Going solo

I think some responders do not understand that where the OP is planning to singlehand his boat the use of a pfd in most cases will only help the CG locate his body. The water is so cold that it is very difficult to make it to shore even when it is very close. Swimming more than a few hundred yards would be an athletic feat and once you get to shore there is nobody there to help in almost all cases. It is very cold at night even in the summer and hypothermia is a given. I lost a good friend who capsized his dinghy and made it to shore but died on the beach. I don't fear the water but I have a huge respect for it.

I go solo, sometimes just to get my boat fix and relax. I geuss one advantage of a small trawler is it is easy to handle. At our home slip I back in using a short springline from the aft corner. Just slip the line on and ease into reverse the boat swings stern into the slip regardless of the conditions. Then I go in nuetral, take off the spring and back the rest of the way in.

In any other slips I go in bow first.

Be careful but using the boat alone once in a while can be relaxing.

JohnP

Going solo or not isn't the issue..it's mindset.

Some captains are a menace no matter who else is on board.

Safety/risk management is something you always have in the back of you mind or not. If you are the type that is always hurting yourself, tripping over things, forgetting to use/bring stuff you need...maybe going solo isn't for you.

Take a good stock of yourself by looking at the every day life you lead and then apply how safe, successful you are at those things and it will probably transfer over to your boating/captaining (as long as you have enough experience to go with it.)

Larmex99 said:

I have to tell you that having boated in PWS for years I think it is a really bad idea to go out alone. Just a rope fouled prop in the wrong circumstances can be a nightmare. Try to unfoul it while drifting to a rocky shore in water too deep to set an anchor until it is too late. Happened to me outside Siwash Bay but thankfully not alone. It took 45 minutes to unfoul in my dry suit. That is only one of many issues of boating in frigid waters where even a small miscalculation can mean a trip to the happy hunting grounds. Even really competent boats have very bad things happen to them. If you do decide to go please keep in touch with the CG. They are there to help us and can be the difference.

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How would having someone else onboard help in the situation you described? If the prop is fouled they can't head it into the wind. I doubt you would both go in the water and it would still be too deep to anchor.

My boat came with a swim ladder that could not be deployed when the dinghy was on the davits nor by a person in the water. I replaced it with a telescoping ladder by Windline it bolts under the swim platform and can be pulled out by a person in the water. It would be a big help in getting back on board when anchored or on a mooring, but, if the boat is underway all bets are off, just wave bye bye.
Steve W.

I do the majority of my boating solo. I enjoy the solitude. It may be twice as risky, but I'm only risking half (or less) the number of lives. Preparedness and patience is more important than having extra bodies, who are sometimes more hinder than help.

I made it back alive.
Went thru a pretty bad storm and one major glitch with the boat.

I will give a full report with pics when I get the time.

Sd

Marin: any chance a photo of your mid-ships spring on hanger set-up?

All went well as I left the harbor. The weather report was for 10 knt's winds but that changed on the next weather report. Everything went to hell.

I was out about 20 miles when it started to blow.

I headed for shelter anchored up cooked dinner and settled in for the evening.

The next day went fine as I was in a sheltered passage.

The next morning I turned the key and nothing.
I thought the starter was out. got out the multimeter and began checking things I had power to the fuel solenoid but nothing to the starter. I tried jumping the starter with a screw driver the Bendix's would spin but not engage the starter.
I took the leads out of the multi meter and stuck one end into the hot on the starter and the other into the solenoid it started. That was where the problem was. the start key switch.
I had a push to flush switch from a toilet rebuild so I wired it into the start switch.

And no the toilet doesn't flush when I start the boat

Then it was a race or a run befor the storm I sort of made it. Paravanes out and running with 6 to 8 ft seas 20 miled back to the harbor.

I was tired but safe at home.

Sd

Glad you're back skipperdude. 6' - 8' ? I thought that was normal seas for Alaska.

Rambler said:

Glad you're back skipperdude. 6' - 8' ? I thought that was normal seas for Alaska.

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I was running before the storm you can see the front moving in in the pics. I had 20 miles at 6 or 7 knot's with no place to hide.

By the time I got back it was gale force with steady 8 footers.

No trouble docking a I am transient and was assigned a slip at the end of the float. No tight slip to squeeze into. I just pulled right up and jumped ashore.

SD

I'm probably out 50% of the time by myself. This weekend the yacht club is going from Monterey to Capitola for the weekend and I will make the trip alone since Terry is in NY. For fear of going overboard, when alone, I always put the boat into neutral when moving about the boat. I thought about rigging a safety line and clipping to it but I envisioned myself hanging upside down over the side going up on the rocks. The boat is maneuverable enough and small enough that single handing it is no issue.

Aquabelle said:

Marin: any chance a photo of your mid-ships spring on hanger set-up?

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I have a similar setup to Marin's, but with separate hangers for bow, stern and spring - the one at the outer end of the dock is for the spring. A short boathook can be handy too.

Marin: any chance a photo of your mid-ships spring on hanger set-up?

