Reducing first mates anxiety/stress - Docking, grabbing lines, tying knots, bumpers/fenders

Creekwood said:
My slip neighbors on both sides have fixed lines on the dock tied to the right length with loops open to fasten to a cleat on the boat once in the slip. The issue is that you also need lines on the boat to toss to dock hands if needed. So I don't bother with fixed lines on the dock. But it works for them. One is a 36ft Hunter sail boat and the other side that shares the slip with me is a classic 40ft Chriscraft.
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If done right no need for dock hands ...

Everyone should be able to pull into there own slip without assistance from anyone except for someone else on board to grab the loop end of the line left on the dock within reach when you left the slip. If need be put eye hooks on the pilings and put the loop there (Hooks on the side on the pile) and use a boat hook, that's what there for!

If you cannot back into your slip without throwing lines to someone to pull you in then you need a lot more practice. Pay a local captain to work with you until you understand how to do it right. Thing will be a lot less stressful that way.

I dock by myself often and with no help in sight and never an issue unless very windy. And I don't use hooks either, but was thinking of adding them.
 
SKybolt said:
If done right no need for dock hands ...

Everyone should be able to pull into there own slip without assistance from anyone except for someone else on board to grab the loop end of the line left on the dock within reach when you left the slip. If need be put eye hooks on the pilings and put the loop there (Hooks on the side on the pile) and use a boat hook, that's what there for!

If you cannot back into your slip without throwing lines to someone to pull you in then you need a lot more practice. Pay a local captain to work with you until you understand how to do it right. Thing will be a lot less stressful that way.

I dock by myself often and with no help in sight and never an issue unless very windy. And I don't use hooks either, but was thinking of adding them.
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I read this more of a situation where maneuverability was lessened due to a down engine or something. I cannot dock myself. If I leave the helm in windy conditions, my boat will be against my slip mate in about 10 seconds. No way could I secure the stern and still manage to grab a bow line or even a spring line. I am not leaving the helm period until the boat is secure. I can get the boat into the slip in any conditions, but tying up would be another story unless I could leave the bow thruster on. EDIT: we don't have pilings between slips.
 
SKybolt said:
If done right no need for dock hands ...

Everyone should be able to pull into there own slip without assistance from anyone except for someone else on board to grab the loop end of the line left on the dock within reach when you left the slip. If need be put eye hooks on the pilings and put the loop there (Hooks on the side on the pile) and use a boat hook, that's what there for!

If you cannot back into your slip without throwing lines to someone to pull you in then you need a lot more practice. Pay a local captain to work with you until you understand how to do it right. Thing will be a lot less stressful that way.

I dock by myself often and with no help in sight and never an issue unless very windy. And I don't use hooks either, but was thinking of adding them.
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Completely untrue. I need my dock neighbors to hand me a cold beer after a successful docking. :)
 
SKybolt said:
One thing I haven't seen anyone suggest is this - Only have the loop end of the line going to the boat.

Meaning keep the lines tied to the dock and have hooks on the piles and then someone only needs to use a boat hook to grab the loop and secure it on the boat.

My wife makes me stop at each pile so she can grab the loop and even at times rotate the boat to the other side for her to grab the other loop. But that part is just semantics. And @Creekwood post #31 is the correct way to secure the line to the cleat. You can then and another hitch on top of that, put that is the correct start as it self tightens that way when the boat pulls.
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I have lines at the bow and stern where the loops go over the cleats on the boat. They are fixed and do not move once I set them after launch. I then have two spring lines with the loops on the mid cleats on the boat. They get removed from the dock and travel with the boat.
 
spikedaddy99 said:
I read this more of a situation where maneuverability was lessened due to a down engine or something. I cannot dock myself. If I leave the helm in windy conditions, my boat will be against my slip mate in about 10 seconds. No way could I secure the stern and still manage to grab a bow line or even a spring line. I am not leaving the helm period until the boat is secure. I can get the boat into the slip in any conditions, but tying up would be another story unless I could leave the bow thruster on. EDIT: we don't have pilings between slips.
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Right, no piles between slips. Who the hell thought of saving that little bit of money by doing that. But yep one hell of a mess in that situation and I totally agree with you on that one.
 
Steve S said:
I have lines at the bow and stern where the loops go over the cleats on the boat. They are fixed and do not move once I set them after launch. I then have two spring lines with the loops on the mid cleats on the boat. They get removed from the dock and travel with the boat.
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Right, two fore and two aft stay at the dock and take the springs. Sounds good, and still easy tying up while docking.
 
Having preset lines in the your permanent slip works well.

I guess maybe I didn't understand the OP original perspective. I immediately thought about traveling, transient stops. You don't know what your going to get till you get there. Sometimes what the dock hand says over the radio, is not necessarily what you wind up doing.

There are times approaching the tie up I decide we are going to arrange lines different than what was indicated by the dockmaster or dockhand. Okkkkkk -- lets change from a starboard side tie to a stern in with bow lines to outer pilings. Oh yeah, move that stern line that was on the port cockpit corner to a shorter line, add another one to the port side. etc. etc.

