An essential guide for docking success with practical tips and techniques to master your boat handling
John Jamieson
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No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without the express written permission of the author.
Please note that much of this publication is based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence. The author has made every reasonable attempt to achieve accuracy of the content, and assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.
Use this information as you see fit and at your own risk. Your particular situation may not be exactly as illustrated. Adjust your use of the information and recommendations accordingly. Nothing in this publication should replace common sense, legal, medical, or other professional advice, and is meant to inform and entertain the reader.
DOCKING - Wind/Current from Ahead (parallel to pier)
DOCKING - Wind/Current from Astern (parallel to pier)
How to Back Into a Slip With Precision
Chapter 4: Undocking With Spring Lines
UNDOCKING - Wind/Current from Ahead or Off the Dock
UNDOCKING - Wind/Current from Astern or On the Dock
Back Out of a Slip with a Single Spring Line
Rig 'Beam Ropes' to Make Slip Docking Easier
Time Your Departure to the ‘Lulls’
Chapter 5: Special Docking Techniques
Feather the Rudder to Make a Sharp Turn.
Three Ways to ‘Bleed Speed’ to Slow Down
Are You Prepared for an ‘Emergency Breakaway’?
Make This ‘Step-Ashore’ Technique Top Priority
Emergency Docking Under ‘Bare Poles’.
How to Use a ‘Boarding’ Breast Line.
Know Your ‘Stop-Ability’ Under Sail Alone
Special Bonus Chapter: Sailing Safety Checklists
Shore Power Safety Steps
How to Make a Seacock Diagram
Pre-Sail and Post-Sail Checklist
Acknowledgments
Thanks to all the skippers, mentors, and instructors past and present who took their valuable time showing me ‘the ropes’ of docking and maneuvering in tight quarters.
This includes some of the world’s best US Coast Guard search and rescue coxswains and the instructors at the Chapman School of Seamanship.
And a final thanks to all those contributors who shared their valuable advice and expertise along with those behind the curtains who made the final touches in editing, formatting, and design to bring the book to fruition.
Introduction
How many times have you experienced the 'butterflies-in-the-stomach' feeling when you brought your boat into a narrow marina? You glance to the left, right, and ahead, and see million-dollar yachts nestled in their slips a few feet away from you.
Then you have to contend with the elements, which aren't cooperating either. The wind you planned for now bounces around in the marina basin like a ball on a billiard table.
The current swirls like a mini-whirlpool. It wasn't doing this when you entered! Now both ornery elements threaten to take control of your sailboat with her inboard diesel or gas engine. What now, skipper?
We've all been there more than once. No wonder many sailors dislike the idea of docking and maneuvering in confined spaces, between two boats at a fuel dock, or in and out of a narrow slip with just inches to spare on each side.
Pile on the added stress of 'dockside lawyers' and self-appointed docking judges ashore. It's easy to understand why so many boats are left tied to their slips like worn down, tired thoroughbreds put out to pasture. This book could be the solution you've been waiting for.
Here, you will find a collection of tips and techniques to help you master the basic art of boat handling. I have taught hundreds of students in the US Coast Guard and in the recreational world, and I believe these tips are the absolute essential ingredients for docking success.
Imagine that you have the know-how to handle those all-too-common events that can erupt like a bolt of lightning out of nowhere. Like loss of engine power, or a line wraps around your propeller, or another boat backs out of a slip right into your path!
This book is not all-inclusive, nor does it try to be. Other authors have written massive books diving deep into theory and docking techniques which I consider difficult to duplicate day in and day out in varying conditions of wind or current.
If you are looking for practical, real-world docking skills which are repeatable and easy-to-remember, you’ve come to the right place. Use these docking tips and techniques to become a more skilled and confident skipper, wherever you sail or cruise. So, turn the page and let’s begin!
Enjoy the read… Captain John Jamieson
“To handle a boat, you must first know it. Know what it will do, how fast it will do it, and in what space. No article or text can give you this knowledge. It can come only from actual experience and practice.”
~ Captain Charles F. Chapman ~
Sailboat Underwater Profile
Draft is the deepest part of a vessel beneath the waterline.
Docking Terms Used in This Book
Aft (also ‘after’)
Behind or in a direction toward the stern of a vessel.
Alongside
Next to the side of a structure such as a pier, seawall, wharf, or piling or group of pilings. When you take your boat into a fuel pier, you dock her alongside the pier and tie her off with docking lines.
Beam
The widest part of a vessel, running across the boat from right to left.
Belay
To tie off or ‘stop off’ a line to prevent it from running free. You belay a line to a cleat, winch, windlass, bitt, piling, ring, or other boat or dock fitting.
Bight
A loop in a line. Also, the part of a line under tension (load) when docking or sailing. The bight lies between two belay points, like a boat cleat and dock cleat, or when sailing, the area between a Genoa clew and the sheet winch.
