Stopping boats elegantly by the canal side ?

[Bee]

Funny innit, its impossible to get the damned boat into the edge all the way along its length and yet when you pull away its impossible to get the thing off the edge without leaping off and running alongside it frantically shoving it off whilst the wind shoves it straight back in again.

 

[Tonka]

1 hour ago, john6767 said:

Come in to the bank at a steepish angle, before the bow hits put the tiller over to straighten the boat, and once the stern is coming in hit reverse and the stern will continue to come in.  As it gets close and hopefully you have just about stopped moving forward, step of with the centre line and pull the boat fully in.  Then fix the bow and stern lines.

 

Sometimes it works well and other times no so well, depending on your timing and the number of people watching.

What happens if for some reason you have lost reverse.

 

I saw Mindon boat once try to moor up he was coming in that fast but when he put it in reverse there was no reverse. He hit a moored boat in front of him that hard that the mooring chain broke. I kid you not

 

[Tony Brooks]

1 minute ago, Tonka said:

What happens if for some reason you have lost reverse.

 

I saw Mindon boat once try to moor up he was coming in that fast but when he put it in reverse there was no reverse. He hit a moored boat in front of him that hard that the mooring chain broke. I kid you not

 

 

Would that have had a Lister LH250 box. Endless entertainment at locks when one of those came in, preferably a hire boat, with low gearbox oil level. Into astern and rev to stop, box stays in ahead, so boater revs up to stop faster and embeds the boat n the top gates. At least the other hydraulic boxes default to neutral.

[Tonka]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Would that have had a Lister LH250 box. Endless entertainment at locks when one of those came in, preferably a hire boat, with low gearbox oil level. Into astern and rev to stop, box stays in ahead, so boater revs up to stop faster and embeds the boat n the top gates. At least the other hydraulic boxes default to neutral.

Can't remember what box it was but I do know that it was a private hire boat owned by Bob Carolgees ( spit the dog) and there was so much play in the Morse cable that to get it into reverse I had to pack out around the cable so basically I used a cable clip as a packer. Told them to get it looked at when they got ut back 

[Awayonmyboat]

I thank all the experienced members for their honesty in these replies - I'm suddenly feeling much better about my sometimes less than successful boat handling.

[john6767]

2 hours ago, Tonka said:

What happens if for some reason you have lost reverse.

 

I saw Mindon boat once try to moor up he was coming in that fast but when he put it in reverse there was no reverse. He hit a moored boat in front of him that hard that the mooring chain broke. I kid you not

 

Whatever technique you use, you are going to need reverse to stop surely, so if you have lost reverse you have a problem.  You only need to be coming in forward at tickover, so as long as you get close enough to get off with the centre line you would have to use brute force to stop it by hand.

 

 What technique would you use to avoide a dependency on reverse working?

[Idle Days]

20 minutes ago, Awayonmyboat said:

I thank all the experienced members for their honesty in these replies - I'm suddenly feeling much better about my sometimes less than successful boat handling.

 

I doubt that you are alone in that.  😁

[Rob-M]

2 hours ago, Tonka said:

What happens if for some reason you have lost reverse.

 

I saw Mindon boat once try to moor up he was coming in that fast but when he put it in reverse there was no reverse. He hit a moored boat in front of him that hard that the mooring chain broke. I kid you not

 

This is why I always come in to locks slowly as flying in to one of Hatton locks one time as I engaged reverse the propshaft coupling decided it was a good time to separate. Fortunately I was able to jump off by the bottom gates with the centre line and strap the boat to a stop before it hit the top cill.  So now I always expect the unexpected.

[Andrew Denny]

23 hours ago, David Mack said:

 

A risk admirably illustrated by Andrew Denny's photo of me from some 15 years ago. Having dropped my son George off with the bow rope, I was steering the stern in so I could then step off with the stern rope, when George took a turn round the bollard, and the stern started drifting out again. I made a split second decision... (and I made it to the bank).

https://www.grannybuttons.com/granny_buttons/2006/08/fulbourne_at_na.html

Ha ha, I had forgotten about that!  I'm not a great technical photographer, but I do think I'm good at clicking the shutter at the right moment. The trouble with too many modern cameras is they cogitate before condescending to take the photo, and you miss the moment. 

