Mooring in reverse (boat on one side and pontoon on other)

[garyslaw]

Anybody know of any videos kicking around showing how to moor between a boat and pontoon. I had to try this on my first day of boating and failed.Someone else   ended up doing it for me and i was pretty embarrassed and now to scared to try incase i hit the other boat.

thanks

[WotEver]

It's a bit like the old joke about getting to Carnegie Hall. Practise baby, practice.

[NB Lola]

Few boats react the same way and then there are many more dependencies such as extra bodies on the boat, full water tank, empty water tank etc.  Even practice does not make perfect as the wind plays in this game too.  The only answer I find works is practice, go slow and understand everyone is fallible.

[magictime]

Does it have to be in reverse? That sounds no fun at all! At least if you go in forwards, you can steer the damn thing. And when coming out in reverse, there'd be less scope to go horribly off-course because of the boat and pontoon alongside.

[dor]

I can understand why you want to go in backwards.   You need to watch other people or get them to show you (assuming they can do it successfully!).  The mistake most people make is not turning away from the pontoon soon enough.  Also learn how the rudder affects the prop wash.  Don't push the rudder hard over - you will probably see it splitting the prop wash 55/45 and doing little.  Turn the rudder about 45 -50 degrees, maybe wiggle it a bit until you see the prop wash attach to one side of the rudder and all go one way (somebody or others'  principle).   If you learn this, most boats will almost turn in their own length if not moving forwards.

Of course if it is windy, and marinas always seem to be built in windy places, then it is a whole new ball game!

[Naughty Cal]

There is no easy answer to this.

You just need to get out there and practice.

If you do drift into the other boat don't panic and give it a fist full of throttle as this will only make things worse. Make sure you have plenty of fenders down.

[NickF]

Go slow, have someone on the front with a pole and someone to fend off in case you get too close to your neighbour. If everything is done slow then even if you do touch something it will be gentle.

[Boat&Bikes]

As others have said take it slowly. Also, and this is the best advice I was ever given for boating...if it's going wrong, pop into neutral and gather your thoughts for a second! 

[b0atman]

back end between start of pontoon and next boat then in reverse on tick over step off with stern rope and walk boat in step back on when over halfway in put in neutral then off again to control with ropes.

Edited February 28, 2017 by b0atman

[IDS]

If it is windy then go in forwards. Then when it is calm take it out and turn it round, and get your practice initially in good conditions. Even in light winds I roll up the cratch cover to take off some of the effect of the wind on the bow.

[Jess--]

If I can avoid it I don't reverse onto our mooring (which sounds similar to yours) because by getting the boat into position to reverse I will have set up all sorts of underwater currents and swirls which will push the boat around.

far better to save the reversing until I am coming off the mooring and reversing into calm water at which point I can reverse out the 2 boat lengths without any problems (usually a perfectly straight line with the boat staying 2 inches off the pontoon all the way)

[Ray T]

Any help?

 

[Iain_S]

9 hours ago, ianali said:

As others have said take it slowly. Also, and this is the best advice I was ever given for boating...if it's going wrong, pop into neutral and gather your thoughts for a second! 

... and try to look like it was what you meant to do all along . 

[Rob-M]

I bring the stern in close to the pontoon so I can step off with the centre line, that way I can hold the boat close to the pontoon whilst it slowly moves backwards. Once it is most of the way in to the mooring I step back on and knock it out of gear. If there is a couple of empty pontoons by you then have a practice without a boat being there for you to worry about hitting.

 

[garyslaw]

thanks for the tips and info. i know what you are all saying about practise, i am a bit nervous about the whole mooring thing anyway as i am pretty crap at it on the best of days. on that first day out was especially difficult as my boat s 60ft and because of the direction i was heading and where the pontoons were positioned i had no choice to go in forwards, there was a bunch of people around too and they were saying to go past and reverse in. all i could see was me hitting the boat. eventually i gave up and someone took control.  i took a lesson on mooring once but most of the time was spent cruising which was a shame as i went out once since then and failed again. i guess i just need to get some friend involved as i am a single handed boater and have no centre line.

anyway, i will get practicing this summer i hope

thanks again

[Peter-Bullfinch]

Our marina can be a really windy spot. When someone tries to get in anyone around on the jetty usually wanders up the pontoon to give a hand.

Someone at the front of your boat with a suitable pole will help. Your neighbour might pop to the front of his boat to help fend off.

I use both a centre and stern line  and reverse very slowly as described earlier and I also step off onto the pontoon pulling on both lines and pop back on right at the end.

Spend a little more time to very gently line up your boat. Going really quite slowly works for me.  I happily accept help from other nearby experienced moored.

Don't worry about this. You  will get the hang of it as you become more confident in handling your own boat. I worried unessecerily about mooring on our pontoon at first and touching the really shiny   boat my neighbour has. He in turn apparently also worried needlessly about touching our old boat.

[Rob-M]

8 minutes ago, garyslaw said:

thanks for the tips and info. i know what you are all saying about practise, i am a bit nervous about the whole mooring thing anyway as i am pretty crap at it on the best of days. on that first day out was especially difficult as my boat s 60ft and because of the direction i was heading and where the pontoons were positioned i had no choice to go in forwards, there was a bunch of people around too and they were saying to go past and reverse in. all i could see was me hitting the boat. eventually i gave up and someone took control.  i took a lesson on mooring once but most of the time was spent cruising which was a shame as i went out once since then and failed again. i guess i just need to get some friend involved as i am a single handed boater and have no centre line.

anyway, i will get practicing this summer i hope

thanks again

If you are single handed I would suggest adding a centre line if at all possible as it will make mooring up much easier.

[ditchcrawler]

24 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

If you are single handed I would suggest adding a centre line if at all possible as it will make mooring up much easier.

I would suggest if you are having a ring fixed for the rope then have two, one on each side of the boat, so you can run a rope back along each side.

[mrsmelly]

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I would suggest if you are having a ring fixed for the rope then have two, one on each side of the boat, so you can run a rope back along each side.

Wise words. It is strange how such obvious things as this are not always obvious. My first few boats all had just the one rope and oft I had left it dressed to the opposite side to which I needed it in a relative hurry. This boat and my last had/have two ropes such a minor thing but even superstar boathandlers like myself oft dont see the obvious under our nose. If you feel you need more tuition there will be someone of a friendly nature nearby to assist or failing that a few quid to a " teacher " would not go amiss.

[system 4-50]

Boat without a centre line? No way. The most essential tool on the boat.

[Naughty Cal]

11 hours ago, system 4-50 said:

Boat without a centre line? No way. The most essential tool on the boat.

Our boat doesn't have a centreline and neither does it need one.

[howardang]

33 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Our boat doesn't have a centreline and neither does it need one.

To be fair, however, I think the majority of comments made on this forum are more directed towards narrow boats, not boats like yours.

 

Howard

[Naughty Cal]

8 minutes ago, howardang said:

To be fair, however, I think the majority of comments made on this forum are more directed towards narrow boats, not boats like yours.

 

Howard

So saying it is the most essential tool on a boat isn't really right?

It isn't the most essential tool on every boat at all.

[howardang]

4 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

So saying it is the most essential tool on a boat isn't really right?

It isn't the most essential tool on every boat at all.

Agreed, but that is some peoples point of view, which I respect.

[rusty69]

11 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

So saying it is the most essential tool on a boat isn't really right?

It isn't the most essential tool on every boat at all.

The comment was "The most essential tool on the boat" I read this as the posters boat, not every boat. 

Everyone will have their own essential tool, mine is the cork screw

Edited March 1, 2017 by rusty69