Bitt
A small post with a crosstree near the top (also called a ‘crucifix’), used to belay a line. Bitts may be found on a more traditional vessel or on large commercial vessels like tugboats, which tow other vessels with the towline made up to a towing bitt.
Breast Line
A temporary line which runs perpendicular to the centerline of a boat, used to hold a vessel next to a pier until you tie up with other docking lines. Also, use a breast to board the boat or to load provisions. Always remove
this line when done with a specific task; otherwise, the boat could ‘hang’ on her lines.
Centerline
An imaginary line which runs lengthwise down the exact center of the sailboat from the stem (end of the bow) to the middle of the stern.
Chafing Gear
Strips of canvas or split tubes of soft rubber or synthetic material, wrapped around dock lines to protect them from the abrasive edges of tracks, rails, chocks, pier corners, pilings, or other structures.
Chock
An oval or U-shaped fitting which redirects the path of a line from one point to another. A line might be tied to a cleat, then led through a chock at the end of the bow, and then to an anchor. Or, if tying up your boat, you might lead a line from a cleat to a chock near the beam, then to a fitting ashore.
Cleat
A horizontal fitting with a bar on top and short legs beneath. The protruding parts of the bar are called horns. You tie off a docking or sailing line to the cleat by wrapping the line around the legs and cleat horns.
Crosswind
A wind which blows across or almost perpendicular to a channel, canal, slip, or other body of water.
Detent
A small indent cut into a fitting as a guide. The manufacturer makes an engine shifter with detents so you can feel the position of idle-ahead gear, neutral, and idle-astern gear.
Dock
General term for pier or other structure where boats and ships moor. Also, to dock a sailboat or powerboat is to use rudder, engine or sails, and lines to tie up to a berth. The opposite of docking is undocking, where you use the same tools to leave a pier or slip.
Draft
The deepest part of a vessel beneath her waterline. On most cruising sailboats, this most often will be the keel. On multihull sailboats (catamarans and trimarans), the bottom of the outboard engine or drive shaft might be the deepest point.
Elements
Natural forces of wind or current. Wind works on those parts of a boat above the water (hull, cabin trunk, mast and boom, rigging, sails, and canvas products like dodgers or Bimini tops). Current works on the parts of a vessel below the water (submerged portion of the hull, keel, rudder).
Fairlead
A fitting, such as a block or chock, which redirects a line (also, see Lead). The bow chock serves as a fairlead for anchor line or chain. Line organizer blocks serve as fairleads to redirect halyards or reefing lines from the mast aft to the cockpit.
Fender
Any device used to cushion and protect the hull from abrasion, wear, or damage. Modern fenders may be air-filled tubular or spherical-shaped devices. Commercial tugs might use a row of rubber tires tied at intervals along the hull.
Forward
Ahead or toward the bow of the boat. Or, when the crew moves from the cockpit to the mast, they are said to be moving ‘forward’.
Freeboard
That part of the hull between the waterline and where the hull meets the main deck. On most boats, the highest freeboard is at the bow.
Hand (of a propeller)
A manufacturer names a propeller based on the direction of rotation in forward gear. If the propeller rotates to the right, it is a right-hand propeller. If it rotates to the left, it is a left-hand propeller. When the engine is shifted into reverse gear, the prop rotates in the opposite direction (see Prop-Walk).
Helm
The steering control station on a sailboat or powerboat or the device used to steer a boat.
Inboard
When docking, turning a wheel or pushing a tiller toward a pier or object.
Lead
The direction of a line from one point to another. A docking line may lead forward or aft from the boat to a pier cleat or piling. The first part of a spring line’s name defines the ‘lead’ of that line. For example, a forward bow-spring leads forward from the boat to a fitting on the dock.
Load
Strain or tension on a line or fitting, or between two points. The highest load of a Genoa is between the sail clew and winch.
Outboard
Turning the wheel or pushing the tiller away from the pier or another object.
Piling
A cylindrical post of wood or metal used to support a pier or for mooring inside a boat slip.
Pivot Point
Natural:
All vessels of any size or shape have a natural, imaginary pivot point, located near the beam. When a vessel turns, she pivots, or rotates around her natural pivot point.
Dynamic:
You can create your own pivot point anywhere along the hull of a vessel with a docking line or anchor line to control the point about which she rotates.
Prop-Walk
The direction the stern moves when the propeller is rotating in forward or reverse gear. Most sailors talk about prop-walk when referring to the way the stern moves in reverse propulsion. The stern of a vessel with port propwalk will move, or ‘walk’, to port, in reverse gear.
Quarter
That section of a vessel aft of the beam and nearer the stern.
