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solo parallel parking


ronnietucker

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I have a docking space which is between two VERY expensive boats and I'm a bit scared that once I'm out of the space, I won't be able to get back into it.

I got into it with the help of some people pulling me in.

I know I can get out by pushing out the bow then hopping into the driver's seat and moving off.

But how do I parallel park the thing solo (22ft GRP cruiser with an outboard)?

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I only know narrowboats (71 foot) but as long as its deep enough its rather like parking a car ... go in backwards, but don't get the front too close to the boat in front, use alternate forward and reverse to bring the back end into the correct position (and no longer moving), then step off with a centre line and pull the front in. With a boat you always have better control of the back (unless you have a bow thruster which I really hope you dont).

...............Dave

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19 minutes ago, dmr said:

I only know narrowboats (71 foot) but as long as its deep enough its rather like parking a car ... go in backwards, but don't get the front too close to the boat in front, use alternate forward and reverse to bring the back end into the correct position (and no longer moving), then step off with a centre line and pull the front in. With a boat you always have better control of the back (unless you have a bow thruster which I really hope you dont).

...............Dave

Thanks for the info. I'll give that a try soon.

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When I did my ships lifeboat training in 1977 I have never forgotten the instructor showing us how to aim for the middle if the space at about 45 degrees and, when the bow was quite close to the quay, give a blast of power away from the bank, i.e. if mooring starboard side to, a blast to port, and vice versa. This would swing the boat about its axis, and she should slide into the space nicely. It obviously needs a bit of fine tuning once the blast has been applied - a touch of forward or reverse, and tiller as appropriate, can make it so the bow is swinging slowly away from the bank, and the stern swings towards the bank, so you can step off with the centre line.

Do it slowly in calm weather in an area with no boats either side, and you will first of all get the principle the, gradually, you will make it work.

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On 8/13/2017 at 11:11, Richard10002 said:

When I did my ships lifeboat training in 1977 I have never forgotten the instructor showing us how to aim for the middle if the space at about 45 degrees and, when the bow was quite close to the quay, give a blast of power away from the bank, i.e. if mooring starboard side to, a blast to port, and vice versa. This would swing the boat about its axis, and she should slide into the space nicely. It obviously needs a bit of fine tuning once the blast has been applied - a touch of forward or reverse, and tiller as appropriate, can make it so the bow is swinging slowly away from the bank, and the stern swings towards the bank, so you can step off with the centre line.

Do it slowly in calm weather in an area with no boats either side, and you will first of all get the principle the, gradually, you will make it work.

Similar sort of technique was displayed recently by the guy that I sail with that he carried out with his 35 foot sailing yacht so I think it is probably relevant to the OP's 22ft GRP cruiser (probably wouldn't work with my 60 steel narrowboat :unsure:).

To picture the scene, we arrived at a coastal marina in France where everyone was double breasted when we arrived except for one mooring about 40 feet long where we could get alongside the pontoon if we could get in, and the harbourmaster in his boat directed us to it. The boats moored either side of this mooring didn't look keen but my sailing mate seemed confident to do it so he turned into the current, did pretty much what you described but there was the additional help of prop walk when he put the boat into hard astern to turn and stop. The boat literally went sideways into the mooring we jumped off and tied it off and it looked so professional that it merited a round of applause from the boats in front of him and behind him. In fairness the guy has been sailing for a while and knows his boat well, but it was quite satisfying how many people came past during the evening asking, "How on earth did you get your boat in there?"

Edited by Wanderer Vagabond
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On 13 August 2017 at 11:11, Richard10002 said:

When I did my ships lifeboat training in 1977 I have never forgotten the instructor showing us how to aim for the middle if the space at about 45 degrees and, when the bow was quite close to the quay, give a blast of power away from the bank, i.e. if mooring starboard side to, a blast to port, and vice versa. This would swing the boat about its axis, and she should slide into the space nicely. It obviously needs a bit of fine tuning once the blast has been applied - a touch of forward or reverse, and tiller as appropriate, can make it so the bow is swinging slowly away from the bank, and the stern swings towards the bank, so you can step off with the centre line.

Do it slowly in calm weather in an area with no boats either side, and you will first of all get the principle the, gradually, you will make it work.