Here it is in a bit more detail. 20th Aug 2008, 2.12pm 

[David Mack]

4 hours ago, Andrew Denny said:

Ha ha, I had forgotten about that!  I'm not a great technical photographer, but I do think I'm good at clicking the shutter at the right moment. The trouble with too many modern cameras is they cogitate before condescending to take the photo, and you miss the moment. 

Here it is in a bit more detail. 20th Aug 2008, 2.12pm 

I wasn't aware you were there when you took that. Back then we didn't have any internet-enabled devices on board, so I was in blissful ignorance until a few days later, as we neared Oxford, a boater coming the other way shouted out that he had seen my picture on Granny Buttons. Had to wait until I got home after the trip to Google Granny Buttons to find out what he was on about!🙂

 

2006, not 2008. We were on our way to the IWA National at Beale Park, Pangbourne.

Edited July 15, 2021 by David Mack

[Andrew Denny]

5 minutes ago, David Mack said:

I wasn't aware you were there when you took that. Back then we didn't have any internet-enabled devices on board, so I was in blissful ignorance until a few days later, as we neared Oxford, a boater coming the other way shouted out that he had seen my picture on Granny Buttons. Had to wait until I got home after the trip to Google Granny Buttons to find out what he was on about!🙂

 

2006, not 2008. We were on our way to the IWA National at Beale Park, Pangbourne.

Oh yes, 2006, sorry. 

[Wanderer Vagabond]

9 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I would have thought that was more likely to spring the bow out. I suspect tiller over and gentle ahead would be more likely to spring the bow in.

Just reporting what seems to happen. If asked for a 'scientific' explanation all that I can suggest is that, with the stern firmly tied in, there isn't much space between the boat and the bank and the water would generally be deeper on the outside of the boat. That being the case the reverse thrust will tend to push out into the canal as the line of least resistance (rather than between the boat and the canalside), so consequently pushes the boat towards the bank. There may obviously be another explanation I haven't thought of. 

[Tim Lewis]

23 hours ago, Tonka said:

What happens if for some reason you have lost reverse.

 

I saw Mindon boat once try to moor up he was coming in that fast but when he put it in reverse there was no reverse. He hit a moored boat in front of him that hard that the mooring chain broke. I kid you not

 

 

Dis that at little Venice one except that it was the morse control that snapped as I put it in reverse, I believe that Richard Branson's boat still has the scrape to prove it!

On 14/07/2021 at 16:26, BilgePump said:

If you ever see video of scrapyard grab operators practising, not with a scrap car but with an egg or similar. Cruise ships come in to dock with delicate touches. Slowly, slowly, gentle as, and nowt wrong with a bit of a quick blast of revs to correct.

 

Cruise ships have very large bow thrusters and/or the use of tugs when mooring!

 

[Stroudwater1]

On 15/07/2021 at 11:40, john6767 said:

Come in to the bank at a steepish angle, before the bow hits put the tiller over to straighten the boat, and once the stern is coming in hit reverse and the stern will continue to come in.  As it gets close and hopefully you have just about stopped moving forward, step of with the centre line and pull the boat fully in.  Then fix the bow and stern lines.

 

Sometimes it works well and other times no so well, depending on your timing and the number of people watching.

Hi all,  just to say many thanks to all who replied on this, its been so useful. I realise I used to come in far too fast and a slow approach plus the advise here from John and others has made a huge difference. Im still in practice mode but its getting much better. 

 

The number of people watching definitely has an impact, do they all  blow out of their mouths from the bank towards the stern simultaneously I wonder...

[Tony1]

 

When its very windy, all bets are off when it comes to mooring- or anything else really. 

I find the best option is not to bother steering at all when the wind is up.

Leonardo de Caprio has an excellent tutorial video demonstrating this somewhat unorthodox 'hands off' mooring technique.

The shouting is optional, but is recommended for the crew's morale.

 

 

 

[Slow and Steady]

If you arrange for the stern to be coming in "too fast" your burst of reverse has some sideways momentum to work against. 