Rope
Synthetic or natural fiber line which is not being used for a specific purpose. You might carry rope aboard in a locker or on a spool (reel). Once you put the rope into service—for example: sheets, halyards, tackles, lashings, or for sailing, anchoring, towing, or docking—it is referred to as ‘line’.
Rudder
The primary foil of control on a vessel, located all the way aft on most recreational boats. The rudder on a sailboat has the advantage of being much deeper than most powerboats. As long as you have water flowing over the rudder blade, you can steer, turn, or maneuver a vessel.
Spring Line
A docking line which runs at a diagonal angle to the centerline, used to assist the skipper in docking or undocking, and to prevent fore-and-aft movement of the vessel when tied up to a pier or inside a boat slip.
Snub
To stop a docking line from running free by belaying it to a cleat, piling or other fitting. Or, a snubbed line might be preventing you from bringing your boat flush to the pier. In that case, you would ease the line to make it longer.
Stem
The far end of the bow where the port and starboard sides of the hull meet.
Steerage (also, steerageway)
The slowest speed where water still flows across the rudder blade, allowing you to turn or maneuver. Boats can maintain steerage, even after loss of engine power, if they have enough momentum from drifting with the wind or current.
Surge
To ease a line in a quick ‘slack and hold’ fashion, while under tension. A cleat, piling, winch, or other device is used to control the line as it is surged.
Thru-Hull
Holes or openings installed above or below the waterline of a vessel which allows water or gasses to flow in or out. After starting your engine, check astern to make sure exhaust water is flowing out of the thru-hull.
Waterline
A vessel rests on her designed waterline when she is in an upright position. If you study a sail plan drawn by a naval architect, you will see the vessel in a vertical position, resting on her waterline. A stripe, called a ‘boot stripe’, is often painted or taped onto the hull to show this line.
Windage
Any part of the hull, superstructure (cabin trunk), mast, boom, spars, or canvas (dodgers, Bimini tops, enclosures), which the wind pushes against, whether the boat is moving, drifting, moored, or anchored.
Working Cleat
The fitting on the boat or dock being used to work a spring line to bring the boat into or away from a pier.
CHAPTER 1
Crew and Docking Line Safety
Walk down to any marina on a weekend, and you can watch sail or power vessels dock or undock all day long. You can learn a lot if you observe the deck crew. How do they hold the docking lines as the vessel approaches the pier or slip? Do they practice safe docking procedures as the boat comes alongside?
In Chapter 1, learn how to . . .
Rig docking lines for smoother, easier maneuvering.
Use a simple five-step technique for safer line handling.
Keep your crew away from the dangerous ‘bight-line’ area.
Pass the correct part of a docking line ashore.
Prevent damage or injury from a line ‘snap back’.
How Are Docking Lines Named?
Which mooring lines keep your sailboat from moving forward or aft, allow the boat to rise and fall with the tide, or hold the vessel flush alongside a pier for boarding or provisioning?
Brief your sailing crew on the basics of dock line nomenclature. Line names are not fixed in stone, but might change based on the application. All docking lines fall into three general categories.
Bow and Stern Lines
These lines hold the boat in position and prevent fore-and-aft movement. A bow line (1) is attached to a fitting as far forward as possible, then led to a dock cleat or piling forward of the bow. The stern line (2) is tied to a cleat on the inboard or outboard side of the stern, then run aft to the pier. Here, the stern line is belayed to an outboard cleat, which provides more positive control.
Spring Lines
Think of a spring as the ‘workhorse’ of docking lines to help the skipper land or depart from a pier or slip. Inside a slip, springs prevent fore or aft movement of the boat. If tying up to a pier in tidal areas where you have extreme high and low tides, use springs to hold the boat in position and allow much more rise and fall than a bow and stern line.
Springs are named based on how they lead from a specific part of the boat. In the illustration, you see the after bow spring (3) which leads aft from the bow section, and the forward quarter spring (4), which leads
forward from the boat’s quarter, or stern section. Find more details on springs later in this chapter.
Breast Lines
When you need to hold a vessel flush alongside a pier for a short period, you might use a breast line (5), which runs almost perpendicular to the centerline. Remember to remove a breast line as soon as you have other docking lines in place. Otherwise, the boat could end up hanging on her lines when the tide goes out.
Three Line-Handling Secrets
Safety rises to the top when bringing an umpteen thousand-pound vessel alongside a pier. Nothing tops a well-trained crew who understand how to work in harmony with the skipper for docking success.
If possible, work lines from the boat to keep the crew aboard, which is much safer.
Pull the docking line to the far side of the cleat and make a round turn (illustration 1). This ‘starter step’ applies to all cleats, including sail halyards and sheets, dock and anchor cleats, and all other deck, mast, and boom cleats not mentioned here. Follow these three tips and refer to the illustrations above.
1. Good Holding Power.
Use this configuration when you need to work a line in or out with minimum friction. Keep moderate tension on the line, with the working end
almost parallel to the loaded end. This makeup is temporary, lasting only seconds, and an additional half-hitch (tip #2) should be added right away.