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We're on the boat in the Gulf Islands so all I have are the photos on our iPad. This is our new dock. You can see the hanger for the permanent spring just forward of the starboard boarding gate. It's made from 1/2" PVC. It's high enough to easily reach by hand from the deck as the boat enters the slip. The line is 3/4" stranded nylon fastened through the eye of the outermost cleat on the finger. The other end has a spliced loop that is hung on the hanger. The line is set to a length that when it's tight the boat is in its proper position in the slip. When the boat is in the slip we use this spring line as a second stern breast line since the prevailing wind ans storms come from the southwest, which is behind the boat.

Go single handed and go more often.
As time hurries on, casual crew are harder to come by, and if you only take the boat out crewed I reckon you’re in limiting yourself – assuming of course you’re not paying them.
When it comes to establishing ship’s routines, I always think solo no matter how many people are on board. If the boat is set up with just me and my weaknesses in mind, I don’t have to worry too much about my companions, who can always participate, but don’t need to do it all.
My major reason for boat ownership is my freedom (real or imagined) to take off by myself, or with anybody else, anytime. Being set up for single handing is a major part of this and the only worry from my POV is accessing my home berth, and at the end of the day if conditions deteriorate I can always anchor off and move her in when conditions allow. Simple systems, lots of fenders, lots of patience, lots of fun.

As an alternative to the PVC tubing poking up, as our marina was not keen on a permanent upright, I grabbed an old car aerial, and set it in a cheap whip aerial base screwed down to the dock's timber edging, so it can be laid flat, telescoped down, when not in use. I epoxied a bungee hook over the aerial tip to loop the midships line over, in easy reach for me out the pilot door, as Marin described. I think these pics show enough.

Genius Peter B. But what kind of reception do those get?

Boating "solo" has its risks of course. Have a heart attack, stroke, or serious fall alone on your boat and you're probably toast. Yet, the same thing can happen in the comfort of your own home or driving in your car.

My wife boats with me, not because I'm afraid to boat alone, but because she enjoys it, she has the same free time as I do, and we enjoy each other's company.

Each of us has his or her own situation so think it through and do what you enjoy and what you are comfortable with.

I routinly cruise to Molokai, Lanai, Maui by my self from Oahu. I make sure I do a pre-cruise check on all areas. Motor mounts, belt condtion, grease rudder, fuel filter changes often, bilge pump checks, spare parts kit.... and most importantly... an fully operational auto pilot. I also always have an emergency bottle of Makers Mark. If I ever go out on the forward decks, the boat goes into neutral. Comm checks before leaving dock or mooring area. Updated Navionics Plat + charts.

made a trip from NY to palm beach fl alone and would never do it again on my trawler doing 7 knots it took16 days and i was about to go nuts, never again,idi have a auto pliot but in the intercoastal you cant use it to much,made one thirty HR run out side,that was the only break i got.

Pete Hopley said:

I also always have an emergency bottle of Makers Mark.

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I need to add one of those to my ditch bag.

capt jerry said:

made a trip from NY to palm beach fl alone and would never do it again on my trawler doing 7 knots it took16 days and i was about to go nuts, never again,idi have a auto pliot but in the intercoastal you cant use it to much,made one thirty HR run out side,that was the only break i got.

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I see that as a wonderful opportunity for a solo trip..

Rambler said:

Genius Peter B. But what kind of reception do those get?

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No complaints from marina staff - just others agreeing it's a good idea. Actually I was originally screwing the mount, one with a flat base, to the timber rubbing strip on the edge of the dock, but that kept coming out, so I got one which designed to clamp onto the std 1" rail, and with minor mods it mounted onto the midships cleat, which I think you can see in one pic. The plastic whip aerial mounts are very cheap, and car wreckers have aerials for virtually nothing. Just pinch a bungy hook from a tie-down, and fix the aerial into the base and the hook to the top with knead-it (epoxy mastic stick), and Bob's your uncle...

I specifically rigged my Willard 40 for sinlge handing. It's a wide body model (no side decks) so doubly important. I have a few simple rules: Avoid moving around the boat while underway. Always wear a PFD. If I go between the flybridge and lower helm, I take the boat out of gear. Ignore the temptation to "fix" or "adjust" stuff while underway...."stupid is as stupid does"! My boat is equiped with a permanent folding ladder that drops 3 feet into the water for easy boarding. While cruising the Broughtons this summer, I traveled with...and came across, many guys out there cruising solo. It can be a delight, just be cautious.

I have done alot of solo boating, On all my boats when returning to the marina i always have someone to catch a line, I wear a Inflatable PFD anytime i am on deck or in the aft cockpit. Had my center console out 25 miles alone i do have what i call as good as it gets kit if i had to enter the water. Stupid ? I have 3 ex wifes that say so lol

honeybadger said:

I have done alot of solo boating, On all my boats when returning to the marina i always have someone to catch a line.

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I don't count on someone to catch a line, but just step onto the dock and tie a line midship first and then fore and aft lines (assuming there isn't strong current or wind moving/blowing away from the dock.) Of course, it's handy to have a pilothouse door and deck convenient to the dock.