It was an interesting weekend at the docks. Lots of wind, accompanied by the normal “too
much wind docking entertainment.” The
day ended with two boats “parked” at the exact same spot, laying across the
dock fingers of multiple slips.
Fortunately, about 15 minutes apart, also fortunate, without any damage to
anything but pride.
The first was a power boat about 45 feet long with twin
motors. Unfortunately, one of the motors
wasn’t working and the remaining one was putting some rotational torque the
wrong direction from the way the boat needed to turn to get out of
trouble. Add to that the wind and the
result was a boat beam on the wind, getting blown sideways down the fairway … a
dock behind and rocks in front. Several
people on the dock stepped up and got the boat safely against the slips, bow pointed
more or less out. We were able to get a
line across from the opposite dock and use the line to get the bow pointed to
the dock which was fortunately vacant.
The line was used to guide the boat safely into a side tie there.
Not fifteen minutes later, a 35 foot Beneteau with twin rudders
and a sail drive missed her fairway, and ended up beam to the wind drifting
sideways down the same fairway, directly towards the exact same spot. Try as he might, the skipper was unable to
get the bow to come up into the wind so that he could drive the boat out in
forward. Those of you that have ever
driven a boat with twin rudders and a sail drive know there is no prop walk and
no prop wash to assist the boat during the “fairway turn” that was needed.
The problem in both cases … the wind was blowing the bow of
the boat the wrong way. The broken motor
in one case, and the twin rudder sail drive combination in the other made it virtually
impossible to get the bow to do what needed to be done.
The solution? Let the
wind do to the bow what it wanted to do, blow down. Then, exit the fairway in reverse with the
wind holding the bow steady. It goes
totally against what feels like the right thing, however, in the case of at
least the sailboat, it was the only solution that would have worked.
Watching these two incidents got me remembering all the
times I have seen a boat blown into the mud, rocks, or a dock because the
skipper kept trying to tack away without sufficient speed to complete the maneuver. In a case like that maybe a jibe would have
been a better solution. Or, if there is
sufficient room, just straighten the tiller, drive toward the “bad place,” get
some speed and tack.
The tip here? It isn't to let the bow blow down or to
jibe instead of tack. The tip is ... If something isn't working because
some "force" or other won't let it, then see if there is a way to
turn that force into something that helps instead of hinders. Don't be
that person who keeps doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different
result. Keep your mind and options open.
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