Getting into the bank and out again in wind

[Matt72]

Hi

 

Just finally bought our 1st cruiser and took it out for the first time at the weekend, it was a bit windy and although we were fine there were a couple of occasions where we either struggled to get away from the bank when the wind was pushing us in or struggled to get into the bank when the wind was pushing us out. I tended to find with the latter that as I brought the bow in and then added a little reverse to bring the stern in, the bow had by then swung out again and I had to go out and try again. It took me about 5 or 6 attempts to get close enough to the bank to allow the crew to hop off and tie up.

 

Anyone got some basic tips for these situations - we have a grp cruiser with outboard.

 

Thanks

Matt

[matty40s]

Hi

Just finally bought our 1st cruiser and took it out for the first time at the weekend, it was a bit windy and although we were fine there were a couple of occasions where we either struggled to get away from the bank when the wind was pushing us in or struggled to get into the bank when the wind was pushing us out. I tended to find with the latter that as I brought the bow in and then added a little reverse to bring the stern in, the bow had by then swung out again and I had to go out and try again. It took me about 5 or 6 attempts to get close enough to the bank to allow the crew to hop off and tie up.

Anyone got some basic tips for these situations - we have a grp cruiser with outboard.

 

Thanks

Matt

 

To get off the bank use your outboard. Steer the back end away from the bank at low, mid revs letting the nose stay put,get the rear end well away (1/2 3/4 across the waterway if a canal)and then full revs forward steering the opposite way. The front will swing out easily.

If you are on a canal, you will find that adding reverse when mooring, invariably leads to the pointy end moving away from the bank(the angle of the mud does this to the hull). Try to approach the mooring more slowly, and get someone to be mid, front with rope ready (to jump off).

If you're ropes are long enough, the front rope held by someone stepping on to the bank from the rear of the craft will make life very easy, as plastics are so light to pull in.

 

BTW, I single hand a 70ft,22 tonne steel bucket in all kinds of weathers and winds, and can still do it on my own.The techniques for mooring and against wind are the same, just need a bit more weetabix for this one.

good luck

[saltysplash]

If your struggling to moor and the wind is blowing you off, then try pointing your bow into the wind and gently approach the bank. Your crew member then decamps with rope and you can the use the engine to bring the stern round where your 2nd crew member decamps and hey presto 2 mooring lines ashore.

Remember to tell your bow rope handler to keep giving you slack as you bring the stern in or youll never get it to turn.

 

When leaving moorings against the wind adopt the same principle in reverse except this time every one can be on board. attatch a spring line off your bow running back and make sure it can be slipped easily from on board. realease both bow and stern lines and drive the boat forward using the engine onto your bow spring.

 

Turn the wheel towards the bank and your stren should begin to come out. once your bow is pointing at the bank, slip your spring and reverse backwards into the wind and into the channel, then just engage forward and turn to whatever direction you wish to go. You will want to do this last manouvre with all despatch to avoid the boat being blown back onto the bank.

 

All very easily done with a cruiser on any width of waterway.

 

You can also 'spring off' from the stern where this time your bow moves away from the bank but it wont always work if the wind is too strong and it also places your outboard or out drive at risk as it turns the stern towards the bank.

 

Remember to fender your bow at the point where it will pivot on the bank.

[Bob18]

One thing everyone has overlooked - mooring up in a cross wind is a "spectator sport", and the more spectators around the bigger the spectacle and the greater the likely hood of you getting it wrong...

 

For perfection the ideal number of spectators is zero, anything more than that and let the fun begin.

 

Also there is the other end to the process - getting underway again.

 

Why does the wind that has blown you out from the bank all night suddenly swing 180 degrees and nail you hard to it as soon as you start the engine?

[Sir Nibble]

 

Why does the wind that has blown you out from the bank all night suddenly swing 180 degrees and nail you hard to it as soon as you start the engine?

Spring it off. Piece of proverbial.

[Naughty Cal]

We also own a cruiser so know how difficult it can be to get used to the handling of a light boat and the different conditions you come across. Eventually you will learn to use the wind to your advantage and let it aid your manouvres rather than fight against it.

