In Part 1, I covered seven tips to get set up for coming alongside single-handed. Now let’s look at seven more to help with the tricky part: actually getting alongside alone, starting off with the most important task of all:
14 Tips To Come Alongside Single-Handed—Part 2
38 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutes
More Articles From Online Book: Coming Alongside (Docking) Made Easy:
- Introduction to Coming Alongside (Docking) Online Book
- 10 Tips to Make Coming Alongside (Docking) Easy
- Coming Alongside (Docking) in 4 Easy Steps
- Rigging The Spring That Makes Docking Easy, Or an Alternative
- 10 Ways to Make Your Boat Easier to Bring Alongside a Dock
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—Manoeuvring in Close Quarters
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—The Final Approach
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—Taming the Wind
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—Backing In, Part 1
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—Backing In, Part 2
- Q&A, Coming Alongside (Docking) With Twin Rudders
- Q&A Backing Out of a Bow-In Med Moor
- 14 Tips for Coming Alongside Single-handed—Part 1
- 14 Tips To Come Alongside Single-Handed—Part 2
- Leaving a Dock Against an Onshore Wind—Part 1
- Leaving a Dock Against an Onshore Wind—Part 2
- Going Alongside (Docking) in Current—Fundamentals
- Going Alongside (Docking) in Current—Turning in Confined Spaces
- Going Alongside (Docking) in Current—Backing In
- Going Alongside (Docking)—12 More Tips and Tricks
“Coming Alongside” a.k.a. “Johns Dating Tips for Singlehanders” – gave me some broad smiles, besides the invaluable thoughts and information. When I eventually get my little boat ready for sailing this chapter will certainly influence my end-of-day decisions heavily. Thanks!
Hi Ernest,
Glad it gave you a smile. I had sure had fun writing it. The more I do this the more I realize that taking ourselves too seriously (me particularly) is not a good idea.
Your title is way better than mine!
I also found it very humorous (and enlightening). My wife ( who has zero interest in sailing) not so much. Maybe I’ll get her to read this with a view to spening more time with her hubby on said boat!
Hi Colin,
Not sure I would do that given that it might be construed as a veiled threat! 🙂
Most of the docking tips rely on the dock having cleats or bollards as are typically present on floating docks. Any tips for coming into a fixed dock with tall pilings where the lines need to be wrapped around the piling several times to be secured (i.e. pilings are too tall to easily slip a loop over the top of the piling)?
In particular, I find that the spring usually can’t be secured quickly enough or securely enough to use the motor in gear to control the boat at the dock.
Hi Mark,
Yes, that one is tough, particularly if it’s a berth between pilings and added to that often we need to back in. Definitely one of my most hated set ups and one that I have screwed up spectacularly on at least two occasions! And I have never tried all of those circumstances together single handed.
That said, I think the best bet is #10, (anchor off and go in in the tender to pre-rig the berth). It will be a good idea to tie the lines to the pilings with a rolling hitch, rather than a bowline, so they can’t slip down. We will also need to figure a way to make it easy to grab the pre-rigged line with a boat hook. Hum, maybe put the coil together with a bit of masking tape that will break when tugged.
Anyone else have any good ideas for this one?
Hi Mark, rig magic spring on the dock. Find a young person fishing on the wharf. Offer them $5 (with promise of $5 more on completion) to bring in their fishing line and reserve your place with precise instruction to shout out to any boat arriving to take your spot that “there’s a mad single-hander coming shortly, with very little steering and NO brakes”. Then as you arrive quietly, youngster throws you the spring line. Secure other lines with your keen as helper. Hand over second $5 (plus a performance bonus). Put the kettle on. Probably cheaper than a marina.
BR. Rob
One of the hardest lessons of a self-sufficient (and cheap) sailor is to think of money as just another tool fit for purpose…and when to apply that tool. This is one of those times.
Agreed Marc, in business we say that if you have a problem that can be solved with money, you don’t have a problem – you have a cost. Then the issue becomes can you easily justify it?
Hi Rob,
That’s a great was to look at both business and boats.
