How To Dock A Catamaran in Adverse Conditions.

After a particularly bad docking experience with friends aboard (and maybe a little yelling), we gather back in the safety of the kitchen to discuss the experience - and hopefully learn from it. We thought it worth recording...
While it's not the most exciting video we've ever made, hopefully it's helpful to others. We have decided the Spring Line will be our go to line for anchoring moving forward - but I'm curious, what would you have done given our challenging circumstances? Please leave a comment! Despite being quite experienced boaters we still find that there is much to learn! :)
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ABOUT US: We are a family of five sailing around the world on a performance catamaran named "Archer" and sharing our adventures in family-friendly episodes on KZbin!
OUR ROUTE: We departed the Boston/Cape Cod area of the United States and sailed down to the Caribbean and through the Panama Canal. We have dealt with massive repairs in the South Pacific, the Coronavirus lock down in New Zealand, a Category 5 Cyclone in Fiji, and now we are cruising in Australia.
OUR PAST: You may remember us as "SV Honeymoon?" Ten years ago ("before kids"), we sailed a Lagoon 380 named Honeymoon halfway around the world to Sydney, Australia. Along the way we shared our experiences via KZbin and, by happenstance, created one of the very first "sailing channels." We also realized what an incredible experience we were having and that someday we wanted to do it again, only this time with kids.
FAQ: More questions? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page on our website or answers to many of your questions in this 40 minute episode:
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PLEASE COMMENT!: As a channel with kids on-board, we are required to actively monitor all comments, but we still want to hear from you. Tell us what you think!
THANKS for watching all. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

[@htimst1967]

Docking is stressful. Backing in with control and getting a stern spring line was a good technique. A midship spring is going to afford more control of the boat but a shorter stern spring would have gotten it done as well. I noticed you said the stern spring line got a bit long but your idea was solid. Ultimately you docked the boat. In my opinion, watching someone dock a boat is like watching them public speak. It's very rare there is someone that is watching that doesn't want to see you succeed. I suppose a public launch may have some spectators waiting for a fail, but in a marina, people want to see success and possibly see how to do something new, or at least reinforce how not to do it. I look forward to checking in on your trip. Bon voyage!

[@RiggingDoctor]

Floss and Legos! They really do make great visual aids :)

[@agip1787]

Thanks you for the new experience tip ....👍

[@TheSailingFamily]

Hope it helps!

[@gregmorgan8900]

More lego explanations - they are gold!

[@TheSailingFamily]

Haha. What's better from a "Sailing Family?!"

[@LoydHaveMercy]

I'm chartering a boat for the first time after crewing on several trips and this is one of the most helpful videos I've seen as I prepare for it. Yachting World has a number of videos out there, each containing about 10 seconds of useful information. You used some Legos to model a scenario and really drove an important point home for me. Thanks for sharing!

[@TheSailingFamily]

Awesome Scott, glad to hear! How did it go!?

[@LoydHaveMercy]

@@TheSailingFamily It went great. We had one very stressful moment leaving a mooring ball near The Indians (BVIs), but we managed to solve the problem without any injuries or damage to the boat and I've added that experience to my toolbelt. Happy sailing!

[@danandersson4811]

Yeah, I had drama like that once in Bimini, wind and current, in the end three burly cruisers hailed me in. Spring line does rule

[@waltervanderboor]

I see its an old video, yet so is my experience. For the last 20+ years I have docked mostly single handed, and always use the same technique. tie a midship spring as close to the dock as possible and the boat is secured already or putting it in gear will spring it closer to the dock. .

[@wholderby]

Whenever we get too confident docking our Gemini Legacy 35 we get one of these sorts of days haha. When we first bought 4+ years ago I would have panic attacks coming back into our crowded marina in Hallandale FL - we are in a better place now down in the Keys but a couple of weeks ago I had to battle to keep off of the poles and to get in position to be able to tie off. Problem with my Gem is that there is no mid ship cleat so spring-lines are really not possible as you have shown. Cats are like box kites and the bow is going to go where the environment tells it to go unless you can get crafty.....at least in our current marina all we do is bounce off of our slip poles and not off a neighbor haha.....

[@VincentLemage]

I’m fan of the spring line too, sailboats don’t always have enough thrust to bring you in close with the stern attached, even short lined. I had a situation with a rented Bavaria last year where I couldn’t get it to the dock even with the bowthruster in support. 35 knots on the side. It’s in that situation that I watched a boat come in after me. They used a spring line and it looked like a walk in the park. Lesson learned. And the LEGO shows it well thx :-)

[@maxs9742]

Great video - do you plan on doing a walkthrough video of your Cat.

[@dannyboyspace]

I don't know about catamarans, but for monohull yes, I find the midship spring line is great technique for many situations.

[@SailingSeabbatical]

I’m a visual learner, and the LEGO’s were awesome! Hopping on a 2020 42ft sea wind next week and the owner doesn’t have experience and thats where I come in... multihulls are asker time dock than monohulls, right? 😁

[@EndlessPlaytime]

We love that you have scheduled posts during your passage. Keep it up!

[@TheSailingFamily]

Endless Playtime Posting weekly now! Lots of footage to share! :)

[@stevestott3652]

Great video.

[@FrigateChaserFishing]

🙌🏻

[@puffin4x]

Hi Seth, definitely backing in is the way to go, but the midship spring is tough to pull off because you need to somehow get someone ashore to attach it, which is not easy or safe in these conditions. The stern line works fine, but it has to be short. Best is to get the stern line on, then have crew keep it out of the water (and props) while you slowly back up again. Once the line is nice and short you just rotate the bows onto the dock. I don't attach the midship lines until after I have bow and stern in place.

[@steveshoulders]

Love to hear your opinion on this triangulated docking technique. Getting a mid springline around the dock isn't that easy when you're blown off the dock. So, I agree it's probably easier to back in and get the stern fixed. However, that spring technique is so graceful. This long line technique seems to be a combination of both : getting the stern fixed and having a bit more reassurance that the bow is under control. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWnapHmKpcSDg6c

[@hardrocksldp]

I loved playing with Your kids- Silver Heels.

[@jesserevilla992]

Wasted so much time , love old Utube when it wasn’t all about the cash !

[@billgardyne7328]

Elegantly simple explanation of something that few sailors understand. 👍

[@TheSailingFamily]

Glad you liked it

[@rnbspowa7of69]

thank you!