seamanship
O
wners of long-keelers
are used to challenges
in confined spaces. We
last visited this subject in
PBO December 2014, when I joined
Mike Farquharson-Roberts on his
Voyager 30 in Gosport.
Our biggest challenge – and one faced
by many long-keelers – was steering in
astern: once the bow had started to swing
more than a degree or two, it was off. The
answer was to keep a close eye on the
bow and to make any necessary
corrections with the wheel as early as
possible. Otherwise it’s normally a matter
of going forward again to re-align the
boat, then continuing in reverse and
allowing space in case the prop-walk
takes you the wrong way until you gain
steerage-way.
In this instance there was no bow-
thruster, so we had to do things the
traditional way. Warps, and knowing how
to use them, can also come in handy.
If you need to persuade a boat with a full-
length keel to spin through 90° and reverse
into a windward berth, you will probably need
a bow-thruster, says David Harding
Challenging though Mike’s marina was
for a boat like his, it was manageable – at
least in fairly calm conditions.
For Alan Ward’s Fisher Northeaster in
Titchmarsh, on the other hand, life without
a bow-thruster simply wouldn’t be
possible. We met Alan and North Star in
September’s PBO when we looked at
ways to make tacking faster and more
positive. There was another potentially
challenging aspect to handling North Star,
too: getting in and out of the berth. But
whereas under sail I had been able to
come up with some ideas to help – and
two pairs of hands were useful anyway –
Alan performed the marina manoeuvres
on his own with such adroitness that there
was no need for me to do anything on
board. I could stand on the pontoon to
observe and photograph.Sharp corners
North Star is berthed port-side-to on a
finger pontoon near the enclosed end ofthe run, stern-in to the main walkway. In a
south-westerly, the wind would be blowing
from her starboard beam. It would be
pushing her against the finger, but
perhaps making life less challenging than
in a north-easterly, which is what we had
on the day. Motoring forward out of the
berth and turning hard to port with a stiff
wind from the port side might test the
skipper’s nerves in a fin-keeler. The
opposite pontoon isn’t that far away. In a
boat like North Star it’s something you
probably wouldn’t even want to attempt.
Letting the boat weather-cock and then
reversing out might be a safer approach in
any breeze. Unlike some boats of broadly
similar style, North Star has a keel that
runs the full length of the hull with no hint
of a cut-away towards the bow. As we
found under sail, turning corners is not
what she was designed to do.
Getting back into the berth in a
south-westerly might be possible if you
were to go just upwind of the finger
pontoon and let the wind blow the bow to
port before going astern. In a north-
easterly it’s hard to think of an approach
that would give you any chance, certainly
without at least half-a-dozen helpers on
board and ashore who are used to
handling lengthy warps.
Thankfully Alan has a bow-thruster to
complement the 50hp Nanni with its
three-bladed prop. You still need to know
how to use this extra help, though.Turning tightly
with a long-keeler
If you would like David to
help with your sail problem,
call 01202 440820