Solo Docking

[TheLandlady]

I’m on a slip that looks like this:




The picture isn’t great but best I could do on my phone.
Basically there’s a small finger pier, about the length of my cockpit, on the port side when I pull in stern-to. There are 5 pilings, one aft
(and a little more starboard of centerline than the picture indicates), the two others are about midship, and the top of the pic shows the fairway at the bow. The centerline aft pile has my water hose on it, the port midship has electrical, which is great because it’s right where my shore power plug sits on the port topside.

The fairway piles have my current dock lines (red) lassoed around them thru the spliced loop, and the piles have two sets of hooks on them. The lower smaller hook is to keep the loop from slipping below high tide water mark. There are other bigger hooks at the top of the poles to hold the boat ends of the lines dry when I cast it off and leave the slip.

Each of the bow lines are tied to their respective cleat on the bow, not crossed. Each of the stern lines are looped thru the cleats on my boat, and crossed over the raised motor between the raised rudders, and lead to the cleats on the dock. The starboard dock cleat has my neighbors dock line spliced loop run through it, and I tie off a cleat hitch on top of his loop, which I cast off when I leave.

This system seems to work pretty well when I have a deckhand, but I’m not confident enough to try to single hand exit or return. I know I could practice with my wife on board for backup.

But, I have seen a few slips near me that run a single 3/8” line from the fairway pile back down to the dock cleat, which I imagine is a type of cheater like you can grab with the hook and pull the boat in hand over hand from the cockpit. I don’t have any spring lines rigged at the moment but I do have two extra dock lines in a bucket that could do so. And I also have nothing tied to the midship cleats which I believe are the biggest and strongest on the boat.

This pic shows in blue that cheater line idea and yellow possibly where I should have spring lines??

Any tips on how to improve my setup or on how to make it easier single handing a slip like this?

The scale of the pic is off but I’ll include a picture from port and starboard angles so you have a better idea. I can pretty easily jump from the cockpit gunwale to the finger pier and tap all the piles from the deck with an extended boat hook.

[NiceAft]

Wow! That is a difficult system to single hand a docking.

I like the idea of the blue “cheater line" to make docking easier, but Mac’s have a very high freeboard, so while docking, they blow sideways on windy days. The cheater liner can help. So will good size fenders. Maybe placed horizontal on you starboard side.

I have found docking to be easier if it is done stern first. When doing so, stand in front of the pedestal, facing aft, rather than remaining at the captains seat.

[Jimmyt]

My buddy with the Island Packet 31 uses a cheater line on both sides in his slip. Also, fore and aft spring lines are used to keep his boat positioned in the slip, while allowing for tidal variations.

[Wyb2]

My first instinct looking at that would be, when coming in, to simply dock against the finger pier with 2 lines and 3 fenders, and sort everything else out after. But it looks like there are no cleats on the finger pier, and I’d hate to step off the boat with 2 lines and have to get one around the piling in a hurry without getting tangled up.

So my second instinct would be to add the blue line as you’ve drawn it, and rig it at a height that the boat can’t get under it. Then when you come in, all you have to do is get a midship line around the center starboard piling. The boat will try to pivot around that center piling, but it will be caught by the blue line.

[Russ]

The "cheater" lines are common. I've seen them often and it creates a "guardrail" of sorts to keep both YOUR boat and your neighbor's boat in their lane.
If they are higher up, they provide a grab for pulling the boat in.

Backing in:
Your slip looks almost identical to the slip I had with our 34' Hunter in New Jersey. These marinas cheap out and make 1/2 length finger piers which are fine if you BACK IN.
I chose to NOT back in. It's just not worth the extra trouble. YES, that means climbing up on the foredeck to board the boat. I did that for years and although a bit of a nuisance, it's MUCH easier than trying to back the boat in. Also, my slip was so narrow I wouldn't want to try backing in.

I see your neighbor's sailboat is not backed in.

