Docking and Handling Single Engine Trawler

[markpierce]

Immediate deck access from the helmsman's position is essential. Best to have pilothouse doors on both port and starboard sides, with wide decks.

 

[Blissboat]

Immediate deck access from the helmsman's position is essential. Best to have pilothouse doors on both port and starboard sides, with wide decks.

Strongly agree. Others here on the TF see this differently, of course, but being just a step away from the deck, where you can put a line on a cleat or a piling, puts the single-handed / shorthanded skipper at a tremendous advantage.

 

[Simi 60]

Immediate deck access from the helmsman's position is essential. Best to have pilothouse doors on both port and starboard sides, with wide decks.

Easy on small boats.
Not all of us want a small boat.

I have doors on both sides of the helm and wide decks, unfortunately there is no fast access from the top to foredeck but I do have a plan to change that.

 

[markpierce]

Easy on small boats.
Not all of us want a small boat.

I have doors on both sides of the helm and wide decks, unfortunately there is no fast access from the top to foredeck but I do have a plan to change that.

Ships like yours usually have a crew.

 

[dhays]

Bill,

I have owned a powerboat for a bit over a year. Prior to that all may experience has been on sailboats from dinghies to my Catalina 400.

I ended up selecting a boat that has a centerline helm position in the Pilothouse with a door on either side. I have a good side deck on either side of the PH that leads forward to the bow. My side decks don't continue aft around the salon as my salon is full width.

I have a very high freeboard amidships where the PH doors are. When single handing, I use a Fender Step there that allows me to step down to floating docks. I normally will step off the boat with both a bow line and midship line in hand. At times I will take a stern line and lay it forward to the midship position so I can step off with both bow and stern lines.

My boat came with both a bow and stern thruster. At 43' and a lot of windage, I find the bow thruster extremely helpful. The stern thruster is nice as well, but not nearly as the bow thruster.

One of the changes you will likely experience when going to a power boat is that there will be more windage with most powerboats, and a rudder that is much smaller and less effective. If you are also used to a fin keel, you will notice that the boat won't pivot like a sailboat will.

Any boat you may get, you will learn to operate single handed. It just takes a bit if thought, time, and practice.

 

[Wxx3]

My counter-clockwise propeller (left-hand) when going forward and backward tends toward the right, but understand that the majority of boats with single engines are the opposite.

Mine also.
As others have said, don't put yourself in a position in which you must use thruster.
Also, be willing to say NO when you are directed to a slip that is too difficult to get into.

 

[IntervaleII]

No, there is not enough sail area. The sails can add a half-knot in speed in certain situations and some stability, but not enough to provide power to closely maneuver. After all, the boat is a motorboat.

I am curious, than way the sail other than it looks nice?

 

[psneeld]

Probably is a great steadying sail. And I would kill for a half knot gain on a long passage.

 

[NightCrawler]

We stopped here at Beaufort Yacht Basin, NC for a day - ended up buying a month. We face the fish house where the shrimpers come and go all day. None of them are twins. It's fascinating watching these pros maneuver these heavy wooden vessels in such close quarters. We have twins - and frankly feel like I'm cheating after seeing dozens and dozens of spectacularly tight moves these captains pull off. Obviously, time at the helm is a factor. But I'll never wonder how a single gets in and out any more. It can be done and done well with experience.

Hats off to those among us who make it look so easy.

 

[Capecodder]

How about in Reverse with no engine.... hope this link works...

https://www.facebook.com/SailingYachtTV/videos/1702443343105406/

 

[NightCrawler]

That's actually beautiful, in a voyeur kind of way. My sphincter would need surgery to re-open it. . . .

 

[Blissboat]

How about in Reverse with no engine.... hope this link works...

https://www.facebook.com/SailingYachtTV/videos/1702443343105406/

Worked. That was too cool!!

 

[dhays]

I am curious, than way the sail other than it looks nice?

Probably is a great steadying sail. And I would kill for a half knot gain on a long passage.

+1 on both of those. A sail can make a huge difference in how a boat rides in a sea. The more rounded the hull the more I think the sail works.