2. Excellent Holding Power.
Add a cross hitch to form a figure-eight, which applies more friction, making the knot strong enough to hold even the largest yachts.
3. Superior Holding Power.
Note how the hitch is belayed with a final locking turn after docking is completed. In extreme tides, you do not want to use a ‘locked hitch’, which can freeze onto the horns and become impossible to remove. Instead, complete the knot with one or two full 360-degree wraps, cinched tight under the cleat.
*NOTE* Always start with a more secure hitch when working a loaded docking line. Note the middle illustration (2) provides robust security and easy work-ability. Begin and end here when tensioning or slacking lines.
How to Gain More Cleat Space
Boat cleats often have limited room for turns and hitches. If you tie a normal cleat hitch, then loop it around a shore fitting and back to the same cleat, you’ll end up with a pile of line.
Instead, tie a bowline to one of the cleat legs to reduce clutter and keep the surface more open for working the docking line.
Beware the Bight of a Line!
Nylon makes the ideal line for docking because it can stretch like a rubber band, but your sailing crew needs to know the safest position to work a line to avoid danger.
Line-handlers should take position aft and to the side of the loaded line (bight).
Imagine stretching a huge, thick rubber band to the breaking point. When it snaps, the energy will be released and the band will travel at super-high speed in the opposite direction. In the Coast Guard, we called this ‘snapback’ or ‘slingshot effect’, and it could cause severe injury or even death.
When towing, we took extra precautions to reduce loads on the towline, like slowing down and lengthening the line, so both vessels stayed ‘in step’, going up and down the waves together.
When docking, lines come under high loads, so always use the slowest speed possible to avoid damage to the line or deck fittings, and injury to
your sailing crew.
Caution your crew to stay out of the bight of a line, or that area between two belay points. Think of a bight-line area like this: Start Belay Point— Docking Line End Belay Point. Note in the illustration how the bight of the docking line is the solid black line between the two belay points.
While working the dock line from the pier or the boat, the crew takes position aft and to one side to stay clear of the loaded part of the line. If you must enter the bite-line for any reason, get in and out of the danger zone as fast as possible to prevent injury in case a line or fitting fails.
Spring Line Lingo Made Easy
Unless your sailing crew understands basic line-handling terms, docking at a pier or in a slip can go downhill fast. Follow this easy guide.
Use all three parts of the spring line name.
Spring lines are the most important tool available for docking maneuvers. Use springs to pivot alongside a pier, to dock in a slip, or to undock your boat with inches to spare between two other yachts.
Success depends on your crew being able to understand ‘spring-lingo’ without hesitation. There are just four spring lines in line handling. Each spring line has a first, middle, and last name—like most of us. Sure, abbreviations are used in some places, but that can cause confusion.
Always refer to any spring line by its full, three-part name. In the table below, each column shows you one part of the name.
Lead Direction
The lead of a spring defines how it moves from your boat to another fitting located off the boat (dock cleat, piling, or another boat if tied up alongside). If the line moves aft, its name begins with ‘After’; if it moves forward, start the name with ‘Forward’.
Boat Belay Point
This defines where you tie the end of the spring line on your boat. Springs tied to a cleat between the beam and the bow are given the middle-name ‘Bow’. This includes a line attached at the beam. Spring lines attached aft of the beam in the stern section of your sailboat are in the ‘Quarter’.
Docking Line Type
Lines leading in a diagonal direction to the vessel’s centerline are named ‘Spring’. Unlike springs, a true bow and stern line are almost parallel to the imaginary centerline. And breast lines lead perpendicular, or at a 90-degree angle, to the boat’s centerline.
Here's an example from the table above:
After Bow Spring
After shows the line leads from a boat fitting in an ‘aft’ direction to a pier fitting.
Bow tells where the spring is tied; here it is located between the beam and bow.
Spring means the line forms a diagonal angle to the centerline.
Before moving ahead to the next tip, learn the four spring line names and their meaning. Use the table and illustrations to help you achieve this goal.
Five Steps to Heave a Line to a Pier
Always try to work a docking spring line from your own boat instead of from the pier. This keeps your crew aboard and makes the docking event safer and easier. Show line handlers how to lasso a dock cleat or piling with these five easy steps.
Face the target while holding the divided coil in each hand.
1. Attach one end of the spring line to the ‘working cleat’ or the cleat to be used to dock the boat. Pass the line beneath the lifelines and back over the top of the uppermost lifeline. This ensures the docking line feeds out from the deck and not over the top of a lifeline.
2. Start near the base of the ‘working cleat’ and coil the line in long two- to three-foot bights (loops). Belay the other end with a slip knot to another deck fitting or lifeline. Split the coil into two equal parts.