I'm also a bit more private and I HATE having my boat's cockpit and companionway facing the main dock where people walk down. Power boaters don't seem to mind. In fact they seem to like using their cockpits as party platforms to invite people over.

Spring lines are a good idea. Keeps the boat from traveling deeper into the slip and hitting the main dock. Your boat has mid cleats, so the previous owner must have installed them. Spring lines are a good idea. Keeps the boat from traveling deeper into the slip and hitting the main dock. Your boat has mid cleats, so the previous owner must have installed them.

My boat didn't have mid cleats and I used 2 sets of spring lines from the center pilings forward and aft. (Purple lines below)




Crosing the aft dock lines is a good idea. I can't do that as I don't have anything on the port side to tie to. I wish I did because my aft dock line is VERY short. The longer the line (crossing them) allows more stretch and spring.

What kind of tides do you experience? That has to factor in when tying to pilings and not floating docks.

Keep all your docklines ON THE DOCK or Pilings. Keep the loop for your cleats. Sounds like your pilings already have hooks to store the dock lines when you are out.

Then I would add some dock bumpers to the dock and pilings. That way if you hit, not harm.

[TheLandlady]

Thanks Russ. Didn’t even think about using the middle piles for springers, good stuff. I’ll check it out tomorrow. Not sure how the marina would react to adding bumpers nailed in to the wood but lots of slips have fenders horizontally hung.

One problem I have is I think my current dock lines are too big, I can’t remember the size off top of my head but they are way heavier than the halyards and it takes a little elbow grease to squeeze them under the cleats. When I got them I remember upsizing thinking overkill is good, but I’m realizing it would be near impossible to tie two separate lines to the same cleat. The only reason my neighbor and I are able to share one is that he had his spliced eye looped and I am hitching on top.

Well now I have an itch to buy a big spool of double braid and a set of fids to learn how to splice my own eyes into the lengths I need…

[TheLandlady]

The boat will try to pivot around that center piling, but it will be caught by the blue line.

That could be counteracted with some left rudder and reverse thrust I think?

The blue line I was thinking more of a “catch it with a hook and hand walk it back” technique, or maybe even putting a prussik somewhere near the midship cleat that I could loop on real quick, with the boat hook.

[Russ]

Well now I have an itch to buy a big spool of double braid and a set of fids to learn how to splice my own eyes into the lengths I need…

Yea, mine are probably too thick also. They need some stretch.

My dad taught me to splice loops. I don't remember how to do it and just buy premade dock lines from Amazon.

[Russ]

Well now I have an itch to buy a big spool of double braid and a set of fids to learn how to splice my own eyes into the lengths I need…

I'm sure you know, but dock lines should be nylon so they stretch and act like shock absorbers.

BTW, I never actually learned how to splice braid. I learned how to splice 3 stranded. The braided just look nice, feel nicer to handle and come in black that looks cool.

[Wyb2]

The boat will try to pivot around that center piling, but it will be caught by the blue line.

That could be counteracted with some left rudder and reverse thrust I think?

The blue line I was thinking more of a “catch it with a hook and hand walk it back” technique, or maybe even putting a prussik somewhere near the midship cleat that I could loop on real quick, with the boat hook.

Sure, once you have a midship line on the piling, you can use the motor to pivot the boat. I haven’t done a ton of singlehanded docking, but the times I have there’s a point when I leave the helm to catch the dock and work the lines, and I wouldn’t want to have to run back to the helm. I’m on a Mac25 with a little tiller-controlled outboard, maybe on an X or M with the controls inside the cockpit it’s more practical.

[dlandersson]

Is there an advantage to having the two dock line cross each other? Around here were just use the nearest one.

I’m on a slip that looks like this:

[Russ]

Is there an advantage to having the two dock line cross each other? Around here were just use the nearest one.

I’m on a slip that looks like this:

Yes, crossing makes the LONGER and therefore more stretch/shock absorbing.

Unfortunately, my boat is on the end of a dock and I have to use short lines to the dock cleats.