Boating and Sailing.pdf - Moja ladja

86
Part 2: The Basics of Operation
In this chapter, you’ll learn how to leave the docks and how to return smoothly. I’ll also
cover the art of picking up a mooring and how to tie up the boat in a slip—a special art
where tides can vary the water height several feet.
Slip-Sliding Away: Maneuvering Out of a Slip
Like everything else in boating, the ropes used to tie up and maneuver a boat around a dock,
which are always referred to as lines, have special names. A bow line is attached to a cleat or
ring on the front of the boat. A stern line is attached to a cleat on the back end of the boat.
A spring line is attached to a forward cleat and run aft to the dock, or attached to an aft cleat
and run forward to the dock.
A slip is a boat’s home, a spot where docks and pilings allow the boat to be tied securely.
Leaving a slip in still water when the boat is backed in is simply a matter of putting the boat
into gear and going straight forward at idle speed until the stern clears the outside piling or
the end of the dock.
With a single-engine boat, prop torque (assuming you have a single-engine boat fitted with
the more common right-handed propeller) may walk the back end of the boat very slightly to
starboard, which can bring your port bow too close to the pilings—you may have to give a
bit of right rudder to compensate.
Boat Bytes
When parked parallel,
don’t turn the wheel away
from the dock and go forward.
If you do, the stern
will be pivoted into the
dock—the stern moves first in
powerboats, remember?
The Easy Way Out
Keep the boat moving straight ahead until the stern is clear
of the slip and the pilings. If you start to turn too soon, the
stern will pivot into the pilings.
If the boat is bow-on in the slip, back out straight until the
bow is clear of the last piling, and then turn. The stern
may work slightly left—a crewperson may have to fend
off the starboard bow. (The rudder doesn’t help much at
extremely low speeds in reverse with inboard boats. Reverse
steering is more positive with outboards and I/Os.)
If your small boat is tied parallel to a dock and pointed toward the channel, and there’s no
wind or strong current, all you have to do is push off the bow and go. Keep the wheel dead
ahead and put the boat into gear at idle speed. Hey, you’re boating!
With twin-engined boats too big to push around, the standard technique is to put the outside
engine into reverse for a moment, and then pop it back to neutral. The burst of thrust pulls
the bow away from the dock, and you can then go straight ahead to get clear. Once the bow
has swung well out, you might give a short burst of forward to the inside engine to help it.
All this is done with the rudder dead ahead, so don’t touch the steering wheel.