A 1/2 knot is a big deal for a slow boat.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Yeah, not really sure if I have Rice or Kort, I originally thought the rice was made here and the kort was a euro import, so due to freight I would assume rice, but I could be wrong.

All I know is the thrust coming out the back is immense and instant.

I think Rice nozzles and props are/were made in Mexico.

 

[dhays]

I am still intrigued about the fishtail rudder idea mentioned before. That would seem to really improve the low-speed, low-power handling of a boat like mine.

The other option, but seems more complex, is an articulating rudder. There is a company in Oak Harbor, WA that makes these, Bayview Engineering Industries. However, I have other stuff I need to spend money on.

 

[Simi 60]

And I would kill for a half knot gain on a long passage.

Open the taps a bit more.
The extra fuel used will be no where near the cost of mast, sail, witches, blocks etc.

 

[questionmark]

I am still intrigued about the fishtail rudder idea mentioned before. That would seem to really improve the low-speed, low-power handling of a boat like mine.

The other option, but seems more complex, is an articulating rudder. There is a company in Oak Harbor, WA that makes these, Bayview Engineering Industries. However, I have other stuff I need to spend money on.

The wedge on the trailing end of the rudder is unbelievable. I had one added last summer, and the difference in close quarters is staggering. And, while I can't even begin to explain how, it actually works in reverse as well. I've posted pictures in other threads, but I can do so here if you'd like to see it. Super simple (just three pieces of flat stock) and has probably been the best "bang for the buck" modification to date.

Also, as far as Catalina moorings... We just got back yesterday and spent a little time at the isthmus, on both sides. I have a single and no thruster, and didn't have any issues, but you have to be prepared and a bit quick. Picking up the bow isn't too bad, but if the wind is blowing, the clock is ticking because a (at least my old Tawainese) trawler is a giant barn door and the wind loves to push it around. We have nice side decks on the Europa style, so it makes it easy to quickly get the sand line up and back to the stern.

The Catalina harbor patrol folks are willing to help if you ask. We saw them pulling sterns and all kinds of nifty trickery to help get boats in and out of tight spaces.

Josh

 

[Windermere]

Thanks Dave. We have pilings (I'll attach a photo if I can figure out how to do it), not a floating dock. I assume these lines you have in hand are attached to boat cleat? I'm not sure how that would work with pilings. In light to no wind it's not a problem, but lately we've had 15-20K blowing toward the port stern, and that is what I keep visualizing. I have to look up fender steps.

Everyone seems on the same page about the side doors - I'll look at the models with them. They are common on the larger boats, but not on the smaller ones. I have a three blade Max prop in front of the rudder on the sail boat, so it's very responsive going forward, even at slow speeds, but not in reverse. I think (I visualize) it being fairly easy to grab a spring or stern line going in, and using that and a bow thruster seems like it would make docking in these conditions doable. I really appreciate the advice from everyone.

Bill,

I have owned a powerboat for a bit over a year. Prior to that all may experience has been on sailboats from dinghies to my Catalina 400.

I ended up selecting a boat that has a centerline helm position in the Pilothouse with a door on either side. I have a good side deck on either side of the PH that leads forward to the bow. My side decks don't continue aft around the salon as my salon is full width.

I have a very high freeboard amidships where the PH doors are. When single handing, I use a Fender Step there that allows me to step down to floating docks. I normally will step off the boat with both a bow line and midship line in hand. At times I will take a stern line and lay it forward to the midship position so I can step off with both bow and stern lines.

My boat came with both a bow and stern thruster. At 43' and a lot of windage, I find the bow thruster extremely helpful. The stern thruster is nice as well, but not nearly as the bow thruster.

One of the changes you will likely experience when going to a power boat is that there will be more windage with most powerboats, and a rudder that is much smaller and less effective. If you are also used to a fin keel, you will notice that the boat won't pivot like a sailboat will.

Any boat you may get, you will learn to operate single handed. It just takes a bit if thought, time, and practice.

 

[dhays]

Yeah, it is different with pilings. I have almost no experience with those as we have primarily floating docks. With non-floating piers you will have less of an issue of a large step down to the dock.

A home dock with pilings would be easy as you would know what to expect so you can some up with a system that works for you. Visiting docks are more of a challenge.

