am first timer in solo sailing. This first blog sums up the various single handed mooring techniques I tried out the last couple of days in the different ports in Germany, Sweden and Denmark. Before I get into the details of the various techniques, let me briefly present you the main characteristics of the boat that I chartered for this trip. The techniques detailed below do work for all type of boats but it is important to keep in mind that every boat may react differently and that you might experiment and refine them given the circumstances and conditions. I chartered a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 30i for this occasion. It is a very compact boat with all the main features of a charter yacht, but compressed on 30 foot. I can even stand in the boat (i am 183 cm tall) and I even have an electric anchor winch and an electric toilet! which is kind of unusual for a charter boat of this size. All those pieces of information are actually irrelevant for mooring manoeuvers, but I just felt like sharing them. An important piece of information is the fact that the boat has a strong prop walk, which is of course very useful for mooring manoeuvers, if used wisely, but can be as well a curse, especially at the beginning when you are you are not accustomed to the forces acting on the boat. In this blog, I mean to talk about the various techniques of getting off the berth which can be especially tricky if wind and tide at the moment of departure are not in your favor. In my case, tide in the baltic sea is basically non existent and can be ignored. Wind was actually the only factor that I needed to account for. First thing to do is to check the wind strength and direction. Will it push you off the berth or will it push you back onto the berth. Before setting slipped lines, it is essential to check the lines that are doing the work, meaning those who absorbing the pressure that is acting on the boat.
Slipped bow bridle
Driving astern againts the line which is fixed on the stern cleat and the winch
You need a certain length of line that needs to be secured preferably to the stern cleat and the winch. This will allow you to conrol the manoeuver from the cockpit. Set the engine astern and drive into the line to hold the boat properly alongside the berth. If the wind (I had about 11 kts of wind) is still pushing the boat away feel free to give more power to keep her in a stable position. The moment the boat is keeping herself alongside the berth, you can remove stern, bow and spring lines. When everything is settled, let the boat leave the berth by releasing and controlling the line on the winch. Haul in the line as quick as possible.
Slipped stern line
Very simple and effective technique: slipped stern line
This is a standard slip line technique to keep your boat along a pontoon. Even though I had to face 15-18 kts of wind pushing the boat away from the pontoon, this technique proved to be highly effective. Loose a bit the stern, bow and spring lines to see how quickly the boat moves from the dock. Drive ahead into the slipped stern line and check how she brings her back alongside. Remove all the other lines and then skip the slipped line and let the wind push you from the dock.
Slipped stern spring
10 kts of wind pushing the boat against the dock
In this case, I have been blown on to the pontoon. The basic idea of this technique is to fix a slipped stern spring that is secured on the winch and the stern cleat. By driving astern against this line, the bow will come out. It is important to fender up you stern, especially if you need to aim high with the bow ( which was my case as I had 2 posts in front of me, leaving not much room for manoeuvering).
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