Docking or Divorcing

[Irish Rambler]

Even if you do you get a good answer back !

 

[Pcpete]

We are in floating dock territory, some more floating than others, in Western Washington and the British Columbia Coast. We have headsets and have found them to be very useful although my more practiced crew don’t feel the need to use them in good conditions. They have been boating all of their lives (age rang from 35-45) and know my habits. Landing, there are usually only two reports “stern is on a cleat” and “bow is tied”. Departing is usually limited to “ready” from the dock “okay” from the helm, and “clear” when they are aboard. If it’s going to be challenging for whatever reason, the headsets come out.
The height of the floats is highly variable, so as part of the routine involves setting the nominal fender height. We the three general settings. High, where the middle of the fender is against the rub rail; mid, the top of the fender is just below the rub rail; low, where the bottom of the fender is just above the water. These are adjusted after the boat is tied up.

 

[mvweebles]

My wife and I tried headsets several years ago. Found them to be distracting for docking and counterproductive for anchoring - hand signals seem to work best. Have seen several couples use headsets with mixed results.

What worked best for us was to practice to get a feel for basic routine. When I drove a dinner cruise boat, lines were numbered starting with #1 at bow, #2 midship (breast or spring), #3 stern. Depending on wind, captain (me) would issue a brief command to deck crew describing the dock cleat where bow would land, and which line to put down first, second, third. Seemed to work pretty well, but took practice to be on same page.

BTW - when I was teaching close quarter maneuvering, part of my pitch was I was cheaper than a divorce attorney. I was a pretty good instructor - the only person on the planet I could not teach was my wife.

Peter.

 

[O C Diver]

My wife likes boating from afar. The farther away from it she can be, the better she likes it.

Ted

 

[Comodave]

My wife and I tried headsets several years ago. Found them to be distracting for docking and counterproductive for anchoring - hand signals seem to work best. Have seen several couples use headsets with mixed results.

What worked best for us was to practice to get a feel for basic routine. When I drove a dinner cruise boat, lines were numbered starting with #1 at bow, #2 midship (breast or spring), #3 stern. Depending on wind, captain (me) would issue a brief command to deck crew describing the dock cleat where bow would land, and which line to put down first, second, third. Seemed to work pretty well, but took practice to be on same page.

BTW - when I was teaching close quarter maneuvering, part of my pitch was I was cheaper than a divorce attorney. I was a pretty good instructor - the only person on the planet I could not teach was my wife.

Peter.

In the CG they number lines for side tows. #1 is the bow line, #2 is the after bow spring, #3 is the forward quarter spring and #4 is the stern line. When towing forward the #2 line is actually doing the towing and when backing down the #3 line is towing. It is a really easy method to communicate when everyone is on the same page, and they are due to standardized training.

 

[psneeld]

Line numbering

 

[mvweebles]

In the CG they number lines for side tows. #1 is the bow line, #2 is the after bow spring, #3 is the forward quarter spring and #4 is the stern line. When towing forward the #2 line is actually doing the towing and when backing down the #3 line is towing. It is a really easy method to communicate when everyone is on the same page, and they are due to standardized training.

I didn't know this. Thanks. Probably corresponded to what was used when I was driving. But that was almost 25 years ago. I didn't know there was a defined system. Males sense. And yes, did work well.

Peter

 

[Comodave]

Using the correct nautical names for lines takes too long if you are in a tough situation. Much easier to say “pass #2” than “pass the after bow spring”. As long as everyone knows the numbers it works great.