 

[ranger58sb]

Not all of this will apply, but we just came back from a visit to the Cheaspeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels which coincided with the annual Wattermen's Appreciation Day festivities.

And of course that include the boat docking contest. They apparently don't have the videos posted yet (that I can find) but they did have a drone up filming, so they'll be coming...

Sundays course was from a starting chute, full power backwards into open water, full power 270° turn to starboard, full power astern into the target slip, 4 lines on pile, last line stops the clock. Single screw workboats in three classes, small under 36', medium 36-40', large over 40'. The shortest time I remember from Sunday was 24.99 SECONDS!!! A 14-year-old young man was seriously in the running. One of the boats NOT in Sundays competition this year is a relatively huge 52' and that skipper told me yesterday his best time at a different venue (similar "course" at Rock Hall) has been around 30 seconds.

In the meantime, some of the older videos here will illustrate:
Videos — Chesapeake Cowboys

The contest situation is not completely similar to what we've been discussing here for several reasons, one being that many of us here don't like to bash the boat around too much, and we often have ladders and so forth.

The contest is for workboats with SERIOUS rub (crash) rails. 15' (or larger) open cockpits. Controls in the cockpit.
Target piles that are sacrificial, etc. Pre-made "dock lines" with rigid hoops for tossing over (lassoing) the target piles. Operator not averse to falling into the water to get that last "dock line" on a pile (there's a "safety seat" guy on board to recover from that.) And so forth.

But one factor that does become obvious is that speed sometimes works... and sometimes "more power!" is exactly the right thing to do.

Something that wasn't obvious in the actual competition was the milling around of about 30 workboats in the harbor in close proximity to each other (with other boat traffic going through there, too), many backing up to bulkheads to take on or put of passengers (including the Governor, at one point)... and the method is simply put the sucker in reverse, add power, and steer the boat where you want it to go. Crash-shift into forward to stop just before the transom hits the bulkhead. Now imagine 5-6 of those parallel to each other doing the same thing at the same time. So the other factor that becomes obvious from that is that speed in reverse can aid (allow) steering.

-Chris

 

[Al]

The wedge on the trailing end of the rudder is unbelievable. I had one added last summer, and the difference in close quarters is staggering. And, while I can't even begin to explain how, it actually works in reverse as well. I've posted pictures in other threads, but I can do so here if you'd like to see it. Super simple (just three pieces of flat stock) and has probably been the best "bang for the buck" modification to date.


Please do, and thank you in advance-Al-Ketchikan

 

[Fletcher500]

Good discussion. We are seriously considering switching over to a trawler so the comments are helpful.

We were at the Isthmus, Catalina, a couple weeks ago and it was blowing a solid 15 with gusts closer to 20. People outside said it was 5 to 8 so it was funneling down in between the canyon. It still makes me a bit queasy to think about picking up a ball as a new single engine boat driver but like you said the harbor patrol are there to help if needed.

 

[Fletcher500]

Do you have a web link on this? Does it affect the boats performance in the open ocean as far as slightly more drag?

The wedge on the trailing end of the rudder is unbelievable. I had one added last summer, and the difference in close quarters is staggering. And, while I can't even begin to explain how, it actually works in reverse as well. I've posted pictures in other threads, but I can do so here if you'd like to see it. Super simple (just three pieces of flat stock) and has probably been the best "bang for the buck" modification to date.

Also, as far as Catalina moorings... We just got back yesterday and spent a little time at the isthmus, on both sides. I have a single and no thruster, and didn't have any issues, but you have to be prepared and a bit quick. Picking up the bow isn't too bad, but if the wind is blowing, the clock is ticking because a (at least my old Tawainese) trawler is a giant barn door and the wind loves to push it around. We have nice side decks on the Europa style, so it makes it easy to quickly get the sand line up and back to the stern.

The Catalina harbor patrol folks are willing to help if you ask. We saw them pulling sterns and all kinds of nifty trickery to help get boats in and out of tight spaces.

Josh

 

[questionmark]

Do you have a web link on this? Does it affect the boats performance in the open ocean as far as slightly more drag?

I don't have a link, it was a recommendation of the boatyard guys.

I have a single that's propped more for efficiency than speed, so I haven't noticed any real drag difference at 6 knots .