Being an avid single hander, always have been, I find you have to have a ton of faith. Faith in yourself, and equipment. I have many unconventional and backassward ways of doing things. My homeport is on a river with a strong current and can have strong winds too. Real strong. You fall off, you aint swimming back to your boat. I have learned to use currents to help coming alongside. Takes faith. On the river there are all kinds of places to tie up. Parks, towns, abandoned docks, piles. Same in the bays on the upper west coast. (Gotta have faith going over those bars too) So, don’t roll your eyes, I keep my lines tied with the eye on the boat, loose on the end, never knowing if I’m going to stop, or not, or where, or what to, or how short a space. Heading into the current or wind, the easiest, I use it, not reverse, to slow the boat. Sometimes while still in gear, keeping zero forward speed, crab the boat over using the strong current. Other times, if space, slow down with the current while keeping alongside just off from the fenders touching until stopped. When I’m alongside I grab the spring, which is run back, put it in neutral, turn the bow in ever so slightly so the current pushes the bow in, step off and tie the Springer. Then the bow. When it works real well, and I’m fully stopped, before the current acts, I quickly and loosely tie the stern and then the bow. Then the spring. It’s practiced timing. Power boaters are impressed. I tell people when they want to help that I need the practice. And I do. So they stand and watch adding to the nerves.
With no wind into my slip, which is just a boat length, I turn so I’m approaching at a slight angle, bow in, neutral, slowly, steerage gone, step off and tie the spring and the bow swings in. Coming alongside with strong current or wind from the stern is trickiest. I have to be faster and have faith the spring doesn’t break or come undone as it’s the only thing holding the boat, and once I step off, it’s the only thing to keep me from looking an idiot. But when it works I’m the hero. In heavy times I tie a hook on the end. It’s shaped like a question mark, made of quarter inch steel with the eye for the line. In anger I drop it backwards over a cleat, so the line goes around the cleat and forward so the springer grabs, cocks the hook, and the bow comes in, then run to the bow and tie it. Around a bollard, or pile, and hook back to itself, lots of other ways. If I don’t need to use it, I don’t. But I don’t use it much. It has saved my bacon with a 20+ knot tail wind coming in between two long narrow slips with boats on one side, tying up to the starboard side. Realized too late wind was stronger than I thought, couldn’t slow down enough, couldn’t turn around, committed. Reverse kicked stern out and the wind would catch it. No one around to help, or watch, and the end coming up real fast. So, nudged reverse to slow and just as stern kicked, put it in neutral, and while still moving forward, stepped off and dropped that hook around the cleat, the spring pulled scary tight, and the bow slammed into its fender hard. But hey, it worked. Faith. The things I have learned here about using the motor to come alongside have helped a ton. I now pull in places and in conditions I would never have done before. I can crab in, facing the strong current, and/or wind, or from the beam, in a length an a half. And get back out. By myself. It feels so good. Think, learn, do what works, don’t be afraid to be unconventional, and have faith.
Hi Ralf,
Well you really embraced tip #12! Interesting about the hook. I speculated about using grapnel in the comments to part 1, so good to hear that the idea can work.
Out of curiosity, what size is your boat?
It’s a calculated risk, right?
34 and a 29. Solo both. 34 is going to a buddy so now I just use the 29. Easier to maneuver and handle but wind and current move it quicker docking, and it’s not nearly so comfortable at sea. Not the same as bringing in a big boat I know but by yourself it can still be a handful. 30 years ago, I would have singled a bigger boat but 30 years ago I wouldn’t have had the experience to do it. Looking for a 32 a bit heavier with a skeg.
Hi Ralph,
As you say a calculated risk. That said I did want others to realize what I had guessed: that you were writing about quite a small boat. The point being that the consequences of a screw up or being too aggressive go up exponentially as boats get bigger. I know you are aware of that, but it’s important for others, particularly those just getting started, to realize it too.
One other thought: if you are looking for a new boat I would not restrict yourself to one with a skeg:
https://www.morganscloud.com/2019/10/20/buying-a-boat-never-say-never/
https://www.morganscloud.com/2020/03/08/planning-and-budgeting-a-refit-rudders-part-1-the-problem-defined/
https://www.morganscloud.com/2020/05/10/outbound-46-review-part-2-keel-rudder-bow-thruster-and-construction/
Yes, I should have put the size in there. My apologies.
Thanks for the link. I’ll take another look.