[Richard10002]

I dont think anybody has mentioned "prop walk"

 

In reverse, the prop will have a tendency to walk the stern one way or the other.

 

If reverse tends to walk the stern to port, when coming alongside port side to, a burst of astern will walk the stern towards the bank.

 

Coming alongside starboard side to, a burst of astern will walk the stern away from the bank.

 

Once you know which way your prop walks, you can use it to your advantage, whichever side you are coming alongside.

 

 

[blackrose]

I've got a right hand prop so in reverse prop walk should push the stern to port. But it doesn't always work that way. Sometimes it just does what it wants. It often depends on the particular underwater profile and of course which side you're coming into the bank.

 

If you've got crew I don't see there being a problem even if you're not that great at the controls, but what you should avoid is someone on the bank pulling hard on your bow rope as that just sends the stern further out. Hand some people a rope and they just start pulling! As a single-hander on a widebeam I just come in dead slow, often in neutral and see how the boat is behaving before adding any inputs.

[Bee]

It aiways seems to be frowned upon to just let the boat drift but I often do . Sticking it into reverse can just wedge the stern out and a bit of forward can add unwanted speed. All depends on wind , current and all the usual things that can throw a spanner in the works and some boats just don't steer but coming into a big empty lock the last few yards out of gear can be more predictable than a lot of reve, black smoke and bouncing off walls.

[Wanderer Vagabond]

1 hour ago, Richard10002 said:

I dont think anybody has mentioned "prop walk"

 

In reverse, the prop will have a tendency to walk the stern one way or the other.

 

If reverse tends to walk the stern to port, when coming alongside port side to, a burst of astern will walk the stern towards the bank.

 

Coming alongside starboard side to, a burst of astern will walk the stern away from the bank.

 

Once you know which way your prop walks, you can use it to your advantage, whichever side you are coming alongside.

 

 

I think most of that rather depends upon how shallow the canal is at side, perhaps you're used to the Bridgewater canal.  On many canals when it is particularly shallow at the bank, any reverse thrust will have the effect of pushing a boat back out if it is parallel to the bank. My own method which usually works (but sometimes doesn't) is to turn the boat as I'm coming in (slowly) until the bow is pointing slightly back out again so that in reverse the boat should (hopefully) be heading towards the bank. Again if it is particularly shallow you can end up just scooting sideways but not coming in.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Wanderer Vagabond

[john.k]

As a kid ,I used to catch a  river ferry to school......open 40 ft er,half canopy over the "wowser" seats,rest open to the fresh air....powered by the slowest revving JP4 ever made........When there was a strong fresh and an ebb tide ,the river would be running 12 knots in the middle ...with the Lister flat out ,the boat would crab sideways over to the other side,at the landing ,bow into the current,the ferry operator would gun the motor to match the current ,jump onto the landing as the boat came alongside ,and throw a heavy rope over one bollard on the ferry......one time he slipped and fell in the river,there was scuffle for the wheel ,every ferry traveller dreamed of the day he would take over.........all this replaced by fancy million dollar boats with proper "captains" ...that lose millions a year of ratepayer money.

[robtheplod]

My boat is particularly bad slowing and then into reverse. it takes ages to make any difference - just like an oil tanker. Others I've steered are much better...

[Ray T]

Do it this style! 😁

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Ray T

[cuthound]

On 15/02/2022 at 08:17, robtheplod said:

My boat is particularly bad slowing and then into reverse. it takes ages to make any difference - just like an oil tanker. Others I've steered are much better...

 

Mine was like that. When I had it docked I checked the prop size and pitch. Beta recommend 18" X 12" for the 43 with a 2:1 gearbox but mine was 17"x 11". 

I changed the prop for the recommended size and it has transformed the boat. It now stops much better and cruises at a lower rpm which is quieter and uses less fuel.

[robtheplod]

Just now, cuthound said:

 

Mine was like that. When I had it docked I checked the prop size and pitch. Beta recommend 18" X 12" for the 43 with a 2:1 gearbox but mine was 17"x 11". 

I changed the prop for the recommended size and it has transformed the boat. It now stops much better and cruises at a lower rpm which is quieter and uses less fuel.

thanks I'll check that!!!