 

Regardless of wether the wind is blowing us off or on we get the bow very close to the bank before selecting reverse to swing the stern around. What others here are forgetting is that most cruisers, unlike narrowboats, dont have a point of egress from the bow so most of the rope work is done from the stern end. Taking your bow rope to the cockpit with you will mean that you have control of the bow as soon as you step ashore.

 

Im sure you will very quickly pick up the handling characteristics of your cruiser. They are all different but we can place NC pretty much where we want to now, it just takes practice and time.

[Mrs Tawny Owl]

We had this problem back in September on the Birmingham and Worcester.

 

We'd topped up with fuel at Alvechurch (OOCH, won't do that again!) and thought we'd tie up for the day sooner rather than later.

 

Went' past a few moored boats, then started to look for some pilings. Couldn't see any so thought "OK any bit of bank will do". WRONG.

 

The banks are really shallow near the edge, and we just couldn't get near enough to even jump ashore.

 

It was that really windy few days, end of a hurricane from the USA I think, and we'd done a bit of diagonal boating already that day .

 

Anyway approach the bank, realise we couldn't get the whole 70ft anywhere near, so move off and try again, except getting off was a real pain.

 

Put her in forward steering towards the bank to push the back end out, then reverse aiming across the cut, then try and go forward to pull the front end out. Canal not very wide there, so back end in the mud one side, front end in the mud the other side, steering zero. As she started to move the wind blowing us back onto the bank.

 

Getting late and towards dusk, tempers getting frayed, not a good end to the day.

 

We eventually got away with Richard using the pole on the front, but a fraught few minutes.

 

Only to try again and get the same result a bit further on!!!

 

Finally went through Tardebigg tunnel and moored at the top of the top lock. Very nice secure mooring, but the pound had so many waves it looked like a river. We felt the need for 2 springs as well as the normal ropes.

 

But we survived, as we always do.

 

Sue

[saltysplash]

What others here are forgetting is that most cruisers, unlike narrowboats, dont have a point of egress from the bow so most of the rope work is done from the stern end.

 

Then your doing it wrong.

 

If you ever get your tub down to the Med, most marina visitor moorings are very short finger pontoons and you either moor bow first or stern first and pick a mooring bouy behind you to secure the bow or the stern. If your nose in then your only access off the boat is over the bow irrespective of pullpits.

 

Ive owned 3 cruisers and a yacht and never worried about getting off at the bow. Also if mooring bollards are in situ then proper handling of ropes means you dont even have to get off.

[Guest]

I have some sympathy with the OP here.

 

We still occasionally find our selves firmly pinned to the bank by a crosswind that is blowing at or around 90 degrees to the boat. Now we all know the theory about using the wind to help you all that guff, but if it's pinning you to the bank it's pinning you to the bank, end of.

 

The way we do it in a NB now is an adapted version of our normal way of leaving the bank -

 

Start engine

 

Untie for and aft (you aint going anywhere, you're pinned)

 

As I step onto the stern I push the boat as far out as I can, leaving one leg on the bank for as long as possible to get as big a gap as possible, if possible waiting for a lull in the wind to do this.

 

Depending on the proximity of other boats I give good blast of reverse to get you further away if poss followed by a good blast of forward with the tiller towards the bank. You have to be quick mind and you have to give it some welly or you simply get pinned to the bank again before you get away.

 

It may not be elegant but it seems to work.

 

The other thing to consider of course is if it really is that windy is it too windy to be boating and just put the kettle on....

[bizzard]

I always leave the bank in a high wind with a big overdraught.

[Naughty Cal]

Then your doing it wrong.

 

If you ever get your tub down to the Med, most marina visitor moorings are very short finger pontoons and you either moor bow first or stern first and pick a mooring bouy behind you to secure the bow or the stern. If your nose in then your only access off the boat is over the bow irrespective of pullpits.

 

Ive owned 3 cruisers and a yacht and never worried about getting off at the bow. Also if mooring bollards are in situ then proper handling of ropes means you dont even have to get off.