I was trying to set up for bow and stern anchoring this past weekend in pretty tight quarters, and it sure was nice to have the tight turning radius.

 

[Snapdragon III]

I have a boat with twins that has the fishtail rudders and seems to turn very nicely, although it had them when I got it, so I don't have anything to compare it to. The boat is also up in a yard right now getting a bow thruster installed among other things. I intend to use the heck out of it. It is obviously possible to run the boat without it, since it has been all over in the last 27 years and presumably done fine, and was fine for me since I owned it. But my wife is not very much help in mooring situations, and I don't like to wait for perfect weather or current to use the boat, so I am going ahead and spending the money to have a thruster put in. I am hopeful that it will make it relatively easy to dock the boat in almost any situation. Especially backing up strait, which I/my boat, has a very hard time doing currently. I think I will get more enjoyment out of the boat not having to spend as much time during the trip worrying about what is going to happen when we get to the marina. Also, while I have never hit anything, I have come close, and I could easily imagine doing more dollars worth of damage in a single incident, than the cost of the thruster.

 

[North Baltic sea]

I’ve had sailboats for the past 50 years, and I’m starting to look at trawlers. My sailboat is a 34’ I had built in 1985, and have sailed in England and Maine, as well as the Chesapeake where I keep it. I have no experience with powerboats so at least initially I thought I’d get a smaller boat in the 25-28’ range that I could go out in by myself with perhaps a dog or my wife. Some of the smaller boats have bow thrusters and some even have both bow and stern thrusters, and I’d like to have an idea how helpful they are when getting into and out of a slip by yourself. One feature that seems like it would be useful for single handed docking is the side cabin doors in boats like the Nordic 26 and some others because of the quick access to a spring line cleat and to the foredeck. Is this as useful as it seems? I keep the sailboat in the West River on the Chesapeake, where I’d also keep the powerboat. At least for the time being I will mostly go day sailing.

Thanks,

Bill

You thought side doors ... yes they make Dogg very easy for long side or piles or other ways to stick.

NT is a nice step on the side where the engine sucks air nice to step down, in addition to the Nordic tug long keel to help doging because the wind can not move as easily as the V bottom.

I can easily handle the tug on single (only me, no crew)quite a strong wind, when I brought the ropes from the bow and stern side door, an additional single rope line at the door to which I attach the first and the boat remains closed already on the long side. A long keel slightly blocks prop walk, I have bow and stern trusters if I need, hope I learn not to yet use them.

 

[markpierce]

... But my wife is not very much help in mooring situations, and I don't like to wait for perfect weather or current to use the boat, so I am going ahead and spending the money to have a thruster put in. I am hopeful that it will make it relatively easy to dock the boat in almost any situation. ...

A good reason to have a boat one can operate/dock single-handed.

 

[Simi 60]

A good reason to have a boat one can operate/dock single-handed.

Great reason if your wife will live on and pay for a smaller boat.
Mine wouldn't.
She chose continual comfort over the occasional inconvenience when docking and I'm glad she did.

 

[CapRob]

We have a fairly new Back Cove 37. She is powered by one 600 HP Cummins and has a very small rudder... but she has Side Power, variably speed, bow and stern thrusters. Since my wife walks with a cane (after a virus took her after Sandy), I need to single handle the boat. The variable speed thrusters allow me to hold the boat up against the dock for up to 20 minutes... if I can't secure her in that amount of time I have other problems. When docking I don't use any rudder, center-lining it, I just use thrusters to pirouette her and ahead or astern "bumping" into gear. I go usually go out several times a week, regardless of weather or current, and these SidePower thrusters allow me to do it single handed. Sometimes it feels like cheating though. My oldest asked me a little while ago; "so what happens if they fail?" I told him at that point you need to rely on old fashion seamanship; wind,current, spring lines, etc... having said that, I am intrigued by the "fish tale" adapter to rudder. It would be nice when navigating tight spots. Does anyone know if this would have any serious impact on hull speed?

 

[dhays]

CapRob, using the tools at your disposal is not cheating, it is simply being smart.

The hydraulic thrusters would be nice. I very, very rarely pulse my thrusters longer than a second at a time.