About last weekend...

Those of you who have heard me expound (perhaps at length) on docking technique know that I believe in making everything happen as slowly as possible. That's a bit difficult sometimes with current or crosswinds, but in the sheltered marina where we have a slip, it's rarely a problem. So last week's experience was unusual. (If you want to see the incident scene, here's a Google Maps link: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q <http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Chesapeake+City ,+MD+21915&sll=37.370157,-95.712891&sspn=38.557561,92.8125&ie=UTF8&ll=39.486 874,-75.894316&spn=0.002306,0.005665&t=h&z=18> &source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Chesapeake+City,+MD+21915&sll=37.370157,-95.712 891&sspn=38.557561,92.8125&ie=UTF8&ll=39.486874,-75.894316&spn=0.002306,0.00 5665&t=h&z=18. The main channel comes up from the south, and our alley is the first turn to the right, along the long bulkhead. Our slip is at the end of the alley, along the bulkhead.) As I idled in forward down the main channel, we were moving a little faster than I liked, so I put it in neutral and turned sharply into our lane to kill some speed. We were still moving down the alley a bit fast - our slip is along the bulkhead at the end of the row - but I attributed that to a small tailwind. The speed did not decrease, so I popped it into reverse, still at idle. The speed did not change appreciably, so about two boat lengths from our slip, I left it in reverse and gunned the engine hard. And the boat shot FORWARD! Things did not happen slowly from that point on. I got the throttle to idle and the gear shift in neutral, and turned us hard to head down the middle of the slip (which was looking very narrow and short at this point). I figured that this would give us the longest amount of time for a miracle before we started to redesign our bow roller with the pier. Fortunately, we have a large fender mounted permanently about starboard amidships on a bulkhead piling, and we more or less bounced off that. Our adult son was thinking about jumping onto the finger pier to port and dashing to the dock to fend off the bow as best he could. At that moment, the starboard stern line on the bulkhead started to flash past me in the cockpit. I grabbed it and bent it back against a stanchion - a turn on a winch or cleat would have been a better idea had I been thinking faster - and I was able to apply enough force to stop the boat. We kissed the pier and slightly dislodged one decking board (which was quickly popped back into place) with no apparent damage to the bow. Before I shut down the engine, I determined that the transmission was stuck in forward gear, and would not go into neutral or reverse. Ah, that explained everything! The only aftermath that I could find was a good scrape on the topsides a bit above the waterline amidships, and the absence of skin on one segment of my left forefinger (along with some sizeable blisters on the other fingers). Fortunately, the topsides are already due for a new paint job, so that damage does not alter the appearance significantly, and our son is a second-year surgery resident, so my finger got immediate and professional attention during which we got to exercise the contents of our well-stocked first aid kit. I phoned my boat partner - he's responsible for machinery and I'm responsible for sailing gear - and explained what had happened. He's checking out the transmission today, so I hope to get a report on the cause and whether it's fixed. (It's probably something as simple as a slipped cable.) Lessons learned? Well, I'm not sure that this will change my docking behavior appreciably. I will probably confirm that neutral and reverse are available before I make the turn into the alley, at least for a while, so that I have time to kill the engine before making the turn if we're stuck in forward. That would give us enough time to slow down - wagging the rudder - and we can always walk the boat to the slip as there is a bulkhead to starboard the length of the alley. And the other change might be to have everyone on the crew put on gloves before landing. I would have avoided the worst of my injuries had I been wearing gloves, but I can't be certain that this will be enough to make me wear gloves every time. I probably should, but this was a fluke event. I guess we'll see what I do the next time we go out. Alfred Poor 1973 Tartan 34C #288 "Jambalaya"

On Jun 13, 2009, at 11:45 AM, Alfred Poor wrote: > > > > Those of you who have heard me expound (perhaps at length) on > docking technique know that I believe in making everything happen as > slowly as possible. That’s a bit difficult sometimes with current or > crosswinds, but in the sheltered marina where we have a slip, it’s > rarely a problem. So last week’s experience was unusual. > > > We had a somewhat similar experience last summer. Mike Jr and I were coming back from the island and he was driving. We turned into the side channel, headed for our slip. I usually put the transmission in neutral to lose speed coming in but we didn't that day. We got into the channel and, when I went to shift to neutral, nothing happened. We were now going down the channel at about 4 knots with a stone sea wall in front of us. By the time we realized what had happened, we were past the slip. Mike managed to spin the boat in the channel which is only about five feet wider than the boat is long. We knocked off the flag staff on the stern. I killed the engine going back to the slip but we still went into the slip too fast and banged the bow on the dock box. I later took the engine box lid off and found that both screws holding the shift cable clamp to the engine block had fallen out. One looked as though it had happened some time before. MOral, check your shift linkage once in a while. And check the shifting mechanism before you get into that last channel. Mike Kennedy Conquest Cal 40 # 96