My current technique is similar to yours but not quite the same. I come in to my port tie in with my aft spring attached to the magic spot. As I pass the end of my finger I put her in reverse, stop and drop the bite over the finger end cleat and bring it back to the port sheet winch. I can then bring it in tight and ease it out to the correct length (marked on the spring with tape) while in forward idle. I leave her in gear while I tie the other lines, if I don’t leave her in gear there is a risk that the bow will blow off into my neighbor. It usually works well.
The problem comes with a strong (much over 10k) wind blowing me off the dock. If I fumble the line and miss the cleat (it happens) don’t have time to redo it before the bow blows off and, unless I am very quick to get into reverse, I will hit my neighbors immaculately prepared boat. In practice if I think there is going to be a strong wind blowing me off I prefer not to go out which is not ideal.
Same problem. Skinny slip and crappy boat next to me. Of course if I hit it, it’s a gem. If the wind is blowing good off the slip I come in under just enough power to keep steerage. I turn the bow towards the slip just as it passes the end if the slip. I put it in neutral at that time, walk foward to the cabin with the spring and stern line in hand, step off, toss the stern line and tie the spring to the end cleat of the slip. As soon as it’s tied I begin walking forward, boat still moving forward, faith that the spring is tied. The bow swings in hard, but not hard enough to break anything, I have a big fender at the right place on the boat and the slip. The boat springs back as it draws up on the spring line, and I jump forward for the bow line, which is blowing out, but springing towards me. Quickly get a couple of turns, but not perfect, just to hold. Then back for the stern, which is now swinging out. A couple quick turns on the end slip cleat, over the top of the spring line on the cleat, it stops, and I have time now. Only two cleats on the slip so have to double up. It’s a dance, but it takes seconds. In the slip if I miss, it runs into a big fender tied onto the slip, and bounces back, again I have time. If it’s real windy I’ll let the boat spring back more, even pull a little, so the spring is shorter before tying off. This keeps the bow from blowing out too much. Tricky part is with current from bow, like out in the river, wind off the dock, slip, etc. Now if the bow blows off a bit the current catches it and it goes bad quick. I never step off (ok, once) if the boat is going too fast for a pivot and a quick step forward. And I never jump. Bad knees anyway. Sometimes if timed right, I step off at a cleat, or whatever I’m tying to so the spring g stays short and then I have plenty of time for the rest. Sorry for long replies.
Hi David,
Since it’s your berth, why not have at least the aft running spring pre set up on the wharf so you can pick it up with a boat hook? I guess maybe you have closed fair leads at the “magic point” and so figure, probably rightly, that passing it through and getting back to the winch is going to take longer than dropping it over the cleat?
That might work, I will try it. Thanks
Hi John,
These are all good tips and I think it is good that you pointed out that it is riskier no matter how you do it. A few additional random thoughts:
The reverse of your magic spring works well too going from a point ~1/3 aft from the bow and leading to a point on the dock approximately equal with the bow that can be backed against. For a singlehander, this means that if the situation dictates docking upwind or upcurrent, if you just get the boat stopped, stepping off with this spring and making it off will mean that the boat gets pinned against the dock by the wind or current (but make sure neither are pushing you off the dock).
I think knowing how to spring off the dock solo actually gives you a lot more options when docking as people are often afraid of going on a dock they are being blown onto for fear they won’t be able to leave. If the boat has enough shape aft, is aft cockpit and conditions are moderate, it is often easiest to spring the bow out first as you can trip a doubled line from the helm. With crew I rarely go this way and usually spring the stern out first but I find it tricky to handle the line without a fouling risk when solo.
Eric
Hi Eric,
Good point on the forward running magic spring. I have not brought it up because the aft running one works so well and is generally easier to run to a winch and also closer to the helm, but for single handing, particularly, everything needs to be on the table.
Also a good point on springing off, I need to do a piece on that.
Dear John,
A situation you have not covered : Tying up to a commercial dock when the top of the dock is a long way above your boat’s deck. A similar situation occurs when coming into a lock with the water out.
This is my solution :
Evidently wind and current can make this harder. I would always opt to head into both wind and current if this is an option. Or to head into the stronger of the two. Based on its effect on the boat. Not its velocity. One good thing though is that you will never be blown off. You are after all, in the lee of twenty feet of solid dock or lock.