 

Not doing it wrong no, doing it the way that works for us on our boat. There is no need to be clambering around on the bow when the easiest way to leave the boat is from the stern. There is no need with our boat when mooring side on or stern on to go anywhere near the bow. We rarely moor on buoys, prefering to drop the hook if necessary, but when we do have to moor on a buoy we still access it from the stern using longer bow lines which we take from the bow to the stern, position the boat near the buoy, thread the line then let the current swing the boat until she is sitting head to the buoy, then secure the line at the bow end. No need to mess around trying to hook lines from a high bow.

 

We dont worry about getting off the bow and have done, but only if absolutely necessary, which it often isnt. NC's bow is high compared to the waterline and she doesnt have med style rails. So to avoid unecessary risk clambering over the bow we have adopted a different method.

[Bob18]

Spring it off. Piece of proverbial.

That's how you do it, not why the wind suddenly changes direction.

[steelaway]

I have some sympathy with the OP here.

 

We still occasionally find our selves firmly pinned to the bank by a crosswind that is blowing at or around 90 degrees to the boat. Now we all know the theory about using the wind to help you all that guff, but if it's pinning you to the bank it's pinning you to the bank, end of.

 

The way we do it in a NB now is an adapted version of our normal way of leaving the bank -

 

Start engine

 

Untie for and aft (you aint going anywhere, you're pinned)

 

As I step onto the stern I push the boat as far out as I can, leaving one leg on the bank for as long as possible to get as big a gap as possible, if possible waiting for a lull in the wind to do this.

 

Depending on the proximity of other boats I give good blast of reverse to get you further away if poss followed by a good blast of forward with the tiller towards the bank. You have to be quick mind and you have to give it some welly or you simply get pinned to the bank again before you get away.

 

It may not be elegant but it seems to work.

 

The other thing to consider of course is if it really is that windy is it too windy to be boating and just put the kettle on....

 

 

 

 

DITTO - but it can be a bugger. Your boat suddenly becomes a 50' sail.

 

There is no point pushing out the front by the time you get to the stern its back in again - spot the nutter doing the 50' dash. That would be me then

 

Alex

[Neil2]

Outboard powered grp cruisers (and those with outdrives) are notoriously "bow happy", a symptom often aggravated by the lack of a decent sized keel. The pivot point on these boats often feels much further back making handling in a high wind tricky.

 

I have heard from owners of similar boats, especially the narrow beam types, that the tendency for the bow to get blown off line can be tamed to a large extent by sticking plenty of ballast up front. I remember the owner of a Nauticus 27 (with outdrive) claiming the handling of his boat had been transformed by this approach, I think he had used getting on for 100kg - equivalent to having a hefty adult or two children sat on the bow deck.

[Sir Nibble]

That's how you do it, not why the wind suddenly changes direction.

Aw that's sod's law, like when the clouds open 5pm friday and the sun comes out 8am monday. You can actually change the wind direction if you want to. Build a fire and move around it, the wind will ALWAYS blow the smoke directly into your face so you get the boat blown off then put out the fire and jump aboard from the next bridge.

[Bob18]

Thanks, that's a tip worth remembering, and it makes sense.

It goes along with making sure each group of people has a nominated "midge magnet", to be dressed in yellow and walk/stand a few feet away from the main group.

[Naughty Cal]

Outboard powered grp cruisers (and those with outdrives) are notoriously "bow happy", a symptom often aggravated by the lack of a decent sized keel. The pivot point on these boats often feels much further back making handling in a high wind tricky.

 

I have heard from owners of similar boats, especially the narrow beam types, that the tendency for the bow to get blown off line can be tamed to a large extent by sticking plenty of ballast up front. I remember the owner of a Nauticus 27 (with outdrive) claiming the handling of his boat had been transformed by this approach, I think he had used getting on for 100kg - equivalent to having a hefty adult or two children sat on the bow deck.

 

A lot depends on the boats design. Our boat doesnt have a keel at all couple that with a shallow draft at the bow and "slow" speed handling (below 6mph) is lively. That said you do with time and practice get used to it and can predict what the boat will do, using this to your advantage. Having a stern drive does also make the boat incredibly easy to handle and stick into the tightest of moorings. Horses for courses.

