Thank you! It is the worst boat name ever though… I have to spell it phonetically every time, and then the recipient always thinks I’ve given up and re-started when I spell the second half of it! We were at Tan Malie Se Winkel’s in Hartebeesport Dam, and when my sister-in-law translated the wooden sign we noticed as meaning ‘I can’t complain’ we decided to rename the house we were buying… decades later my daughter suggested it as the name for my first new boat, and we didn’t stop to think about the radio!
I have boated for 30 years in the Pacific NW...Mid Cleat ALWAYS....have a beer chase your girl or just admire the fact it isn't going anywhere!! Johnne in Clallam Bay WA.
You have missed the best cheat of all, the single handed sailors go to for easy mooring in any conditions... run a line from the center cleat, outside everything, to a winch in the cockpit. Leave a lot of slack in the line. Approach the mooring and when the cockpit is parallel with the cleat you would use for a stern line, drop the line over the cleat and pull in the slack on the winch. Now you can motor forward and the line automatically becomes a stern line and spring, all without leaving the cockpit. The boat is made and you can step off and do your lines at leisure. This can also be done the other way round, drop the line over a cleat youwould use for a midship line and pop the engine in reverse, hey presto a midship line and spring in one. If the engine should fail, just winch in all the slack and you are along side as well. I have been living on board and sailing solo for 18 months now and this is my go to method for completely trouble free mooring. So much so, if people offer to take my lines I politely decline now, or just ask them to take the bow line. This is IMHO the safest way to come alongside in all conditions and has saved me many a blush in marinas.
@@theboatcheat1204 I'm not convinced, I dont need to do anything with the rudder, once its set as a stern line and spring, idle forward and the bow comes in to the pontoon but only as far as the stern line will allow, she will sit there all day with the bow in slightly. If the bow is pointing in too far, just winch the line tighter. Although I will admit, as you get more confident with this method, you learn to loop the line round the cleat, instead of just dropping it over. This adds a little more friction. You would only need steerage, if you were set with just a midship line, but with a stern and spring, the lines do all the work for you.
A modern broad transom twin rudder boat, with a line from the mid cleat, will go bow in and stern out if you put it in forward gear, whereas a traditional boat can be controlled with rudder to make the bow or stern move in. Stepping off of a SO349 for example, to attach a stern line would not be possible.
How many docks in Poole have the circumstances, where the current is perpendicular to the dock? On the Solent area (Hamble, Itchen, etc), I can only think of two. And in Portland, Weymouth, Torbay, there are none that I can think of. The scenario is pretty rare... and depending on the wind strength the ferry-gliding at 8:02 might not be possible at that angle. Also, I'd approach the dock as you show at 0:45 and then have a line ready as you show at 7:30, but I'd rig the bitter end around a winch, so you can take up the slack really swiftly, and you don't have to see-saw quite as much. On my boat, I'd possible I'd also approach it from the other side, so I can use the prop-walk to control the stern when I go astern after getting the line on the cleat (I have a RH prop, so on a LH prop this demo would be he correct approach).
In Parkstone the tide floods across the marina into Parkstone Bay, so when the tide is flowing most of the berths have a current perpendicular to the finger. In Cowes and East Cowes about 1/2 of them do.
mid-sheet cleat is the way to go. the only downside is you need to leave the helm while single handing, but if you get good at stopping the boat when you dock it is not a problem.
if i was solosailing I would come in directly from west and rund to the front and crash into the dock with as litle speed as possible and tie the front firs. then go back in the boat and pick up the rope from the back and go back on the dock and pull in the back.
On some boats yes, but on most yachts it doesn’t work because there is insufficient propwash and the geometry of the hull shape makes getting the stern in almost impossible. For twin keel boat this won’t ever work… but the mid will work on all boats.
how about a looped line tied both bow and stern and then tied close to the middle. This works well also solo launching as it keeps boat in line with dock...
3:25 if rudder is placed more to front than rope, try to turn rudder left, not right. Right rudder pushes hull away from harbour. Left rudder will push hull to the harbour. Still most of engine power is directed to the front, so it will cause turning hull to the right, especially if You'll make moore longer.
In the final scenario with the bowline through the midship cleat and running back to the starboard aft cleat, Rather than oxo to the starboard aft cleat, what about using the winch that is there. This allows you to shorten the line by just winching in.
it would indeed - but on many boats the mooring lines are too big to be workable on a winch. If they are not it is a great plan. Also, if windage cause the bow or stern to move in, winching will not solve this, while moving forwards allows steerage and the ability to control the orientation of the boat... but again if it works it is a great idea...
What about using a bow spring and powering against it using propwash to pin the stern to the jetty. This has worked well for me in the past in 15kt to 20kt side winds. Of course this only works on single rudder boats.
I agree it works… but not even on all all single-rudder boats… and a bow spring is harder to set than a mid-line because you can lean against the shrouds while lassoing or placing a mid-line, and the shrouds don’t pitch anywhere near as much as the bow on any wash. That said, there are loads of ways of doing most things in boating, and if it works for you it’s correct!
I have used this exact technique when leaving a dock that I am being pressed onto. I use the bow spring and prop wash to push the stern off and then back down clear of the dock. Granted I am usually travelling with at least one crew.
@@theboatcheat1204 I just upgraded from a 24ft racer cruiser to a 34ft Jeanneau melody. The 24fter didnt really need amid ship cleats, the 34fter however is fitted with way undersized amid ship cleats and I dont really trust putting all the load on them. Havent got around to replacing them yet but a job I must get to soon. Time to browse the boatscrapyard me thinks.
There is an alternative, but it is more of a faff than using the shrouds at deck level. It would be useful if you aren’t crazy on tying off on the shrouds - I will do a video on this in the next week or so…