Evidently this works just as well with a crew to tie up the ladder. Just make sure your crew knows that his/her only job is to secure the boat to the ladder. They are to ignore “helpful” strangers until this done.
Best regards,
Grenville
Hi Grenville,
You are right, I have not yet tackled that one. That said I do have plans to do so and even have the pictures taken.
Your systems sounds good, but one thing that would worry me would be if there was any possibility of waves, or even just quite a small wake since if the boat rolls when tied that tight the loads on the ladder line will be colossal.
Already tested that one! We were delivering a 55′ sport fisherman down the Mexican coast.. Pick up crew was a newly minted 100 ton licensce holder who had earned his ticket as a bait boy in Florida. Bait Boy was tending the lines and fenders while we went ashore to arrange to take aboard fuel for the run down to Panama. So he tied the boat in nice and tight with the fenders against the floating dock. A panda wake came by and the boat surged, caught the deck edge on the dock roof, and popped about six feet of the hull to deck joint. ( held together with sheet metal screws— what more did you expect)
Good stuff, John. I’ve done most, and used some other methods with alarming results. Usually sailing a little boat I’ve relied on muscle more often than I should, sometimes ending in a boat lying 100 feet from the wharf on the end of one line and a long haul before I could make a cuppa!
Hi Jim,
Thanks for the kind words, particularly valued since I know you have deep single handing experience.
Hi John, i recall your recommend not to splice an eye into one end of mooring lines, but to wrap off at both ends, yet many of your tips involve an eye using a bow line. Given that a knot decreases the strength of the line can you explain or point me to the section as to why you recommend not to have a splice eye
thanks
Hi William,
My reasoning is in this chapter: https://www.morganscloud.com/2017/04/17/10-things-you-can-do-to-make-your-boat-easier-to-dock-bring-alongside/
As to the strength issue, you are right that a splice is stronger, but it does not matter in this application since dock lines are pretty much always over size for easier handling and to withstand chafe.
Hi John. Super helpful techniques for building essential skills in the book! Back to sailing after years away so they’re important and useful reminders. I’d like to get some further insight from you on the use of a stern bridle. I had never seen one before clicking the link you posted for further reading, I believe in the magic spring chapter. To my eye, and at least on docks with cleats or bollards, it looks like it would simplify the first and most important part of securing the boat- while decreasing risk. If that was the case I suppose you would be promoting that technique for single handing but I’d love to hear your thoughts about pros and cons. Here’s the link you posted… https://vimeo.com/110882884 Cheers!
Hi Rick,
These things depend a lot on the boat and particularly the position of the cleats and fairleads. What I do know is that the Magic Spring works based on hundreds of uses in many different situations, and I’m also pretty sure it will work on any boat as long as we go through the procedures I have detailed, so I’m super comfortable recommending it to all and will continue to do so.
However, that does not make the Magic spring the only way or even necessarily the best way. The only way to know which is better is to try the other way in many different situations over probably years, which I’m not going to do since I already have a good solution.
That’s a long way of saying I don’t know which is best and any opinion I have would be speculation at best. So your choices are go with the detailed instructions for Magic Spring on the basis that you can pretty much know it will be effective and safe or if you like the other technique, give it a try. If it were me in your situation, I would give it a try and see, but keep the magic spring in mind and practice with it so you know you have a proven technique in the bank if the new way does not work out one day.
Great article (as is many of them).. I am a magic spring convert(!), appreciate the graphics, time input to the site, direct and ‘not too serious’ style… I have gained lots from subscription over a couple of years so thank you… but from my point of view this chapter would be 100% better without the dating/chat-up subplot… As a younger, female boat owner/sailor/8yrs-liveaboard, I’d love it if we could reverse the narrative that women are on anchor/lines and often seen as a “date” opportunity. I’m certain the above was meant only in good humour, but the implication for people like me is that it normalises men trying it on in these circumstances and we remain the joke (as is reflected in the comments), objectified, not taken seriously and treated with respect as sailors/skippers in our own right. Can we just remove the male gaze for a moment and just see this as a competent cruiser catching your lines who happens to be a woman?