I once came into Angle Island with a good tail wind. I put it in reverse and gunned it at which point the engine died and I hit the dock taking a fair sized piece out of my bow. The only saving grace was that most of what I took out was bondo as I clearly was not the first person to do this. The rest was wood (Lapworth 36). Since then I have a line attached about mid ship on the rail basically at the very front of my jib track, about 2 feet back from the aft lower. The other end of the line goes to the back of the track, right at the stern. There is a little red line woven into the strands. I jump off the boat with this line in hand and hook it in the dock cleat. I play the line out slowing the boat until I get to the red line then pull hard. That stops the boat just where I want it and starts it pivoting which tends to make the bow come toward me and the stern go out. I can then pull on the other end of the line and control the stern. Basically, I can completely control the boat with this line. This was passed to me so I thought I would pass it to this list. Allen On Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 11:45 AM, Alfred Poor <ap… [at] bellatlantic.net>wrote: > > > Those of you who have heard me expound (perhaps at length) on docking > technique know that I believe in making everything happen as slowly as > possible. That’s a bit difficult sometimes with current or crosswinds, but > in the sheltered marina where we have a slip, it’s rarely a problem. So last > week’s experience was unusual. > > > > (If you want to see the incident scene, here’s a Google Maps link: > http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Chesapeake+City,+MD+21915&sll=37.370157,-95.712891&sspn=38.557561,92.8125&ie=UTF8&ll=39.486874,-75.894316&spn=0.002306,0.005665&t=h&z=18. > The main channel comes up from the south, and our alley is the first turn to > the right, along the long bulkhead. Our slip is at the end of the alley, > along the bulkhead.) > > > > As I idled in forward down the main channel, we were moving a little faster > than I liked, so I put it in neutral and turned sharply into our lane to > kill some speed. We were still moving down the alley a bit fast — our slip > is along the bulkhead at the end of the row — but I attributed that to a > small tailwind. The speed did not decrease, so I popped it into reverse, > still at idle. The speed did not change appreciably, so about two boat > lengths from our slip, I left it in reverse and gunned the engine hard. And > the boat shot FORWARD! > > > > Things did not happen slowly from that point on. I got the throttle to idle > and the gear shift in neutral, and turned us hard to head down the middle of > the slip (which was looking very narrow and short at this point). I figured > that this would give us the longest amount of time for a miracle before we > started to redesign our bow roller with the pier. Fortunately, we have a > large fender mounted permanently about starboard amidships on a bulkhead > piling, and we more or less bounced off that. Our adult son was thinking > about jumping onto the finger pier to port and dashing to the dock to fend > off the bow as best he could. At that moment, the starboard stern line on > the bulkhead started to flash past me in the cockpit. I grabbed it and bent > it back against a stanchion — a turn on a winch or cleat would have been a > better idea had I been thinking faster — and I was able to apply enough > force to stop the boat. We kissed the pier and slightly dislodged one > decking board (which was quickly popped back into place) with no apparent > damage to the bow. Before I shut down the engine, I determined that the > transmission was stuck in forward gear, and would not go into neutral or > reverse. Ah, that explained everything! > > > > The only aftermath that I could find was a good scrape on the topsides a > bit above the waterline amidships, and the absence of skin on one segment of > my left forefinger (along with some sizeable blisters on the other fingers). > Fortunately, the topsides are already due for a new paint job, so that > damage does not alter the appearance significantly, and our son is a > second-year surgery resident, so my finger got immediate and professional > attention during which we got to exercise the contents of our well-stocked > first aid kit. > > > > I phoned my boat partner — he’s responsible for machinery and I’m > responsible for sailing gear — and explained what had happened. He’s > checking out the transmission today, so I hope to get a report on the cause > and whether it’s fixed. (It’s probably something as simple as a slipped > cable.) > > > > Lessons learned? Well, I’m not sure that this will change my docking > behavior appreciably. I will probably confirm that neutral and reverse are > available before I make the turn into the alley, at least for a while, so > that I have time to kill the engine before making the turn if we’re stuck in > forward. That would give us enough time to slow down — wagging the rudder — > and we can always walk the boat to the slip as there is a bulkhead to > starboard the length of the alley. And the other change might be to have > everyone on the crew put on gloves before landing. I would have avoided the > worst of my injuries had I been wearing gloves, but I can’t be certain that > this will be enough to make me wear gloves every time. I probably should, > but this was a fluke event. I guess we’ll see what I do the next time we go > out. > > > > > > > > Alfred Poor > > 1973 Tartan 34C #288 “Jambalaya” > > > > >