[C320-list] Departing/Docking in High Wind

[Paul Rickman]

http://boatsafe.com/books/dock2.htm


----- Original Message ----
From: Dennis Harris <dharris02 at embarqmail.com>
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2008 10:41:50 AM
Subject: [C320-list] Departing/Docking in High Wind

Adam, and any others with similar experience:

Re: Docking the boat in a 25 knots when the wind is over the quarter is a
challenge not to be missed, unless you value retaining your hair, then miss
it.

Adam

    It would be helpful to me and perhaps others who normally don't experience high wind docking to know your techniques and concerns in maneuvering the boat from or returning to the pier.  Especially of concern is when the wind is roughly 45 degrees off the bow or stern and when wind is completely on the beam.  My marina is exposed to a 3 mile fetch with prevailing wind coming on at ~45 degrees.  We have ~60 ft fairways but make a 90 degree turn into the slip.  Slips are roughly 14 ft wide between pilings....gives a snug fit for C320 with almost 12 ft. beam. The water is relatively shallow and we get lots of wave action.  We have a good number of really experienced bluewater cruisers as well as locals like me....both power and sailboats.  When the wind gets in the 25 knot range, no one here goes out, although the sailing, once clear of the docks, would probably be great.  The few boats that I've seen having to make dockings in similar
 conditions were in reality, usually slightly out of control crashes.  As for trying to hold the boat off the pilings in a 25 knot beam wind, a single person (ones that I've seen) haven't been able to do it.  If leaving the dock, one has to turn upwind and if pushed against the pilings while making this turn, you're going to get hung up on the overhanging pulpits and anchors of adjacent boats.  Returning to the dock, docking would have to bow first, as trying to back with high cross wind, you would have to back the boat really hard and fast to maintain control and if you misjudge the turn, you hit the piling, (or hit the pier if you make the turn between the pilings) since you would never get the boat stopped.  Docking bow first is easier, but once the beam of the boat is between the pilings, the 2 ft. of open area disappears almost instantaneously, and you are against the piling, the adjacent boat, or the finger pier.  And, if you still have
 forward motion, there's a good chance you're going to bend a stanchion or damage the hull of the boat.  I know that someday, I'm going to have to do this and I'd like to know the techniques that will work.  

    Often, I hear stories about high wind docking, but most often, upon investigation, what the teller means is that the winds were really high out on open water, but they forget to mention that the slip is behind a big boat house or land mass that shelters the actual slip.....where the winds are perhaps half or less of the open water winds.  However, in Adam's case, from what I've read elsewhere, he and others in the S.F. area really have to deal with the high winds at the slip.  Any comments as how to do it, would be helpful, especially for cross winds.

Dennis Harris,  C320 #694