[C320-list] Departing/Docking in High Wind

[Chris Burti]

I wish I could show you how to do this as it is far harder to describe in a
way that accounts for most variations than it is to show and tell. Our
favorite port of call here in NC is Ocracoke Island. When we don't anchor,
we prefer tying up at the Anchorage Inn Marina. That has a 45' fairway and
typically 25+ knot crosswinds. To add to the fun, the only accees to the
island is by boat, ferry or airplane and the ferry's docking creates major
currents across the wind.

I begin by backing down the fairway into the wind, it only takes a bit more
than a knot of speed to control the boat and by backing down the fairway you
don't have that long moment for the wind to take control while the boat is
immobile as it is changing directions. You also get a better sense of
control under the conditions than by swinging the boat and reversing.

I always aim to hit the windward piling on the downwind side. If that is
where you aim, the wind will make you miss, but you will be close enough for
your crew to get a line on the piling and take a turn on the midship cleat.
Our 110# Admiral can hold our 320 in these winds by the friction of the line
on the horn of the midship cleat, it is not a strength thing, it is
technique.

Pick up the piling from the stern and walk the line to the midship cleat.
Judicious playing of the line will help keep the boat pivoting close to the
windward piling. Never pull hard on the line as that will screw up your
driving by altering the balance of the forces on the keel and rudder. As the
middle of the boat passes the piling walk the line to the bow. If your crew
is good, this is a good time to drop a spring line on the piling while it is
still close and by this time you should basically have it made.

By the time the cockpit bulkhead passes the outer piling you should be able
to ease the throttle, take it out of gear and put in forward idle. Do not
let your crew try to stop the boat with the bow lines as that will swing the
stern unpedictably. With a factory three-bladed prop, I can come to dead
stop from 2 knots in reverse in under five feet.

As for leaving, if you have a windward outer piling use a spring to the
midship cleat to pivot off and hold you off the downwind neighbor. If you
are trying to leave a side tie with an onshore wind, Use a spring running
from a point on the dock off the bow. Loop the line so that it can run free
as you leave. Take a turn on the stern cleat, put the engine in reverse and
turn the rudder to port for a portside tieup and to starboard for a
starboard tieup. Throttle up and the boat will walk out sideways enough
to let you throw her into forward and get enough control to miss the boat in
front of you.

Practice these skills in no wind until you can do it with your eyes closed,
then more wind until they become second nature. I also have a 5/8 panic line
tied from the dock to the outer piling between me and my neighbor in my home
slip. It is a great comfort and a practical tool for controlling the boat on
those inevitable occasions when things go wrong.

On Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 10:41 AM, Dennis Harris <dharris02 at embarqmail.com>
wrote:

> 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
>



-- 
Chris Burti
Farmville, NC