Hi Kathryn,
First off, thanks for the kind words.
I see your point, but I think that in this case you may have jumped to a conclusion that is incorrect about how I think. The story is a true one, and given that I’m a heterosexual man of course it was a woman that I asked to catch the line, but no where do I say it will always be that way around and in fact use gender neutral language, which is the standard here at AAC (rigorously enforced by the chief editor).
I also write:
and:
Which I think makes clear that this is gender neutral and that I’m aware of the issues you rightly bring up.
As to “trying it on”, I don’t think thats a fair analysis. Sure I was interested in the woman in question, and yes we had a relationship, but to me, at least as long as either person is not aggressive or creepy that’s just how couples get together.
Point being that I think I’m right in saying that if I were a woman the whole story could have been told in the same words without changes, just with different pronouns?
All that said, if I, and Phyllis who edits here, missed a specific piece of language that’s offensive and should be changed, here or in another article, please feel free to point that out.
Hi John,
Thanks for taking the time to respond and for clarifying your intent.. I can see you care about inclusive language and that you weren’t aiming to diminish anyone. But I think we’ve got our lines crossed a bit here(!)
Where the discomfort comes in for me (and, I suspect, for other women sailors) isn’t that there is anything wrong at all with you meeting someone in that way.. (I’m pleased it worked out for you!).
It’s also not particularly about language here (although I do appreciate the gender neutrality you use and also noted it in other articles – so definitely doesn’t go unnoticed thank you – women go overboard too!)… or whether the story could be told with the genders reversed (albeit this would completely ignore the reality of continuing gender inequality – it’s simply not reversible).
The issue is that many of us already navigate a boating culture where women skippers are frequently treated as “cute helpers” or potential dates rather than as competent equals. So when a professional sailing resource leans on a “maybe I’ll get a date” subplot, even jokingly, it reinforces a narrative we deal with in real life: we’re often not taken seriously and 95% of the time advances are unwanted – and make us feel uncomfortable. The anecdote normalises and somewhat encourages the idea that a woman’s presence on the dock is a dating opportunity. That’s why it feels different than if all the pronouns were swapped, the cultural weight just isn’t the same.
What I’d ask you do is put yourself in the position of a woman sailor, who’s spent all of her life feeling uncomfortable with 95% of advances, on the dock, just wanting to the responsible and helpful thing in catching someone’s lines… now imagine how men who might already have a tendency to view women in this way, might be totally validated – even encouraged to get an extra kudos(!) – having read this article.
I appreciate the skill, time, and information in AAC, I just think the article would be stronger and also would be more helpful to women without the flirtation.
Thanks for considering my perspective.
Kath
Hi Kathryn,
I can see what you mean. Thanks for making the effort! It’s important to get input from the ones who actually feel the pressure. The following is absolutely not in disagreement with you. I’m just not able to make a balanced evaluation, since I’m a 65 year old man, even if I’m a declared feminist. What made me still write a comment is to try to give wider perspectives.
I’ve been a member here for many years, and even though I’ve never met John, I still feel I know him a bit. He’s also a declared feminist, which influences several points here, like not using MOB (man over board) but POB (person over board) and much more. So his intentions are certainly not to move this topic the wrong way.
I love using humour and do so in most situations. The brit Ricky Gervais is a brilliant comedian. He’s the maker of “The Office” and loads more. Has been the presenter at Golden Globe several times, harassing the rich and famous, in famously disrespectful and unsuitable ways. Loads of people get offended by his humour and satire, since religion, politics and anything else is fair game. His point is that there is absolutely nothing one cannot joke about, IF it’s done right.
Humour can still be very bad, ugly, an abomination. To separate good from bad we can not at all use the topic. We have to look at the message, the intention. Humour is a language, communication. What is funny and why? Where is the target? Is the “victim” the “weak party” or the “strong party”? Kicking down or up? It’s pretty obvious which direction the answers should go.
Humour used well can be the strongest tool of them all to achieve change. It can be what makes a seemingly dull but important idea become a conviction. There are plenty of areas in our society that are in dire need of such humour. The gender role topic is certainly one of them, partly because so many cannot see that we still have a long way to go. Humour can rip through that blindness like nothing else can.
