I appreciate you walking us through this. It's always a show of good character in my book, when someone is able to wear their imperfections on their sleeves, as they say. I suppose it's only human to sometimes have difficulties balancing routine and your own expectations against the reality of a specific situation. It's a good reminder to stay sharp and communicate. Thanks for the insight!
Respect! I watched already some of your videos before but because of this one, I subscribed. I also had an incident while docking just a few days ago. The dock hand just didn’t tie the windward line we threw. He insisted on first taking the mooring line (underwater slime line). The wind caught the bow, the stern scratched the dock and the bow crashed into to boat next to us. It just goes to show that even with 40 years of experience, things can (and will) go wrong. Thanks again for being confident enough to also publish failures!
Great that you have the courage to share and analyse your mistake(s). Really appreciated and I learned a lot from this (as someone said in the comments below: typically you learn more from mistakes than from things that go smooth). Note that aborting the first docking attempt is also a sign of good skill & attitude: rather than to pursue a manoevre and risk damage to boat and/or crew: go around, prepare again + put yourself in a better position, and try again. Last but not least: I admire you calm attitude (not yelling or making frantic moves, or...). This is also shows your experience and is a excellent example for you crew. Well done video; please post more!
Great Video and I really appreciate that you stand to your failures and learn from them (even at your level of experience)! That's exactly what I like in sailing - you will never stop learning and always have to reflect yourself!
Thank you. Could you please explain how to “walk” your boat upwind along the quay towards the catamaran if you had tied up initially against the downwind monohull?
You are an excellent Captain. It is humbling to watch howe you point out your own mistakes. You're an excellent leader. Respect! I had a tricky time at Alimos too! Lots of wind.
Sometimes it is like this. You get used to those maneuveres and it comes to the danger of routine. Thanks for also showing your mistakes and reminding me never to fall into routine. It's always better to be overprepared. In this case you simply could also have prepared a line from the starbord middlecleat and pass this first to stern. The vector against the crosswind is much better when you thrust fwd.
Oh yes we did learn a lot of it. The most I liked is to use the springline. So far I only used the stern mouring line in such case with a strong forward to keep the balance. With the springline this shall be way easier. Thanks you for the idea
Thank you for the briefing. Although you did some mistakes you did extremely well to keep calm and control the situation and get the boat back in place. Thats a sign of a professional😎
Wow super amazing video... Being so open on such a situation.... The errors and what should have been done too... Such a learning experience for all Bravo 👏👏👏👏
Thank you. Mentally I review every docking manoeuvre and, truth be told, in the majority of cases there’s an improvement to be made. It is reassuring to see that way more experienced captains go through a similar experience.
Hello Alexandros: Many thanks for taking the time to put together this most informative (and well illustrated) video. Question: when docking in STRB cross wind… what is BEST STRB dock line to use -while putting the engine IN FORWARD-to keep the boat perpendicular to the dock? A strb stern line OR a midship strb line? I have ALWAYS used a stern line with good effect… but in the video you seem to recommend using a midship line. Wouldn’t a midship line cause the stern to swing out to port… causing the boat to want to lay parallel -not perpendicular- to the dock… with bow pointing into the wind?
It depends of the boat, usually when you put rudder to Port then the boat is getting perpendicular. Some boats they point the bow more to the wind but that's not necessarily bad, if you are prepared with fender protection to the bow you touch bow first to the windward boat and the stern close after.
Well explained! And thanks a lot. One question: Once you attached the line to the bolard, how do you climb the boat to the right position? You make forward, but where do you put the rudder? Rudder to stardboard or to port? Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge
I would leave the rudder amidship as the forward gear will pull the boat upwind against the single upwind mooring line much like a spring line. I use this a lot when departing and needing to turn into the wind.
Thanks for sharing - a good analysis and well thought out. Please share with us how to put the yacht straight after the bow has been shifted by the wind. Also as many others I would be interested how to walk the "walk" the yacht upwind. More videos please, great work.
Firstly, I’ve seen worse on a calm day in croatia, so no worries. I miss the boat characteristic ,,factor’’ about the video, as far as I can tell it’s most likely a dual rudder sailboat with a clockwise rotating prop, which is the worst you can have in this situation. When you stop the boat, the bow drops not only because of the wind, but because of the propwalk pushing the stern to starboard. That’s why things go bad so fast, and the more throttle you give to tighten the line, the more the bow drops.
Σωστά τα έκανες λάθος 😂! πολλές φορές από κούραση δεν βλέπουμε σωστά τα δεδομένα.... Χωρίς λάθη δεν μαθαίνεις εξάλλου 😊. Μια εναλλακτική θα ήταν ένα σκοινί στην πλώρη του καταμαράν αφού υπήρξε και άνθρωπος εκεί διαθέσιμος μέχρι να πάρεις το ρεμεντζο. Καλές θάλασσες και σε ευχαριστώ για το πολύ καλό βίντεο!!!
Thank you for the video. Question: Would it be a valid action to arrive next to the catamaran and then ask one crew member to use a spring line from your mid cleat to the cat's mid cleat (held by hand to allow movement) until you sort the stern lines? The cat owner was on deck, could been asked if he agrees... Is this accepted, is it done usually, or it is not liked by the other boats captains in general?