Headsets, quality headsets (not a fan of cellphone headsets for docking). A nice slow, non stressful conversation. Reinforcing those things that are going right. Explaining something that wasn't clear. Admitting the captain was wrong about what he had anticipated and now we have to deal with it.
 
SKybolt said:
If done right no need for dock hands ...

Everyone should be able to pull into there own slip without assistance from anyone except for someone else on board to grab the loop end of the line left on the dock within reach when you left the slip. If need be put eye hooks on the pilings and put the loop there (Hooks on the side on the pile) and use a boat hook, that's what there for!

If you cannot back into your slip without throwing lines to someone to pull you in then you need a lot more practice. Pay a local captain to work with you until you understand how to do it right. Thing will be a lot less stressful that way.

I dock by myself often and with no help in sight and never an issue unless very windy. And I don't use hooks either, but was thinking of adding them.
Click to expand...

Correct. I have a one on each corner (with a snubber) and two spring lines - one fore and one aft. After she's been in the water a week I adjust them again to get them perfect, then a back up line goes on each corner. We have a separate set of lines we travel with and at the fuel dock I just use their set...which has the looped end attached to the dock. No need to get my travel lines dirty.

But, we have pilings between the slips here.
 
All my lines stay at the dock when we go out. It's usually short trips so not much sense untying everything. I have extra lines on the boat if needed. Now when I decide to turn the boat around its pretty funny watching my neighbors figure out what goes where. :)
 
One trick I learned from a dock mate was what he called the “Jesus Line”. Run a line from the bow to the mid cleat on the side you’re docking. Comes in great if you are single handing it or just want something that can be grabbed by someone on the dock. Then you can just have them hold it or tie off where you like.
 
FootballFan said:
Having preset lines in the your permanent slip works well.

I guess maybe I didn't understand the OP original perspective. I immediately thought about traveling, transient stops. You don't know what your going to get till you get there. Sometimes what the dock hand says over the radio, is not necessarily what you wind up doing.

There are times approaching the tie up I decide we are going to arrange lines different than what was indicated by the dockmaster or dockhand. Okkkkkk -- lets change from a starboard side tie to a stern in with bow lines to outer pilings. Oh yeah, move that stern line that was on the port cockpit corner to a shorter line, add another one to the port side. etc. etc.

Headsets, quality headsets (not a fan of cellphone headsets for docking). A nice slow, non stressful conversation. Reinforcing those things that are going right. Explaining something that wasn't clear. Admitting the captain was wrong about what he had anticipated and now we have to deal with it.
Click to expand...

That is why I take the springs attached to the mid cleats... pretty easy to dock either bow or stern in. Only issue comes if the finger pier is on a different side and we need to swap sides.

Once basic docking is done and the boat is secured and the engines are off, I then take extra lines out and arrange them exactly how I want them.
 
As with everything in life practice makes perfect. For those that single hand it or those that need a team effort how often do you just practice some dock crashing when you’re not in a hurry to be anywhere or are dealing with mechanical issues and need to be tied up ASAP. How often do you have you significant others who double as first mates practice basic line handling skills outside of the time when those skills are absolutely necessary? Numerous reps of the old 12oz curls generally don’t help improve those skill’s especially when there is little to no training to improve confidence.
 
Hoplite808 said:
As with everything in life practice makes perfect. For those that single hand it or those that need a team effort how often do you just practice some dock crashing when you’re not in a hurry to be anywhere or are dealing with mechanical issues and need to be tied up ASAP. How often do you have you significant others who double as first mates practice basic line handling skills outside of the time when those skills are absolutely necessary? Numerous reps of the old 12oz curls generally don’t help improve those skill’s especially when there is little to no training to improve confidence.
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With this boat I never take down the plastic, which is so thick, it might as well be glass and the little front vent window is not big enough to communicate through, so I just purchased a pair of headsets, but haven’t used them yet.
As for fenders…. I’ve been using the ones below on my last three boats and my wife has never lost a fender. You attach it around the rail before throwing the fender over and then adjust the height. You just have to keep a knot at the end of the fender rope.

3851F781-107F-4078-868D-0734C12BB44F.png
 
Captsteve427 said:
With this boat I never take down the plastic, which is so thick, it might as well be glass and the little front vent window is not big enough to communicate through, so I just purchased a pair of headsets, but haven’t used them yet.
As for fenders…. I’ve been using the ones below on my last three boats and my wife has never lost a fender. You attach it around the rail before throwing the fender over and then adjust the height. You just have to keep a knot at the end of the fender rope.

View attachment 127750
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I used those until I found Folbe's, I never looked back...
 
I completely understand. My wife is not sure footed so she struggles and really has difficulty getting off the swim platform and jumping to the dock. To reduce stress I have all my fenders set to only need to be hung- not adjusted. See my pic below. It helps for when I have quests too, and all I have to say is hang this on the cleat. No looping, just drop it on the cleat.
Currently I have dock lines at the dock always, but we carry lines and before we enter a dock, gas or other, I will stop the boat in the channel, go to the bow and hang the fenders and secure a bow line to the cleat.
Not much help here, but the fenders are easy to do and should help some.

411274DD-F677-4A71-BB94-3971132937A2.jpeg
 
How many of you curl the excess line on the dock by the eye?
 
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