Good Morning,
The “backing in” subject has surfaced a few times in the past and that’s a good thing. I have learned so very much from this forum over the years and have benefitted from the wisdom of others. In the case of the “backing in” subject, I see the varied view points and understand that each skipper must make their very own decisions based on what they think they know. Please allow me to offer my thoughts. I’ve been told by friends that I am entitled to my very own ridiculous opinions.
I previously owned a NS 22, Whiskers and now own a NS 30 Whiskers II. I parked Whiskers bow in. My NS 22 allowed me to exit the boat from just about any point on the boat which made it possible to put up with a short finger pier. It was not the safest thing to do as I had to step over safety cable and wait till the boat could be swung over closer to the finger pier. Not knowing any difference at the time, this was not a big deal. Although, I was younger then.
Now, I own Whiskers II, my wonderful NS 30. I remember bringing her to Solomons from the Chester River, 70 miles North, in a 35 mph broad reach run on a 45 degree day and put her bow in to my slip. My crew and I had nasty time getting off that boat. We were cold, tired and it turned dark on us. Of course we figured out how to depart. Went sailing shortly after and realized that this is not going to work safely. It’s downright dangerous, and takes the fun out of boating. Not being able to find another marina with long finger piers I decided that I must learn to back in. My first step was to ask every single sail boater that was stern in, on my dock for advice. In every case no one knew how to back in other than the bumper car method. Some would get the stern in the area and do the rest by pulling on piling lines. I decided not to do that and that I was still young enough to learn. I thought about going to a sailing school or hiring someone to teach me. This was in 2016 and at the time I was 75 and now Whiskers II and I still have a close relationship.
Here’s what I did, I went to You Tube and found these sites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoGMAEjiHmU&t=51s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qOPM_SMJCc&t=8s . There are a bunch of other videos on sailboat docking stern in.
The first thing I learned was the “standing turn” (called something else in other places). I highly recommend that every one learns how to do this. This skill will not only help you back in but can get you out of some unique predicaments. I would take the boat out many quiet mornings by myself and just practiced, practiced, and practiced. I just practiced the standing turn and did not try backing into my slip. Oh, maybe a couple of times. Then I waited till I had more wind and practiced even more. Then waited till I had lots of wind and did the same. This process allowed me to learn that I now had some control over the boat and not the boat over me. Using the information in the aforementioned videos I then started learning how to back the boat in. Did I screw up? You can bet I did. Did I get mad and say bad words? You bet I did. Did I give up? Nope.. I learned to do this on nice days but graduated into heavier wind days.
It’s a fool’s paradise to only learn how to use these boats in nice weather. The ability to learn these things whether you’re stern in or not will help to feel good about your authority over the boat and as well will enhance safety with your sailing experience.
The more I learned allowed me to learn even more. Let me tell you what I do now. I know this is long and you’re getting tired of me but hang in for a short while. It became obvious that one of my fears was going too fast in reverse and not being able to stop the boat. So the next thing for me to practice was to go out in the open water, using an existing float in the water and practice backing towards that float with the intention of learning when to start putting the brakes on. I did this enough times that using reverse, neutral and forward gave an opportunity to have more control over the boat. One will learn that you can’t steer these boats going in reverse at a slow speed. I now go some distance from my slip, put the boat in reverse and speed up. At first there is no steering control and the boat may be going in a direction that you did not want but soon you will feel steering kick in. You will have to play with the throttle to find the best speed. Once I have steering control, I stand on the other side of the wheel and drive her like a car. This may not work for all because of throttle and shift location. Since the boat now will steer and I am feel comfortable with speed control, I simply drive her into the slip. At first, I had crew immediately place the spring lines in the event I could not stop the boat. But that never happened. Now I don’t want crew pulling on any lines as a wrong pull negates all of your steering. They can catch the lines but don’t pull on them.
In some previous mailings the wind effect was of concern and a concern it should be. For example, if the wind is broad side to my slip I come at an angle (maybe 45 degrees pointing toward the wind) and as I approach my slip, I adjust speed accordingly and let the wind slowly position the bow as I am still going in reverse. As others mentioned earlier, practice, practice and practice.
I think the most important thing to learn is to know that when things are not going as planned, just abandon that attempt. Simply put her in forward gear and get the heck out of there and then just try it again. An example: a couple of weeks ago while doing the maneuver just mentioned, in a heavy gusty wind (had sailed with double reef) as I approached my slip and just feet before the pilings I was hit with gust that took me out of position causing direct aim at the piling. I learned enough to know that I should not make any attempt to salvage that attempt and to simply put her in forward, put the pedal to the medal and get out of there. I made a second attempt with the same result and had a nice landing on the third attempt. Whatever you do, do not worry about what the people on shore are thinking. The hell with them.
There is so much more to learn and I am sure I will screw up from time to time but using the above mentioned videos makes my sailing adventures most relaxing. I no longer fear bad weather returns to my slip although knowing that caution is always prudent. Because I am relaxed, my crew and guests are also relaxed. I hope I don’t get too much hate mail over this but as I said before, my friends tell me I am entitled to my very own ridiculous opinion.
Have a good sailing year.
Cheers,
Butch
Butch Garren
Nonsuch 30 #196 “Whiskers II”
SIYC Slip 12
Solomons, MD
