Getting in and out of a tricky finger berth

[@Brian.Heffernan]

Excellent video.. Love the graphics.. Well explained.... Lots to take in... Bravo 👏⛵

[@kevin_brown_dc3423]

Thank you very much for this video! I am new to boating and I had this type of berth assigned to my boat. When I came in it was windy and I could not get my boat docked at all after three attempts. I wish I had seen this video first, it would have help me a lot!

[@theboatcheat1204]

I am delighted you found it helpful! We’re all new to boating to some extent, even after 44 years I have a lot to learn…

[@edwardmalthouse973]

Great video and clearly explained! Thank you. I agree that it's easy to do this going into the wind. The only small suggestion I have beyond your excellent advice, is that rather than lassoing the cleat, you could possibly mount a hook at the end of the dock and leave the aft spring line on the hook. While you make the approach the crew can use the boat hook to get the spring line and attach it to the midship cleat.

[@theboatcheat1204]

Indeed - in fact the cheat you recommend is what we use at our home berth - see ‘Going astern when space is tight’.

[@svcyclops]

I come into the slip astern. I struggle when the wind is blowing me down onto my slipmate to leeward. He comes in bow first and has solar panels hanging off the stern pulpit. I sail solo a bunch. I have 2 rudders so no prop wash but have a bow thruster. I try to walk the boat forward and use the thruster to kick the stern to windward.

[@SCBiscuit13]

I'm always approaching with my stern towards the wind. It's always easier to manoeuvre and the wind isn't affecting your stern that much because it's a lot heavier than the bow. It's also easier to judge the turn and distance.

[@theboatcheat1204]

Good point!

[@dmitripogosian5084]

Same here. Actually a requirement in my club for club sailboats. One thing to watch is not to hit the dock with a motor if you have an outboard

[@AdeClimb]

Totally agree with this. Prop walk combined with Wind catching the bow make reversing down wind, (Bow into wind) really difficult on my boat! But, to mitigate would setup the reverse in good sea room and be ready to drive out forwards if it goes wrong.

[@stevendiraimo3315]

Thanks for the information and your dedication to sailing. I appreciate the details you provided just need to wait for spring now to practice. Thanks again 👍🏼👍🏼Happy Holidays

[@theboatcheat1204]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@justinjwolf]

I like the idea of backing past the slip then motoring bow into it. One could also cleat off and spring the midship line with leeward rudder (tiller up or wheel down) and idle forward. The stern will sit nicely against the finger and you can take your time doing the rest. And of course you can warp your way in with more rope action, but less to nil helm work.

[@simonm9503]

Great videos, was trying to berth in Largs on the weekend with a strong easterly, and it was not easy! Some reflection on how to make it smoother been done since.

[@theboatcheat1204]

Thank you - glad you found it worth watching!

[@Verradonairun]

There is a way to go in bow-first and WITH the wind, albeit quite laborious for a single-hander: Just before approaching your spot, attach a stern line (in this case port side) to the neighboring finger to slow down your boat and bring it to a stop, then secure a bow line (port side) to a cleat on your finger (not the neighbour's) before gradually releasing stern line and hauling in bow line, in a controlled fashion. This will maintain full control of the boat at all times. Engine should be in neutral, obviously.

[@jefflabanc]

Thank you for the helpful hints working with an inexperienced crew.

[@theboatcheat1204]

Happy to help!

[@OGillo2001]

If you have a Bavaria and the slip is narrow, simply wind on the cap shrouds and reduce the beam by 10-15 centimetres. Same if they're trying to charge you for a 12 m berth and it is a bit pricy. Haul on that backstay and reduce LOA by up to 90 centimetres.

[@theboatcheat1204]

@@OGillo2001 LOL

[@philburtscher4375]

whenever there is wind i think - go backwards into the wind! so much more control not having the bow being blown off. Best is to practice driving and docking backwards on a reg basis (when there is no wind)

[@theboatcheat1204]

Couldn’t agree more - I don’t think I emphasised enough that the method here was for boats which had difficulty backing into the berth.

[@pablomnamado]

🎯

[@beardedwoodsman9692]

Thank you for the helpful tips. When reversing, I prefer to step to the forward side of the wheel as opposed to stand aft with my back to it.

[@theboatcheat1204]

I can’t do that because of the twin helms… and a helpful viewer pointed out the difficulty seeing everything by standing facing aft, so I now stand sideways beside the helm and have found it no more difficult.

[@beardedwoodsman9692]

I understand, I’ve never been on a duel helm boat. I guess that’s one of those trade offs.

[@mjshulman]

Well explained! I would have just recommended backing into the slip, for the same reasons - better visibility and better steerage.

[@theboatcheat1204]

I completely agree - that’s what I do every time in my home berth, but this was made for someone who had, I believe, seen my video ‘Going astern when space is tight’, so I presumed that, for some reason, he needs to go bow into his berth.

[@mantas6293]

@@theboatcheat1204if you were stern in and would be leaving? Would you still turn to fairway, or go downwind to port and then back up to the fairway?

[@theboatcheat1204]

@@mantas6293 A good question… I go stern-in into my berth, but don’t have the option to do that because the berth is in a corner. When the wind is likely to make the turn upwind difficult I rig a line around a cleat on the finger from the mid-cleat on the boat, and release it once the boat has turned as far as it can before I go. Prevailing winds on my berth also blow me across the fairway when I leave, so this is a big help….

[@rf2835]

Go backwards in a fresh breeze from the bow can be tricky if the bow catches wind. In that case pass the berth in forward then reverse in.