The OP has a 22 ft boat so rather than a centre rope, step ashore with bow and stern ropes. 

Like many things to do with boating, practise, practise, practise such manoevres where you can do no damage.

Howard

 

 

 

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On 8/13/2017 at 10:39, ronnietucker said:

I have a docking space which is between two VERY expensive boats and I'm a bit scared that once I'm out of the space, I won't be able to get back into it.

I got into it with the help of some people pulling me in.

I know I can get out by pushing out the bow then hopping into the driver's seat and moving off.

But how do I parallel park the thing solo (22ft GRP cruiser with an outboard)?

Many say "Boating is a contact sport!" but there will be just as many who will say "No it is not!" Personally I'd go with the former especially if you're caught out by gusts for example, though it's no excuse to be careless of course...

It probably goes without saying that it's advisable to be fendered up! If you're still uncomfortable with the surroundings of your mooring or feel out of place, you could always ask to move. 

 

 

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You don't need to 'parallel park'. Just get reverse stern in and step of with bow and stern lines in your hand.  Then from the bank, set about hauling the bow in too.

It's a 22ft grp! You're hardly going to cause any damage even if you DO bump another boat!

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15 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

You don't need to 'parallel park'. Just get reverse stern in and step of with bow and stern lines in your hand.  Then from the bank, set about hauling the bow in too.

It's a 22ft grp! You're hardly going to cause any damage even if you DO bump another boat!

I guess that makes sense but equally where's the fun in that? For me, half the fun is about maneuvering a boat into position while taking into account the surroundings and weather conditions at the time but I suppose your suggestion is more practical for a 22ft boat.

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It's much easier to manoeuvre a boat against wind or current.  If manoeuvring against a current you can move the boat sideways by matching the speed of the current, remembering that the current may be less as you get alongside.  Wind, being more variable, is a little trickier!

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My preferred (single hander) technique is to approach very slowly and just get the nose in, about three quarters the way along the space I guess. Grab rope (centre line in my case but bow and stern for the smaller boat) and hop off from the bow and just pull it in.

Richards method sounds better though - so I might go and practice that!

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22 hours ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Similar sort of technique was displayed recently by the guy that I sail with that he carried out with his 35 foot sailing yacht so I think it is probably relevant to the OP's 22ft GRP cruiser (probably wouldn't work with my 60 steel narrowboat :unsure:).

To picture the scene, we arrived at a coastal marina in France where everyone was double breasted when we arrived except for one mooring about 40 feet long where we could get alongside the pontoon if we could get in, and the harbourmaster in his boat directed us to it. The boats moored either side of this mooring didn't look keen but my sailing mate seemed confident to do it so he turned into the current, did pretty much what you described but there was the additional help of prop walk when he put the boat into hard astern to turn and stop. The boat literally went sideways into the mooring we jumped off and tied it off and it looked so professional that it merited a round of applause from the boats in front of him and behind him. In fairness the guy has been sailing for a while and knows his boat well, but it was quite satisfying how many people came past during the evening asking, "How on earth did you get your boat in there?"

the miserable sods who didn't look keen didn't offer to take his bow and stern lines then, just watch with disdain.

 

...............  oh, they were French, that would explain it.

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41 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

the miserable sods who didn't look keen didn't offer to take his bow and stern lines then, just watch with disdain.

 

...............  oh, they were French, that would explain it.

Not sure whether you read the description properly, the boats who didn't look keen were already moored two abreast from the pontoon, even had they taken his bow and stern line they would then have had to pass them to someone on the boat alongside them to then pull his boat sideways into the pontoon. Basically with a current flowing he managed to put his boat sideways into a double banked mooring up against the pontoon. They did show appreciation of his ability when the manoeuvre was completed, (the French are quite impressed by skilled boat handling). Like I said neither I, nor anyone else would be able to do it with a 60 foot narrowboat, I don't care how good they are.

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With an outboard it should be no problem as you can steer in reverse. Your only problem would be if it is windy as that will catch you more than a narrow boat so take that into account. If you reverse into the wind and steer the stern in to the gap  the wind should bring the bow round for you. 

As others have said practice. Put a few fenders out and don't worry if you bump!

