14 Tips To Come Alongside Single-Handed—Part 2

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.