[Stopping boat in a side wind.]

Wow, some great advice on here. 

 

I actually ended up pushing the back end of the boat off the moored boat and reversing out. Maybe not the best...

 

Next time I get a boat, i'll find some crosswinds and have a play!

[Stopping boat in a side wind.]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies, some good advice there. 

 

I actually ended up turning around

 

Unfortunately because of the pesky way water behaves things that are floating on it annoyingly tend to move about and as you found out when you came to a stop you were then at the mercy of the wind and any current that may have been running at that point in the river.

 

In short there is nothing you can do to stop it happening, only counter the effects. 

 

This is made all the more easy should you have a boat with a bow thrusters because you then have control (and power) at the front of the boat as well as rear.

 

What I would have done myself is as the boat began to drift – I will presume in this instance to the right – to have actually turned my wheel to the right then given a burst of forward throttle (making my stern move to the left).  Once that was done I could then turn my wheel to the left and go astern – moving my bow away from danger of the boat to my right that I would have been headed toward and cause the entire boat generally to move more to the centre of the river.

 

You would need to keep making adjustments to throttle and steering to counter the effects of the wind and effectively keep the boat moving back or forward left or right because once you had done the above manoeuvre the wind will be wanting to push you back to the right all the time.

 

Sometimes though the wind and current can be too much to make the above practical and in such circumstance I would do the above manoeuvre to get the boat away from danger and more to the centre of the river whereupon I could turn the boat around and head back the way I came and at a suitable point turn around again and come back for a second try.

 

The above of course is my personal take on matters, and very general as things tend to happen rapidly with wind changes and direction as I found recently even on the Bure with enough wind and a high sided boat she will just crab sideways regardless. A lot of opposite steerage and concentration is needed to keep things on course.

 

Should you find yourself 'pinned to a bank' by the wind never try to leave by turning the wheel away from the bank and going forwards.  You will just drag your stern along the bank and not be able to get away from it.  Instead turn your wheel hard over towards the bank, have a bow line around a post and secure to the cleat on the bow of the boat. 

 

Go forward (not too much throttle) the bow cannot go anywhere but the stern will now drift out away from the bank.  Once the stern is about 45 degrees to the bank, have your crew release the bow line from the cleat and post then go astern (obviously ensuring the river is clear of traffic).  Once you are away from the bank you can go forward and steer as normal - your stern now well away from risk of being dragged along the bank.

 

Thanks Robin, I was the guy at St Benet's who forgot your name!

[Stopping boat in a side wind.]

During our recent long weekend in Melody 3 I got into a bit of a pickle and would value some advice as how to avoid this in future.

 

We were cruising back up to Stalham, approaching Ludham Bridge, when suddenly, for no apparent reason the boat in from went broadside across the river, totally blocking the way. I was a reasonable distance behind, but had to slow down, eventually to a halt. The problem was there was a reasonably strong wide wind which blew our boat into a moored boat and I had some trouble recovering from this. 

 

Any advice on how to handle this sort of thing? I'm thinking I was too close to the boat in front, but he was blocking the way for a few minutes!

 

Thanks!

[Broadsman 1,2&3]

Thanks for the reply c.ricko, I didn't think the marks on the upholstery looked right. We thought the rest of the boat looked great.

The boat we hired, Melody 3 served us very well as we're currently on a tight budget, we liked the new flooring, brings it up to date. Any the economical engine was great!

[Weekend on Melody 3.]

Just had a great weekend on melody 3, picked up on Friday afternoon at Richardsons, 1st night at St Benet's Abbey, saw londonrascal there. Early morning cruise down to Salhouse to warm the water for showers, breakfast, then along to Wroxham to explore Roy's,

 

Back to Salhouse for the night, walked up to the village. Left early and sailed along to Horning for breakfast. Along to Ranworth for lunch and to see the impressive nature reserve. Back to St Benet's Abbet, walked over to the cross. Then back up the Ant to hang around on Barton Broad for a bit. Wild moored for the night on the Ant, good fun. Up early, back down to Barton, had breakfast on a mudweight, then back up to Stalham for handover.

 

All in all a great few days. We liked Melody 3, suited us (2 adults 3 children), the heating was great. 

 

The best bit was the fuel - the deposit was £60 and we got £40 back! Great! We'd had the heating running for long periods too.

[Broadsman 1,2&3]

Had a look on Broadsman 1 today with a view to hiring next year A beautiful boat, but let down by fag burns on the upholstery and scratched work surfaces. If I do hire, it'll have to be one of the newer ones!