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7 hours ago, NickF said:

With an outboard it should be no problem as you can steer in reverse. Your only problem would be if it is windy as that will catch you more than a narrow boat so take that into account. If you reverse into the wind and steer the stern in to the gap  the wind should bring the bow round for you. 

As others have said practice. Put a few fenders out and don't worry if you bump!

Sorry I missed the point above, I thought you meant mooring stern on which on rereadding I realise you didn't ... ignore all I said!

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22 hours ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Not sure whether you read the description properly, the boats who didn't look keen were already moored two abreast from the pontoon, even had they taken his bow and stern line they would then have had to pass them to someone on the boat alongside them to then pull his boat sideways into the pontoon. Basically with a current flowing he managed to put his boat sideways into a double banked mooring up against the pontoon. They did show appreciation of his ability when the manoeuvre was completed, (the French are quite impressed by skilled boat handling). Like I said neither I, nor anyone else would be able to do it with a 60 foot narrowboat, I don't care how good they are.

yeah, I read and understood the OP perfectly.  

If they had been gentlemen they would have offered to take the lines while standing on the outer pair of boats and then crossed over to the inside boats or passed the lines across to someone on the other boats, and then onto the pontoon.  It appears from your description that all they did was stand around looking none to keen, presumably waiting for a collision so they could make a proper French arm-waving fuss.

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1 hour ago, Murflynn said:

yeah, I read and understood the OP perfectly.  

If they had been gentlemen they would have offered to take the lines while standing on the outer pair of boats and then crossed over to the inside boats or passed the lines across to someone on the other boats, and then onto the pontoon.  It appears from your description that all they did was stand around looking none to keen, presumably waiting for a collision so they could make a proper French arm-waving fuss.

Is that similar to a proper English arm waving fuss should my narrow-boat unfortunately make any form of contact with a shiny plastic boat in a lock? Your xenophobia against the French suggests that you don't actually know any, merely that you read too much Daily Wail.

If I see someone who proposes to carry out a manouvre that looks like it may not be successful am I going to step in and assist so that I can carry some of the blame when it does go wrong? I'd advise against it but after such advice, then the choice is theirs, I'm not getting involved in a potentially risky manoeuvre, and if your choice is to do so then more fool you. This manoevre was in a fairly strong current (you don't get many of them on canals you know!) and if unsuccessful could have resulted in damaged rudders, pulpits, etc.  As it happened, it didn't, due to the skill of the boatman.

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10 hours ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Is that similar to a proper English arm waving fuss should my narrow-boat unfortunately make any form of contact with a shiny plastic boat in a lock?

Your xenophobia against the French

wrong

suggests that you don't actually know any,

wrong

merely that you read too much Daily Wail.

wrong

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I would suggest it's the opposite way to parking a car. Reversing a car into a space parallel to the kerb takes advantage of the extra manoeuvrability a front wheel steered vehicle; a car has. As a boat is steered by the rudder at the back, I would go in forwards.

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4 hours ago, Chris Br said:

I would suggest it's the opposite way to parking a car. Reversing a car into a space parallel to the kerb takes advantage of the extra manoeuvrability a front wheel steered vehicle; a car has. As a boat is steered by the rudder at the back, I would go in forwards.

I'm not really sure that the comparison works. A stationary boat, unlike a car, will rotate around an axis in the centre of the boat. If you are trying to moor in a short space on your port side for instance (left hand side if you wish) I would bring the boat to a standstill alongside the space and then give the boat a burst to starboard turn which will push the stern (where I am standing) in towards the bank, and consequently the bow away from the boat in front. A short burst of reverse will then bring it in close enough for me to step off carrying the centre line to pull the boat into the space. If you go into the space forwards and it is very tight you will have to stop the boat before you are fully into the available space (or hit the boat in front, but it is a contact sport someone once said:rolleyes:). Where that leaves you however is with the stern, where you are standing, away from the canal-bank so you have to walk along the gunwale to be able to step across to the bank (being particularly careful not to fall between the boat and the bank). Reverse every time for me.

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why not motor in, perpendicular to the bank, step off the bow with boat hook, bow and stern lines in your hand and guide the stern in gently, adjusting the position of the bow as you go.

if you can't get to the bow, then do it in reverse and step off the stern.

it's only a 22ft boat so won't be difficult to keep control even in a bit of wind.

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