Stopping boats elegantly by the canal side ?

[Stroudwater1]

Im not entirely new to boating, Hired boats for the last few years and watched Dad  moor up very neatly for many years before that. But I struggle to stop narrowboats elegantly at the side when mooring up. 

 

I slowly glide in, all goes well, crew hop off with a bow rope/ line, then I reverse to stop and the stern then moves out with the flow of the water from reversing which seems to force out the stern. Cue flurry of throwing off a stern line jumping off as the boat hasn't completely stopped moving forwards, it can look pretty messy. 

 

SIGH

 

Where am I going wrong? Any advise is welcome here.

 

 

[Hudds Lad]

https://youtu.be/uebz3C6j7Ak

 

That might help a bit

[Arthur Marshall]

At my farm mooring it is impossible to glide neatly in, I presume because it's shallow and silted up. It's also a fairly tight fit between a boat at each end. You can get parallel but as soon as you reverse to stop the back, as you say, is out again. Only way to do it is reverse in so I can jump off with the middle rope, by which time the boat's right across the canal, and haul it in on the rope.

[nicknorman]

This especially a problem on deep drafted boats / shallow canal side. My technique is to come in at quite a sharp angle  in gear and just before the bow would hit, to apply a lot of rudder and maybe some power to bring the stern in. This gives the stern a “towards the bank” momentum so that when I hit reverse the effect you mention only slows or stops this momentum, it doesn’t allow away-from-bank momentum to build up.

 

This only works if there is someone on the bow to step off with a rope, otherwise you end up with the stern in and the bow across the canal!

 

Alternatively, if there are bollards eg at a lock landing, you can strap the boat to a halt (using a turn around the bollard to generate rope friction). Keep fingers out of the way!

Edited July 14, 2021 by nicknorman

[robtheplod]

Not mastered this yet....

[Idle Days]

As a single-hander, I just put up with any "arrival" that didn't involve me being pulled into the water.

[Bee]

Do it like big ships. Get parallel to the bank /wharf , engage all three bowthrusters and however many you've got at the stern, tell the tugs to stand by, have the crew ready at bow and stern with throwing lines and standing by to winch the thing in and cross your fingers. That's it . Otherwise do it like I do, bounce off the bank, fling ropes and lines everywhere and leap off trying not to break your ankle or land in something nasty and then realise that the boat is not out of gear as you thought but is now dragging you along the bank.

[Tonka]

As in aviation, any landing you can walk away from is a good landing

[BilgePump]

When singlehanding the narrowboat, I used to do it like NickNorman describes above but using the centre line which was led back along the grabrail to the stern. Bow in at something like 30 degrees to bank, still a bit of forward momentum, then as it slows right down, tiller over with possibly a quick bit of power, and back to normal position as it comes in parallel with bank. You should glide a little alongside the towpath and the bow can come out a little but neither too much if you haven't been overly eager with approach speed and correction revs.. Jump off with the centre line and pull boat in using that before properly mooring up with the bow and stern lines. 

 

PS: doesn't seem to make a difference regarding size or type of boat. You can bash the Armco in a little GRP boat just as easily as in a big steel NB, a possibility greatly increased when you have an audience.

[Hudds Lad]

Basically its a lottery, because unless its always the exact same spot you're stopping at the variables will be different each and every time, and even when it is the same spot you also need to then factor in wind conditions and the number of people watching you (more people = more it goes wrong)  

 

If you get it stopped, nobody falls in, nothing gets broken and no other boats get bumped then you've done alright.

 

Also, that one time you do manage to majestically swoop in and all the stars align for the perfect mooring, nobody will be there to see it  

[Chagall]

42 minutes ago, Bee said:

Do it like big ships. Get parallel to the bank /wharf , engage all three bowthrusters and however many you've got at the stern, tell the tugs to stand by, have the crew ready at bow and stern with throwing lines and standing by to winch the thing in and cross your fingers. That's it . Otherwise do it like I do, bounce off the bank, fling ropes and lines everywhere and leap off trying not to break your ankle or land in something nasty and then realise that the boat is not out of gear as you thought but is now dragging you along the bank.

Me too, eventually you find a bollard to fling your diminishing bit of rope around and bring the boat so a sudden stop, everything on the opposite side ends onto the floor and you hear the musical tinkle of the tv glass.  

[Tracy D'arth]

Mostly I can never get near to the bank for mud or concrete.

[IanM]

9 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Basically its a lottery, because unless its always the exact same spot you're stopping at the variables will be different each and every time, and even when it is the same spot you also need to then factor in wind conditions and the number of people watching you (more people = more it goes wrong)  

 

If you get it stopped, nobody falls in, nothing gets broken and no other boats get bumped then you've done alright.

 

Also, that one time you do manage to majestically swoop in and all the stars align for the perfect mooring, nobody will be there to see it  

 

What he said 

 

I go in to moor with the expectation that I'm going to make a complete hash of it, that way it always goes better than expected.  The times I try to plan ahead and think "right, this is how I'm going to do it" the bow is pretty much guaranteed to end up in the bank opposite.

 

As @Hudds Lad said, the chances of it going well is inversely proportional to the amount of people watching.

