Leaving A Side On Mooring When It's Windy

[Wyndham]

We were out early last week in the worst of the weather and had some difficulty leaving a mooring with the wind blowing us onto it. More like a gale really.

Eventually we worked out that by securing a bow line and going forward with the helm to the bank the stern would swing out and all would be good.

My question to you clever people is, could it have been done by securing a stern line to get the bow to swing out. Can you do that and how?

[diesel falcon]

yes.....same as you did it, only engine in reverse, with the stern  quarter protected,wheel right hand down

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, Wyndham said:

We were out early last week in the worst of the weather and had some difficulty leaving a mooring with the wind blowing us onto it. More like a gale really.

Eventually we worked out that by securing a bow line and going forward with the helm to the bank the stern would swing out and all would be good.

My question to you clever people is, could it have been done by securing a stern line to get the bow to swing out. Can you do that and how?

Do it in exactly the same way its not easy especially for  me  single handed , but the tide is a massive help especially on the southern rivers , darn nearly gave in once on the aire and Calder navigation trying to get 57foot of narrow Boat off ( no bow thruster , don't believe in em )  , took around 30 mins if I remember n a lot of agro a good tide would have made it much easier ,   tides can help you , best to sit n think about it for a moment n work our which natural force's you can harness to make life easier for you 

[MauriceMynah]

Whoops, I was going to say No, that wouldn't work (trying to kick out the Bow in that way) assuming no bow thruster.

[NorfolkNog]

The thrust is under the stern so it wouldn't really work the other way. Can be tricky though particularly in a strong wind.

[Malanka]

You did the right thing.

stern out going backwards...

Otherwise one will scrape the whole length until out far enough.

i.e. hard rhd if moored starboard side on of course. Then either held at bow or just squirt throttle ahead to kick back out then just reverse. The minimnal steering backwards will help but not much.

M

[High6]

I used stern first release a lot on hire boats with no thrusters, but now we have our own boat I wonder how much this would damage the stem. I am surprised to see how few boats carry a bow fender, but perhaps that's because they rely on bow thrusters.


Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Wyndham said:

We were out early last week in the worst of the weather and had some difficulty leaving a mooring with the wind blowing us onto it. More like a gale really.

Eventually we worked out that by securing a bow line and going forward with the helm to the bank the stern would swing out and all would be good.

My question to you clever people is, could it have been done by securing a stern line to get the bow to swing out. Can you do that and how?

Yes it would.

If there is a tide that can be used to advantage: I f the tide is flowing towards the bow, then spring the bow off, conversely if the tide is flowing toward the stern then spring the stern off. 

[TheQ]

I take the bow rope to the ring or post preferably behind the leading end of the bow. and back to the fore deck, preferable . Put bow fender in suitable place.  Drive the boat forward steering into the bank.  The stern swings out, when far enough, remove bowline and pull back aboard, return to helm position and reverse out.

If you have a strong tide then undoing the end of the boat In the direction the tide is coming from may over come the wind.

[diesel falcon]

tide towards bow........port engine forward, starbord engine reverse, boat swings, tide on stern...starboard engine forward ,port forward ,if this fails your nackered!!

[BrundallNavy]

Just mind the rudder doesn’t fall off 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, TheQ said:

I take the bow rope to the ring or post preferably behind the leading end of the bow. and back to the fore deck, preferable . Put bow fender in suitable place.  Drive the boat forward steering into the bank.  The stern swings out, when far enough, remove bowline and pull back aboard, return to helm position and reverse out.

If you have a strong tide then undoing the end of the boat In the direction the tide is coming from may over come the wind.

Don't like using rings though, if the rope snags the boat can swing 180 degrees, much safer with a post.

[diesel falcon]

11 minutes ago, diesel falcon said:

tide towards bow........port engine forward, starbord engine reverse, boat swings, tide on stern...starboard engine forward ,port forward ,if this fails your nackered!!

port engine...reverse!! lol

 

[diesel falcon]

it,s all gone p tong, ignore these posts!!

[Wussername]

All good stuff.

Now this. Stern that. Port a bit. Starboard that. Hard reverse. Release the bow line. Bow thruster port. Bow thruster starboard. 

Phone a friend. Ask the audience. 

Not an option.

I firmly believe that an instruction, on a forum such as this can lead to confusion and confidence by all concerned.

The most important advice and really need to think about it. You, the helm, tell your crew what you intend to do. They know, you know.

Think about it. Discuss and proceed.

Take into consideration the tide, the wind, your boat and it's capabilities. 

No rush, believe me, it will work out OK. 

Oh, and I nearly forgot. Sometimes it all finishes in a muddle. 

But take solace in that we have all been there.

 

[MauriceMynah]

We are each guilty of jumping to conclusions (apart from anyone here actually knows) about the actual craft concerned.

Are we talking inboard, outboard or outdrive(s)?

Is it one engine or two?

So, Sorry Wyndham, what was the configuration of the boat you were on? 

[BrundallNavy]

6 hours ago, Wussername said:

All good stuff. 

Phone a friend. Ask the audience. 

 

 

Well don’t bother asking the host, he was rubbish this week.

[Vaughan]

When all else fails, go back in the pub and wait until the wind drops.

If the wind is that strong you will probably have a difficult and uncomfortable cruise anyway, and you are, after all, on holiday!  

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

When all else fails, go back in the pub and wait until the wind drops.

If the wind is that strong you will probably have a difficult and uncomfortable cruise anyway, and you are, after all, on holiday!  

Absolutely I had to sit in reedham and wait for the tide to turn a couple of weeks back , red hot day so there's only one thing for it , one has to keep up your fluid levels dehydration is no good  

[Wyndham]

3 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

We are each guilty of jumping to conclusions (apart from anyone here actually knows) about the actual craft concerned.

Are we talking inboard, outboard or outdrive(s)?

Is it one engine or two?

So, Sorry Wyndham, what was the configuration of the boat you were on? 

Good point MM, I  should have made that clear.

Inboard single engine 35ft craft, no bow thruster

This manoeuvre may be needed to leave our starboard side on home mooring, there will be no tide running.

Up until now we have swung the boat to be stern on using the ropes, which points us in the right direction to depart. I don't think we could do that in a strong wind. (Unless someone knows of a way)

Stern  out first is not an option for two reasons,  first there is nothing to use on the quay heading in the right place and second it would leave us pointing in completely the wrong direction, meaning having to try and turn 180 degrees in a strong wind and confined space. There is a cleat on the quay heading right next to the rear starboard corner.

So that's what we have.

Thanks for all your replies so far.

[High6]

Using the stern out method you can swing right round 120 degrees and reverse to face the right direction.

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

[Meantime]

Similar size boat and I have used the ropes to swing either the stern or bow out by reversing against the stern rope, or going forward against a bow rope. Both work well. Make sure you use a good post and not rings in case the rope snags as its being pulled through.

One word of advice when using the bow rope to push the stern out and reversing off is to make sure you go far enough across the river before attempting to go forward again. A tide coming from behind can help the stern out and you can end up almost sideways across the river. By the time you have gained forward momentum and some steerage you can almost be back alongside again, and I have seen people panic and the revs go up and then they are heading fast for the stern of the boat in front, often with the front just missing the boat in front, but not realising that the side or stern quarter is still on a collision course for the boat in front. I have been known to use this method to reverse off and if the tide takes me sideways enough, back off all the way across the river and then with the steering wheel hard to port turn against the tide and head off in the opposite direction to what you intended and find a wide enough spot to then turn around again.