Το μεγαλείο ενός δασκάλου είναι να πει στο μαθητή του τι εχει κάνει λάθος ο ίδιος! Σε παρακολουθώ μερικούς μήνες γιατί θέλω να κάνω ένα 7ημερο με ιστιοπλοϊκό με την οικογένεια και πραγματικά έχω μάθει παρά πολλά πράγματα απο εσένα! Μόνο έτσι θα καταλάβω τι πρεπει να κάνω και δεν πρεπει να κάνω… Οταν κατέβω Αθήνα θα σε ψάξω να τα πουμε. Well done professor
The mid ship line is attached at the center beam of the boat and it has the best leverage of all lines and it can balance the boat effortlessly to the Crosswind
Thank you very much for this video of failed maneuver. It is even more worth than those successful ones! Small note - we've been taught that in case of strong crosswind there is better to dock from windward side of docked ships - because then your boat can lean on docked ship and you'll have small or no problem with drifting bow at all. What do you think?
For a completely stress-free approach, could you also have come in alongside to the dock bow into the wind first, prepare the Stb stern line, take the lazy line, and then just slowly move the boat to its final position? Or is the danger too great that you catch one of the lazy lines with the prop, so one should never come alongside in these kind of docks?
You are making this assessment harder than it needs to be. Alimos, is a big marina and it's easy to get confused about where you should go. With a lazy line you really don't have to worry about being too straight when you arrive. Your crew has one job. Get the windward line secure on the dock, at that point you can use your engine in forward to hold yourself straight. Then get the second line on. Only once you are happy and settled do you think about the lazy line. You can sit for an hour with engine going forward and windward stern in place and you will sit nice and straight even in 20kt winds. So the real lesson is make sure your windward line is set, your stern railings are open and your crew can step off if needed and tie the windward line. and of course some stern fenders. Mid ship lines should only be a last resort if you can't stay straight on the lazy line. I know in Greece there is a habit to set stern lines as wide as possible, but you achieve the same with crossed stern lines or additional stern springs.
At 7.17 you say that you cannot put the engine in forward to aggressively. Why is that? Shouldn't you apply enough forward drive and pull the weel upwind to straighten the bow? Btw love your videos 👍🙏
You must firstly forward to take the slack of the line and then give more rpm to pivot. All the way forward to a slack line can damage the cleats, it recoils the boat and drops the bow
I thought of two things, why no anker dropping? and why not instruct one of the three mates bow to hand a line to the guy on the catamaran? Ditch the bow thruster all together in the later example.
There is no faster way to get yellow card from the Marina (which provides mooring lines) for being reckless than by dropping an anchor - and of course get immediately labelled by anyone watching as someone totally lacking seamanship. Most proper Marinas in fact ban anchoring with signs in big bold letters (because of the total mess they can cause) - unlike small shelters and ports that lack properly functioning mooring lines and which are often used by inexperienced charterers on various Greek islands or small seaside villages and towns (and which sort of design spaces with anchoring in mind) who then believe anchoring stern-to is a norm everywhere .
@@Sorim-oj5li In those small harbours mooring stern-to might be impossible given the slope of rocks supporting the dock, and bows-to with a stern anchor was the only option, especially for smaller yachts.
Καλησπέρα. Θα ήθελα να σε ρωτήσω κάτι μιας και είσαι σχετικός με την ιστιοπλοϊα. Πιστεύεις είναι εφικτό για κάποιον με μέσο εισόδημα σήμερα να έχει ένα ιστιοπλοϊκό σκάφος ή χρειάζονται τρελα χρήματα για συντήρηση?
You could also have counted on the guy in the orange shirt, non? I mean give him a line from the bow, he could have blocked it on the cleat on the catamaran while you sort everything out.
@@epicnavigator What an admission :-). After many years that has persuaded me to tell mine. I was flotilla skipper and had set my fleet off to explore the upper Sporades. My wife & I went into Skopelos harbour, the yacht prepped correctly for a bows-to moor. There was just room at the end of a row of a rival flotilla yachts on the dock. I was very used to where to drop my stern anchor and had flaked the warp out so it would run without a snag. I always told flotilla crew to have a bowline in the end of that warp, and a second line bowlined onto it "in case they miss-judged it", but I knew the length needed & went in at a "confident" speed to show the lead skipper of the opposition, and the few other skippers chatting with him, how it was done. The anchor went down & the warp was running through my hand when I took in that my wife (standing forward with the bow line) had turned & had a certain expression on her face. She was trying to convey "aren't you going a bit quickly" at the same moment I glanced down at the few metres of line left on the cockpit floor. I griped the line tightly hoping the anchor would drag a little as the pressure came on, but of course this time it didn't - I HAD misjudged the distance and even as I kicked the (low mounted) throttle into astern the line was hauled out of my grip. I came to a halt a metre from the quay, with the group of skippers clapping. Even after tying up I had to drag the bottom to recover the stern anchor & line in front of them. Do I feel better for that? No, but I've never told of it before & if epicnavigator can show this, time I admitted to my mistake. And it DID cure me of showing off...
What about going in sideways? There looks to be plenty of space. You could change to the upright position once you have a line to drive against. Or would you advise against it?
One simple thing that seems no one is mentioning. Those three crew at the bow on starboard. They are just standing there. One of them needs a boathook in hand. Grab the base of a stanchion on the cat and keep the bow from drifting. Why is this not mentioned? Problem solved. Then you have all the time in the world to sort out the lines astern.
@@epicnavigator I agree caution is advised, however not much force is needed to keep the bow from drifting sideways. If this is a concern, a sheet lassooed around the next boat's cleat and made fast to your own cleat, would definitely solve the problem until you get the boat's mooring lines sorted.