[Tonka]

Just now, IanM said:

 

What he said 

 

I go in to moor with the expectation that I'm going to make a complete hash of it, that way it always goes better than expected.  The times I try to plan ahead and think "right, this is how I'm going to do it" the bow is pretty much guaranteed to end up in the bank opposite.

 

As @Hudds Lad said, the chances of it going well is inversely proportional to the amount of people watching.

So it was you who moored in the Suez canal

[IanM]

3 minutes ago, Tonka said:

So it was you who moored in the Suez canal

 

Even I can't manage to get it that wrong 😀

[BilgePump]

A lot of it will, as already pointed out, be determined by previous experience, or lack of, on a stretch. One of my favourite moorings needs a different approach because if you come in too close too early you whack a great big bit of collapsed copings that will knock the boat off course and send the pots flying. Local boaters know, because they've made the mistake before, visiting boats, not necessarily so. The marina mooring was a swine that involved reversing in half the time and pivoting around the end of a jetty, but after years you knew which bit of the opposite bank to hold the bow into, what should line up with what, revs etc. Of course the wind and weather won't ever be the same, a cable can snap, a rope get snagged etc. 

[ditchcrawler]

Don't have the crew who stepped off when the bow was touching the bank hold the bow line tights, leave it very slack so the bows can drift out as the stern comes in.

[BilgePump]

Looking back at the OP's specific description, I'm suspecting that with some forward momentum remaining when the crew jump off the bow and using reverse to try and slow/stop at that point, it possibly also suggests that the final approach speed should be lower and the crew are getting off too early.  I always thought it rather dangerous to jump off the bow if the boat was still moving forwards and close to the side. Too much danger of crushing someone along the length. It's easier to try and get the boat correctly positioned and virtually stationary before stepping off than it is to stop it by using the mooring lines to slow it down. Pulling a stopped NB in from an odd angle using a centre line is easy enough if it's got no forwards/reverse momentum and the wind and flow negligible. However, slowing and stopping ten tons plus of steel using the same line is a heck of a lot harder. 

[system 4-50]

Stepping off crew to have a centre line not a bow line.

 

Approach bank at an angle and put the tiller hard over to swing the back in sharply.  Apply significant reverse thrust to both bring the forward movement to a halt AND stop the stern hitting the bank, at the right moment, which is when the stern is quite close to the bank.  That's the theory, I used to be able to do it regularly when I hired boats, but I am not so good with my own boat, probably due to old age.

[BilgePump]

Just to reassure the OP,  the elegant and simple in at angle, tiller over, bit of juice, off with centre line mooring technique we seem to be describing can also have swear clauses, reversing up loops, boat deciding one end is allergic to the bank, and a number of repeated actions, before finally coming in alongside and  getting the pins in. Nothing wrong with that. We'll describe the equivalent of a 3 point stop but all still end up having to do 17 point stops at times, through necessity or messing it up.

[Alan de Enfield]

48 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

Stepping off crew to have a centre line not a bow line.

 

Except on a river (with some flow) where the upstream line must be used, or the flow will push the bow / stern out pivoting around the centre line. You'll never pull  aboat across the flow once its started to 'go'.

[RebeccaM]

56 minutes ago, BilgePump said:

(...)it possibly also suggests that the final approach speed should be lower and the crew are getting off too early.  I always thought it rather dangerous to jump off the bow if the boat was still moving forwards and close to the side. Too much danger of crushing someone along the length. It's easier to try and get the boat correctly positioned and virtually stationary before stepping off than it is to stop it by using the mooring lines to slow it down. Pulling a stopped NB in from an odd angle using a centre line is easy enough if it's got no forwards/reverse momentum and the wind and flow negligible. However, slowing and stopping ten tons plus of steel using the same line is a heck of a lot harder. 

Slow is the key - I don’t profess to be an expert at all, given we have one holiday under our belt, but by the end of it I had realised I was initially trying too hard when it came to stopping.  Getting speed down to nearly nothing and then using the boat’s remaining momentum to almost drift in made for (mostly!!!) cleaner landings. 

[Machpoint005]

3 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Where am I going wrong? Any advise is welcome here.

 

I think you are going in too fast. Try slowing down earlier.

 

I slow the boat nearly to a stop, gently go forwards again, then just before the stem touches, push the stern in with the tiller hard over. Quick burst in reverse if necessary, then flip gear into neutral, step off with centre line. No crew required!

 

 

1 hour ago, BilgePump said:

I always thought it rather dangerous to jump off the bow if the boat was still moving forwards

 

You are right. Nobody should be jumping anywhere -- the boat should be put where the crew can step off.

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Machpoint005
quick burst of reverse if needed

[Hudds Lad]

Jumping off is a great way to discover things hidden in the towpath grass, such as various sharp rubbish, discarded fishing equipment, dog eggs, wasps nests, ants nests, sinkholes, lost bollards and the fragility of the human ankle.

 

Eventually you'll also find the gap to the bank exceeds your personal best jump distance, realisation usually occurs whilst you are airborne  

[reg]

2 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Jumping off is a great way to discover... 

You really are getting just a bit too old for this. 

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by reg
Changed to to too.