HOWTO BOAT MASTERTrying to leave a berth in a controlled
manner with a stiff crosswind can be
daunting – especially if it’s a tight berth
and your neighbour’s boat is shinier
and more expensive than yours!
If the wind is pinning your boat
against the pontoon, it makes it hard
to leave before you get pushed back
on. Conversely, if the wind is blowing
you off, the issue is how to escape
before you get blown into your
neighbour. Positivity is the key to
avoid a fender-bashing session but
don’t confuse positivity with speed.
Crew play a big part as well, and
setting the boat up with easy-to-slip
lines so they can remove them and
bring them inboard exactly when
asked really helps to keep things
under control.
As always, the first step is to
assess what the wind and tide are
doing. I like to think of this as ‘look
up’ (at the wind) and ‘look down’
(at the tide) – remember that
you need the wind information
for the surface of the water, not just
the wind at yacht top and flag level.If being blown on, the boat won’t move
much whilst the lines are removed but
try to arrange your
lines so that the last one can be
released from on board. If you’re
berthed stern in, the first step is to
get the bow away from the pontoon.
This can be with the bow thruster
(if fitted) or a stern spring to force
it out. Once the bow is out, select
ahead with the outside engine
to move the stern away from the
pontoon, then alternate engines
or use both ahead whilst steering
out of the berth.
If moored bow in, then ease the
stern away with the inside engine in
astern, then as it moves out, use both
engines astern to back out positively.
If it’s really windy, you may need to
use the outside engine ahead and the
inside engine astern while stationaryagainst the pontoon to help twist the
stern out.
If being blown off the berth, you
need the same positivity because
the moment you remove the bowline,
the bow will start to blow away. You
may be able to control this with a bow
thruster but if in doubt, use a slip
bowline and pull against it with an
engine astern, or use a short sternline
and drive ahead against it. This forces
the boat on to the pontoon until you’re
ready. To do this effectively, you need
to rig the lines on short simple slips so
when you go into
neutral, the boat
will lift off the
pontoon, allowing
the lines to be
pulled smartly
in while you drive
positively out.
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Leave a windy berth
Words Jon Mendez Pictures Richard Langdon