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.

1. Pull your bareboat tender in short and secure... making sure all the tow rope is out of the water and secured on deck.
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. 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.
   
   
5. 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
   
   
6. 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.
   
   
7. 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.