Learn to Sail Like a Pro – How the Pros Enter a Marina
It’s been a picture-perfect day to learn to sail, with a gentle southerly breeze blowing across sun-kissed waves. You and your friend have hauled down the sails and are motoring into the busy marina. All of a sudden, your marine diesel coughs once, sputters twice, and dies with a groan. You push the start button over and over. Nothing doing. What now, skipper? Prepare ahead of time to handle this type of common occurrence with these five simple steps you can put into play–right away!
Get your boat prepared ahead of time while you are still in open waters. Use this five-point “mindset of the pros”:
- Break out docking lines.
- Attach fenders and roving fender
- Study the wind direction.
- Determine current direction.
- Look for “pull-offs” along the way.
Break Out docking Lines
Often, you know which side you will dock on. But even if you do know, you need to make preparations on the opposite side of your boat just in case your carefully laid plans don’t go as planned and you need an alternative. The #1 docklines to get ready are the springlines. Springlines run in a diagonal angle to the boat. Attach a bowline, springline and sternline on the “ready side” and a long springline on the other side of your boat. Cleat off each springline to a strong boat cleat between the bow and beam.
Attach fenders and roving fender
You see most boats enter a marina with boat fenders hung on one or both sides, which looks great. But do they have a roving fender ready to use in an instant?. Set aside one portable fender with a four foot piece of line attached to one end. Assign one crew to use the fender and “rove”–or walk–around the boat as it comes closer to piers, pilings, or other boats. Hung fenders don’t have this ability, but the roving fender can be dropped alongside your hull as needed to cushion any impact, save topsides from dents and dings, and save $$$s on repair costs!
Study the wind direction
Racing or cruising sailboats can often be “sailed in” under bare poles (with no sails hoisted), at slow speed if the sailing wind blows aft (behind) the beam. If you lose an engine on the way in, this can often enable you to dock alongside a pier or glide into a slip. Under power, you need to know wind direction in order to choose the best approach to a pier or slip. If possible, choose to dock alongside with your bow pointed into the wind.
Whenever you come alongside a pier, attach your first dockline to a dock cleat or piling upwind. For example, if you dock with your bow facing the wind, get the first line onto a cleat or piling forward of (upwind of) the bow. If you dock with your stern facing the wind, get the first line onto a a cleat or piling aft of (upwind or) the stern. Either of these actions will prevent your boat from drifting down onto other boats or obstructions downwind of your docking spot.
Determine the current direction
Check the bases of buoys, daybeacons, pilings, stakes, or seawalls for “current tails”. These miniature water-streams show you the direction and relative strength of the current. Inside confined marinas, current can change direction as it bounces off of piers or boats. And, it could be stonger than the wind strength.
If you are unsure of the stonger of the two elements–wind or current–stop your boat off of the pier or slip and let the boat drift for a few seconds. It will move with the stronger of the two elements. If possible, make your approach to a dock with your bow pointed into the stronger element. Use the same technique to determine which dockline to use first. Always take the first dockline to a cleat or piling upwind or upcurrent to keep the boat from drifting.
Look for “pull offs” along the way
As soon as you enter a narrow canal or channel that leads to your marina, be on the lookout for empty slips, docks, single pilings, or seawalls along the way that could offer safe haven in case your engine dies. You need to have a way to clear the channel and avoid damage to other boats and property. You need to know the other four factors before you look for “pull-offs”. That way, you will be ready in a moment’s notice with lines set, fenders hung, wind direction determined, and current direction known.
Learn to sail like a pro when you unlock the secrets used by the pros every time they enter any marina in the world. This will put you at the top tier of sailing skippers that keep their cool–and prepared–for any unexpected event that comes their way!
Captain John Jamieson teaches sailing skippers the fastest, easiest ways to learn to sail like a pro. For a free weekly sailing newsletter plus more sailing tips, articles, and sailing videos, visit skippertips.com