[@svcyclops]

Question. I have been sailing in France / uk near the channel and some marinas are on rivers where the current wants to push me down onto my neighbor. I usually dock stern first but I have found it easier to leave when I have have docked bow first because the boat gets narrower as I pull out. I warp the boat a bit out of the slip but I need to use a decent amount of power to avoid drifting down. Which is why I always dislike it when people attach tons of stuff to their sides such as motors and solars panels and bbqs.

[@bennpeter1237]

Thank you for a well explained situation and how to handle it. When I’m leaving the dock, I really do struggle. I got a single space, finger berth, 3,8 meters wide and the boat is 2,5 wide. I got an Albin Vega 27, which have a semi long keel. At the rear of the keel comes the rudder. And the comes the propeller😅 As you may see, this is almost impossible to move astern. On top of that I have no gearbox, just variable pitch, so the propeller will spin as long as the engine is running. And the prop walk is quite heavily to port. So I’m always enter the berth with the bow first, which is no problem at all. But when I’m leaving the berth, I have to go astern to starboard, the opposite way the prop walk works on the boat. This makes it very hard to get the bow out to port so I can leave the berth. Especially when the wind is pushing the bow to starboard. If you have any good suggestions, please help 😊

[@theboatcheat1204]

Interesting problem! I will prepare a short animated video on this problem for this Thursday’s release… I was unaware of this boat, but it looks like a cracker for when the weather is less than ideal…

[@bennpeter1237]

@@theboatcheat1204 Thank you 😊 I’m looking forward to it 👍😊

[@theboatcheat1204]

@@bennpeter1237 Hi Peter, ready to publish… may I please use an image of you and your boat from a post you did in the Albin Vega group on Facebook for the intro? Best regards, Laurie

[@bennpeter1237]

@@theboatcheat1204 of course 👍😊

[@theboatcheat1204]

Scheduled for release overnight… I’d be really glad to hear if any of the suggestions help, and if so please would you share it with your FB group? I see you are in Norway - I am sailing to the Buelandet and Bergen areas next summer - looks beautiful but I suspect a challenge finding anchorages?

[@dmitripogosian5084]

Out club requires backing into the slot after passing it

[@gtrim995]

I'd ask to be moved two down on the downwind side.

[@theboatcheat1204]

@@gtrim995 If only life was that simple, but you are of course right that asking for a move is worth a go.

[@perfectscotty]

Great video, Thank you.

[@theboatcheat1204]

@@perfectscotty Thank you for saying so!

[@colindnash818]

Good video. You're dealing with momentum rather than inertia. Often confused, although related.

[@corvavw6447]

No stress just fun ,over and over.🎉

[@theboatcheat1204]

@@corvavw6447 It made me SO happy to read that! Thanks.

[@theboatcheat1204]

@@corvavw6447 It made me SO happy to read that - Thank you!

[@caucau68]

Thanks for sharing, these videos, they really are helpfull. I am facing that exact situation described in the video, but backing is not really an option in my long keel Nauticat 38 . Also my slip is almost at the end of the fairway and consists of two pillars (only one boat between the pillars). So if you are forced into the impossible situation do you have any cheats?

[@theboatcheat1204]

Thank you for your appreciation! I’ll have a think about your problem and get back to you.

[@caucau68]

Again thanks for helping. For your information I do get some help from the boat since prop walk kicks the stern to starboard.

[@dmitripogosian5084]

I would think about installing some permanent bumpers on those pillars

[@rgerega]

I always approach my berth stern to wind. in this situation it also provides a better approach angle. Can you discuss this approach?

[@hartwigzehentner2730]

Hm.. why not pass the berth and go backward against the wind? Would be my favorite option

[@GerardConnolly-d2e]

Hmm reversing into the wind is standard, not with it like in this vid, too much risk of the bow getting blown off

[@theboatcheat1204]

Thanks for your comment - I think we made clear that this was the method if you didn’t want to, or couldn’t reverse in against the wind…

[@williamstreet4304]

I wanted to watch this. But YT has these crazy ads that slow playing before it starts. I am not watching because of YT ads.

[@theboatcheat1204]

Did you not get a "skip" button at the bottom right of the screen after 5 seconds?

[@williamstreet4304]

@@theboatcheat1204 The skip buttons have been taking longer and longer at times. I probably waited 15 to 20 seconds. Also there are often 2 ads with separate wait times. YT is getting worse and worse. I sent the message because you should know how these are affecting people. Remember, we all left network TV to go to cable because of the ads. It will happen again.

[@Street_travels]

@williamstreet4304 I pay 9.99 cad a month and it’s well worth it to not see any advertisements. Plus the KZbin creator gets a portion of that fee! It’s a win win

[@williamstreet4304]

@@Street_travels I agree that YT has the right to place the ads. I posted because I will never pay for YT. I never pay for TV except for exceptional events - Olympics - when I will use a short term free period or 1 month subscription. Never for a super bowl or individual event. I used cable TV until they started charging for it (think 1970's/1980's). YT was just fine without subscription service. Now, they are trying to make it so painful that people will pay them. I think of it as extortion.

[@tomstjohn]

Ge=reat information. Talks too fast, making it hard to understand some times

[@theboatcheat1204]

Thanks - noted!

[@notjustsilicon]

FWIW I'm a non native speaker and do not find it too fast. But if it is, there is a cheat (no pun intended) for that: click the settings cogwheel on the video and adjust playback speed to 0.75 or 0.5 even. Quality is great.

[@jacmaclar]

Great video, but you need to illustrate more of what you are saying -> Show don’t tell.😊