Jump to content

You don't need a bow thruster with this trick


Pete & Helen

Featured Posts

This may be known by some out there but I'm sure there are a lot of people that would like to use this little tip. It was shown to me by (so all credit due to) the day boat captain that operates out of Whalley Bridge.

 

How many times have you been in the position against a bank and wished you had a bow thruster to move the front end out ? Yes you could get off and push the front away, but if there is a bit of a cross wind it will just come back again or the push will not be hard enough.

Well I was shown the answer. if there is a bollard or ring, slip your stern rope over/through and loop back around your stern fixing post (just a loop don't tie it off) Then with a bit of gentle reverse, once the rope becomes taught the front end will start to move away from the bank as if you had a bow thruster. Once you are fare enough out put into neutral, and recover your rope. into forward and off you go, no problem. Since I was shown I think I have used it at least once a day.

 

Hope my description makes sense. Give it a try.

 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep. It works. Been doing it for years. smile.png

 

eta.

Mind you, I usually shove the back end of the boat out until I know I'm in deeper water before moving off. Even if you've got the front out from the bank, the deeper stern can often run aground.

Edited by koukouvagia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I first saw that done years ago by the full length trip boat which used to operate at Stoke Bruerne. With a full load of passengers and a towpath full of people right outside the museum, the steerer did exactly the same to extract the boat neatly from between the moored boats in front and behind which were virtually sitting on his fenders.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep used that.

 

We also use a similar technique on our home mooring if the wind is blowing it off. Get the stern rope over a pontoon cleat. Tie it off on the boat and gently motor forwards. The rope pulls the boat into the pontoon and holds it there.

 

When we hired on the Broads and we were pinned to a bank by the wind, a boat owner showed us another method. Looping the bow rope around a bollard on the bank then tying it off on the bow cleat, gently reverse and the rope will swing the stern out into the river, retrieve rope and set off on ones way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I was shown the answer. if there is a bollard or ring, slip your stern rope over/through and loop back around your stern fixing post (just a loop don't tie it off) Then with a bit of gentle reverse, once the rope becomes taught the front end will start to move away from the bank as if you had a bow thruster.

 

Using fore or aft springs is fairly standard procedure. I'd much sooner use the fore end spring to get the stern into the deep water first and then go into stern gear to pull the bow away (assuming a crew person on the fore end to let the line go), but as long as you are certain the water is deep enough and clear of shopping trolleys or other nasties waiting to foul the prop, using the stern spring as described is OK.

 

Tam

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hmmm Dave normally just asks me to use the pole to push off the front end. Is is better to use the rope methods described above where rings or bollards are present?

 

Best? Who knows. It's best to have a variety of techniques handy just in case

 

Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a narrow boat (or any other boat with a stern low enough to be next to the bank), simply push the stern out, and then reverse to pull the bow clear (if the bow is blown into the bank), or go in forward and steer away. No real need to involve the lines on a low boat where the steering/control position is at the rear, right next to the bank. Faving with the line only adds a potential problem, of the end of the line falling in, and tangling around the prop.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If its windy then boat will be blown back onto bank no matter how you have moved front end out !

So then if I needed to move I would push stern out first give a bit of reverse then go for it, at 30 knots oh that's Tupperware boats I was forgetting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a narrow boat (or any other boat with a stern low enough to be next to the bank), simply push the stern out, and then reverse to pull the bow clear (if the bow is blown into the bank), or go in forward and steer away. No real need to involve the lines on a low boat where the steering/control position is at the rear, right next to the bank. Faving with the line only adds a potential problem, of the end of the line falling in, and tangling around the prop.

Doesn't really work with ours. Despite the stern being low enough to be next to the bank, by the time you have pushed the stern out and got to the helm position it will just have been blown back into the bank. rolleyes.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doesn't really work with ours. Despite the stern being low enough to be next to the bank, by the time you have pushed the stern out and got to the helm position it will just have been blown back into the bank. rolleyes.gif

Yes, I added that extra bit halfway in my post. On a cruiser like yours, or a sailer like mine, the line method is handy, especially when single handed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If its windy then boat will be blown back onto bank no matter how you have moved front end out !So then if I needed to move I would push stern out first give a bit of reverse then go for it, at 30 knots oh that's Tupperware boats I was forgetting.

Take a plank, tie it on a loose rope to the T stud. Push the fore end of the boat out, and put the plank in between the boat and the bank. This will hold it off, allowing you to get to the stern end, put the boat in gear, and motor forwards. The plank will turn and sit alongside the boat on the rope, and can be retrieved at the next Bridgehole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take a plank, tie it on a loose rope to the T stud. Push the fore end of the boat out, and put the plank in between the boat and the bank. This will hold it off, allowing you to get to the stern end, put the boat in gear, and motor forwards. The plank will turn and sit alongside the boat on the rope, and can be retrieved at the next Bridgehole.

Or simply push the stern out, and motor away...

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have a plank and have never needed one especially as up to a a couple of years ago I was using one crutch that was better than the two for the previous years .

Certainly made it interesting being single handed boater " with own 2 hands".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting comments from you all to my OP Thanks. If you use a ring as opposed to a post then put the rope through double and back over you own post/stud or what ever. That way you dont have to pull the whole length of rope back through when you have the front end were you want it. Always be in neutral when retrieving the rope so it cant get fouled in the prop.

 

Yes you could just push it out (as I do many a time) but there are time when this trick is particularly useful. Like at the watering point at Whalley Bridge on the upper Peak Forest. Once watered you need to get the bow around by 90 deg. If you push and there is the slightest breeze you will be there all day. I'm sure others can relate to that around their own stomping grounds.

 

 

Any one else got any tricks (boating type :-) ) that they feel would be useful to us all?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doesn't really work with ours. Despite the stern being low enough to be next to the bank, by the time you have pushed the stern out and got to the helm position it will just have been blown back into the bank. rolleyes.gif

NC when we had the Rinker and wind had us pinned against a wall going upstream in a lock for eg we would drop a big round fender near the back end of boat between boat and lock chamber then if say on the left hand side of the lock steer port handful of reverse which would send boat back and in compressing fender which acted as a spring to catapult stern away from wall steer starboard quick perp of forward with pivot room and you are away steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got blown good and hard into reeds on the upper Thames in a howling cross-wind after reversing hard to avoid a hire boat coming downstream at about 30mph.

 

Nothing to push against with the longshaft so I was stuck there until evening when the wind dropped at bit!

 

I wasn't best pleased at the time...

 

:)

 

MtB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.