grief, so I said if I could prove that I can move my boat around without crashing into shit, would he let me leave my motor below, and renew the permit. He laughed and said OK, deal. I was nose-to the dock. I lifted the main, and hauled it out with a preventer back around for quick release, then singled up the bow to windward. I used a bunji and my monkey fist to control free tiller, cast the bow line to the dock, casually walked back and gave the tiller a nudge with my foot, unclipped the stern line from the tahiti ball, as boat fell downwind, sailed to end of my row, did a 180 and quick tacked all the way up the channel to the harbor mouth, out and around the green buoy and back. The wind had shifted a PERFECT 70* around to north. So I rounded up into irons, prevented the main, got some R momentum going, clipped the ball as I passed it going backwards, dropped the main, which was on 3 reef, so very short. Jumped off the stern and tied the windward stern line. Did not come close to either neighbor nor bump the dock with a perfect 6" to spare. I said to the dude, If I backed it out under control, and backed it in under control, and didn't hit anything, then how the hell can you say I don't have a motor? He signed me off. Attention All Sailors - You don't need a gasoline motor.

It is a chartboat from Angelina, but this is not an explanation why he is treating boat and sails like this. I know a lot of good charter sailors....a owner-boat is no reason for good seamanship.

How much without VAT?

Do I spot a self-tacking jib!? 😍 A nice feature for super-comfortable holiday sailing! Good luck with the sale.

Every video is absolutely amazing! The way of explaining, the best "teacher" ever! Thank you for your job, thank you for inspiration you are giving to us.. and for feeling more safe when we rent a boat. I watched about 7-9 videos from you and learnt already so much! 💙🌊🙏🏼👌🏼

😂😄

Thank you Nick. I am glad that you are good after yesterday’s fall. We had the best time. It was the best birthday present ever, from my daughter! You are the best skipper!!! Take care! 🌞🤣

Happy memories of my Med sailing days. Like you, it was always a flat calm when I was ST mooring….

Any commentary about steering ,engines etc?

he tries hulling to but forgot that the motor is running?

Nick, you are a star!

Hi ya, thank you for the link to the online Chandler. I have tried to buy this passerelle, without success. First problem: Registration required a surname to contain at least four letters. My surname is Cox. 3 letters. Second problem: My home address is Queensland, Australia. It does not recognise Australia as the billing address. The third problem: my boat is located at Sant Carles Marina, La Rapita, Tetragonal, Spain. The website does not recognise Spain. Do you think that they could put me in touch with another supplier that is open to trading in Europe? Kind regards Mike Cox

Thank you for sharing your videos. I hope Croatia appreciate the effort you go to when promoting the country and wonderful sailing that can be had. Quick question: in your last video, delivery of the Hanse 508, can you please tell me where I can get the same passerelle. I have been trolling the internet for ages to find this. All without success. Please point me in the right direction. Kind regards Mike

etiquette no no's: I would think music from your boat? You are not in your private party in a harbour

Question: You have on your site the Buy Merch and I see you wearing the really nice blueisch poloshirt with 45 degree sailing, but I dont see it in your shop. Would really love that instead of black

Love you videos. If you would choose between 460 or 508, to take your family around the world, which one would be a better hull to build upon?

Yeah nah, you can stick med docking up your arse

Pretty cheap Hanse offering a 2 blade fixed prop on a boat that size. Lovely delivery! Jealous! Sails are for shade on catamarans😂

Didn't Hanse switch to Raymarine equipment? I'm quite happy to still see B&G though. I haven't sailed much with B&G instruments but from little experience I currently have I really quite like them

Hey Nick cool to see how you sorted out that fuel problem. Another one for the memory locker.cheers 45D

How do you "heave to" with the self-tacking jib?

As a user of Hanse 508, ı'm looking forward to your videos.

Great episode, thanks for recording the delivery trip. Also proper demonstration of mainsail reefing at the beginning, depowering sheets first, easing main sheet and boom on the starboard tack, then loosen the outhaul a bit, mast winch on ratchet position, then haul in on the other winch. step by step, very well done. Your videos are both informative and a real pleasure to watch 🙏

Long live the 505! Just a better layout for actually sailing

What is wrong with prose travellers - sick of German boom sheeting

Awesome video, thank you for sharing