Bringing your bareboat into a marina
Taking your bareboat into
a marina while on a bareboat
yacht charter is only permitted with the express
permission of your bareboat
charter operator...who will normally make arrangements
for one of their skipper's to meet you to berth the boat.
- Pull your bareboat tender in short and secure... making
sure all the tow rope is out of the water and secured on
deck.
- Before entering the marina, check with the marina office
on your VHF Radio - they will advise you of a berth
allocation, and you will be told whether you are on a 'port'
or 'starboard' tie-up... - then prepare your bareboats
bow, stern and spring lines...the eye of each mooring lines
should be led through the fairleads ready for use...and
then secured to the bow, stern and midship cleats.... Coil
each line and secure the outboard ends temporarily to the
handrail. This makes each mooring line immediately available
in the correct position, without the possibility of them
falling overboard and fouling the propellers.
- Fix two fenders, spaced approximately 2.0-3.0 metres
apart to the grab rail amidships on both the port and starboard
side of your bareboat so the lower end of each fender
is just above the water.
- Reduce your engine of your bareboat to low revs when
starting to approach your berth...one crew member needs
to be ready to step off with the midship mooring line.
Having an engine doesn't make the boat as manoeuvrable as
your car... In fact, at low speeds, the rotation of the
propeller makes the boat pull, or turn easier, to one side...
In open water, practice slowing the boat to see how much
this propeller torque turns the boat and in what direction,
especially in reverse gear. The momentum of the bareboat,
the wind pushing the hull, and other factors such as current
also affect your manoeuvrability.
- Take a wide turning arc to enable you to straighten
up to enter your berth bow first... Reduce to idling
speed... Let the momentum of your bareboat work for you.
But, use the engine and helm if necessary to counter the
wind...the wind will have more effect on your bow than your
stern. If your boat is not lining up properly on your first
approach, it is more seamanlike to stop, reverse, and start
from the beginning again
- As your bareboats bow enters the pen slow with small
bursts of reverse thrust, just sufficient to stop by
the time you are completely in the berth. But remember
to always stop your gear levers momentarily (2-3
seconds) in neutral, as you pass from forward to reverse
and vice versa...not doing this can seriously damage gears.
- Once the bareboat is moored and a crew member is ashore,
the line is turned around a cleat or bollard to take the
strain...plan to secure the breast line 'A' first...this
balances your bareboat and prevents either the bow or stern
swinging away from the berth with the wind... temporarily
secure this line until permanent bow and stern lines 'B'
and 'C' are rigged.
If sufficient crew are available on your bareboat
charter... position crew at both the bow and stern with
boat hooks they can use to fend your bareboat off marina
pylons or adjacent boats as you enter your berth...this
also places them in position to assist the person ashore.
Just as some car drivers display a natural talent; others
need to be taught to drive and still others never quite get
the hang of it. The same is true of a skipper responsible
for a bareboat
charter... the bareboat skipper who knows how and why
his or her boat handles will generally be better on the water
than someone who has no idea of what happens "down below".
To find out more about manoeuvring your boat under power read
the section How
to handle your bareboat under power
Tying up your bareboat
Your bareboat is happy to hang
temporarily from a single bow and stern line, while refueling
or taking on provisions and water etc for a sailing
charter, but for a more permanent mooring, you need several
lines.
This section discusses how to tie up your bareboat securely
and safely to a dock. The following principles apply to all
boats... but they're most useful when you're securing the
larger sailing yacht or motor yacht in a marina.
- Always check for chafed (damaged) parts of the
line.
- Always use fenders (rubber cushions) between
the boat and dock.
- Always use spring lines.
- Docking line must be amply strong and thick - Nylon
line works well.
- Don't pull the stern and bow lines too tight. Ideally,
the boat lies just off the dock so that it doesn't rub.
- Tie bow and stern lines at about a 45-degree angle
away from the boat to hold it secure.
Securing
a mooring line to a bareboat
Slack rope is taken up, one hand holding the cleat
end while the other swigs down the slack rope.
A full turn is taken around the cleat, then figures-of-eight
turns. Commonly you will be using nylon rope so finish off
with a half-hitch.
Attaching
spring lines to a bareboat
A properly secured bareboat will have a bow and stern line
and one or two spring ropes. (see diagram).
Spring lines are incredibly effective...they prevent the
boat from surging forward or backward and keep it securely
positioned so that the few fenders in the middle of the boat
are always in the right place.... The diagram shows a bareboat
tied up by...1) bow line... 2) forward spring line... 3) aft
spring line and... 4) stern line.
These spring lines will keep your bareboat in position regardless
of wind or tide although allowance for tide must be made with
the lengths of line allocated. The spring lines work against
each other to keep the boat parallel to the wharf and not
allow bow or stern to be caught under it.
Watch out for that tide!
All along Queensland's coast you can expect tidal flow, thanks
to the moon and this is particularly the case in the Whitsunday
Islands cruising area. When tying up your bareboat, use
some common sense. If your boat is going to float up and down
on the tide, avoid tying it to something that doesn't float,
such as a piling. If you tie your bareboat incorrectly to
a piling or fixed dock at high tide, you may come back to
find it suspended out of the water at low tide... this is
not the case in marinas as your main docking pontoon rises
and falls with the tide.
If you must leave your boat tied up to a fixed
piling or dock in tidal waters, add more angle (and, therefore,
more length) to all your dock lines by tying them farther
along the dock.
Being a good sailor
A good sailor takes the time and effort to clean up mess and
keeps on board ropes as neat as possible. Any line not in
use should be coiled so that you can store it.
To
coil, start at one end and make loops of equal size (usually
about 3 feet, or 1m, in diameter) until you get near the other
end... When you have about 5 feet (1 ½m) left, make
three or four tight loops around the "throat" at
one end of the coil and then put the end through the coils,
as shown on the left in the diagram...then take the doubles
end through the top of the coil and back over the top for
any even more secure coil.
Someday, you will need to throw a line accurately and
far. The key is to prepare for this in advance by making
certain the rope is correctly coiled...the movement will come
when you are near enough for a rope to be thrown, and you
don't want it traveling a few feet then falling into the water
hopelessly tangled.

Put a few coils (up to about 15 feet or 4 ½ m) in
your throwing hand and hold your other hand (with the rest
of the coils) open and pointed at the target so any extra
coils can feed out as needed. Then throw (underhand) the coils,
aiming slightly above the target. There's a knack to throwing
a line and it needs practice.
Learn how to tie a 'monkeys fist' into the
end of a line to make it heavier for heaving, refer to Basic boat
knots, hitches and bends.
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