[Sir Nibble]

Thanks, that's a tip worth remembering, and it makes sense.

It goes along with making sure each group of people has a nominated "midge magnet", to be dressed in yellow and walk/stand a few feet away from the main group.

That's the bunny! and remember you can pass your BSC without extinguishers, fire blanket, isolators and fuel shut off etc if you have a kitemarked scapegoat on board.

[Matt72]

Thanks everyone for the replies and useful information - it has given me plenty to go at when I next go out, I may even go when it is slightly windy so that I can practice !

 

Matt

[The Pipe]

Outboard powered grp cruisers (and those with outdrives) are notoriously "bow happy", a symptom often aggravated by the lack of a decent sized keel. The pivot point on these boats often feels much further back making handling in a high wind tricky.

 

I have heard from owners of similar boats, especially the narrow beam types, that the tendency for the bow to get blown off line can be tamed to a large extent by sticking plenty of ballast up front. I remember the owner of a Nauticus 27 (with outdrive) claiming the handling of his boat had been transformed by this approach, I think he had used getting on for 100kg - equivalent to having a hefty adult or two children sat on the bow deck.

I think 100kg is only a hefty adult and 2 children in africa in a sever famine....................................

Edited November 10, 2011 by Jim Evans

[Neil2]

I think 100kg is only a hefty adult and 2 children in africa in a sever famine....................................

 

Hefty adult or two children.

 

Second thoughts maybe one and a half children these days.

[saltysplash]

 

We dont worry about getting off the bow and have done, but only if absolutely necessary, which it often isnt.

 

NC's bow is high compared to the waterline and she doesnt have med style rails. So to avoid unecessary risk clambering over the bow we have adopted a different method.

 

And we were talking about extreme weather not day to day mooring.

 

Admittedly my three Cruisers were all suitable for the inland waterways

 

If i was using a boat like yours I also wouldnt put the bow into the bank but would come alongside with crew member having a line back from the bow to the stern, They would jump off and get a couple of quick turns on a bollard or mooring point, then drive forward onto this spring with the wheel turned away from the bank. this will hold the boat all day till you can get more lines out.

[Naughty Cal]

And we were talking about extreme weather not day to day mooring.

 

Admittedly my three Cruisers were all suitable for the inland waterways

 

If i was using a boat like yours I also wouldnt put the bow into the bank but would come alongside with crew member having a line back from the bow to the stern, They would jump off and get a couple of quick turns on a bollard or mooring point, then drive forward onto this spring with the wheel turned away from the bank. this will hold the boat all day till you can get more lines out.

 

Ours is suited to the inland waterways. It manages perfectly well, it may not be able to crawl along narrow muddy ditches but luckily in the UK we are blessed with a whole network of larger waterways that she is perfectly at home on.

 

If you had read my earlier post you would see that we do put our bow in close to the bank but then we swing the stern into the bank and get off from the stern with the bow line and stern line to hand. That way we have control of both ends of the boat, "problem" solved.

 

Cruisers to a greater extent than narrowboats, each have their own ideal methods of working them day to day.

[bizzard]

Ours is suited to the inland waterways. It manages perfectly well, it may not be able to crawl along narrow muddy ditches but luckily in the UK we are blessed with a whole network of larger waterways that she is perfectly at home on.

 

If you had read my earlier post you would see that we do put our bow in close to the bank but then we swing the stern into the bank and get off from the stern with the bow line and stern line to hand. That way we have control of both ends of the boat, "problem" solved.

 

Cruisers to a greater extent than narrowboats, each have their own ideal methods of working them day to day.

Before the advent of steel top narrowboats with centre ropes,getting off with stern and long bow ropes was the thing and not so long ago.

[Neil2]

Before the advent of steel top narrowboats with centre ropes,getting off with stern and long bow ropes was the thing and not so long ago.

 

Yep - an old stager on the K&A was telling me how they used to control working boats with a bow rope fixed first and the engine in (forward) gear this was a common technique on the notorious K&A locks where you see folk struggling in vain with a centre rope.