Looking at the humour in this article, I can agree that it isn’t on the barricades of social change, 🙂 so it might not be the right place for such an elaborate discussion. I also see that it in a couple of places can be interpreted as making fun of females around boats. However, I really don’t think that is how it was meant or how it’s read by the males here. Every single humorous point is meant to take a tiny jab at the protagonist, the “me” role of the joke, mostly John himself, not the female. In at least one of them, with a picture, the female is his wife Phyllis. So the humour here seems to me to totally satisfy the above ideas about direction. In this case it’s all mild self ridicule.
So what is the final judgement? As mentioned, I’m not in a position to know that. This is just thoughts. I understand that as a young woman you can get an overload from the constant sexist push that is visible all over modern society. That you can sometimes feel allergic to anything resembling it. Thus, respect for making the effort to mention this here. As one might have noticed, I think this article stays on the right side of the red line. I might still be somewhat wrong and I have certainly not gotten all relevant points. This is a multifaceted topic.
Hi Stein, big fan of Ricky Gervais. I guess the easiest check is whether we’re all laughing? I’ve replied to John above. Thanks for being a feminist. I agree intent was all in the right place. Just trying to explain the impact and what it’s like from my personal perspective and lived experience.
Hi Kathryn,
This is a difficult one, but I doubt very much that Ricky Gervais has never offended anyone. Point being that I think that “whether we’re all laughing” is actually too high a bar to clear, to the point that if we universally applied it would be the end of all humour. And given the threats to humorous commentary at the moment, that scares me.
For example, if any dock guys have read this online book I doubt they are laughing. And I constantly make jokes about old farts and the silly way guys act around technology. My guess is I have offended at least a few people in both groups.
That said, I try and make myself the butt of the joke most of the time, as Stein points out, which does help to get closer to that goal.
Also, imagine for a minute how dry and boring my writing would be if I just stuck to the technical and never told stories or made jokes. In fact I suspect that AAC would not exist.
Hi Kathryn,
I really don’t think a good evaluation of the quality of humour is who is laughing. In this article, if we were to assume women didn’t think anything was funny, while men did get a chuckle, it might be precisely because men felt slightly ridiculed. They recognised the silly behaviour they have sometimes been guilty of. I certainly do.
It’s hard to make jokes where the underdog is the butt of the joke, while it’s always easy to make people laugh out loud when you kick up. As a tourist skipper in Amsterdam, plus the occasional stand-up, I have a lot of experience with this. An audience laugh by far the loudest when the joke is on themselves. (“Do you know Descartes? No? What about Spinoza? No? OK… apparently none of you had an education.” Or “This is the love bridge. If nobody loves you… [looking around at them] …Well, I can understand that.”) Making fun of anyone not present just gets a chuckle, and only if it’s someone who deserves the ridicule. That’s how humour just works. We’re all empathic. Who does not laugh is not a reliable measure for the quality or direction of humour.
I understand that you get allergic from all the bad humour out there, often targeting women, and the constant sexualised attention, usually unwanted. Most of it is not ok. Some of it, however, is just being a communicating human. Removing that part, being too strict, thins out the meaning of life. (No, it’s not 42.) Even though I don’t think criticism is deserved in this case, I like that you bring it up, because it makes me evaluate how aware I am, or not. But again, I’m an old guy. I’m not in your shoes. I just have to try to use logic, which isn’t always the whole story. I hope to see you around here, learning from this amazing site, as I have for a long time, and still do.
I appreciate the engagement, but when the response is to explain why the joke is fine, it still holds the power – deciding what’s reasonable and what women are “allowed” to feel.
You don’t have to agree with every word I say, but right now it doesn’t feel like allyship. So I’m curious: what does being a feminist mean to you?
Many of the replies… framing this as a humour debate, citing comedians, stressing intention… come across as defending the joke or teaching me how humour works.
No one’s accusing anyone of bad motives.
What I’m asking is that you pause the instinct to justify, defend or explain.
From my point of view, the dynamic is bigger than this one article.
When women point that out, the most helpful response isn’t a debate about humour, it’s listening with an open mind.
This will be my last comment on this thread, but in case it helps, these are the specific lines that make me feel uncomfortable:
Either way, fair winds – Kath