Sailing inyourfootsteps.com

A trick to manoeuvre a poor steering vessel around tight marina bends

---

What is the issue?
Getting into complicated marina berths can prove challenging. Especially so for vessels with long keels that do not steer well in tight conditions.

Why address this?
When vessels do not steer very well they may be at best challenged to get into certain berths or at worse run up on other vessels attempting.

How to address this?
My vessel benefited from a long keel that provided excellent deep ocean handling but combined with a touch of starboard prop walk made it highly unwieldy in a marina.

One berth around a sharp bend on the back of a fuel pontoon had me foiled. The situation not only had two 90 degree turns but it was exacerbated by a stiff breeze that kept pushing the boat out.

It was not until the man on the pontoon held a line around a cleat and I powered into it that I could get her through those two bends. This trick would work just as well with a bight around a cleat as shown in figure one so that the crew may handle the entire procedure from the vessel.

With thanks to:
Michael Harpur, Yacht Obsession

How can I get this offshore?

If a mobile signal is available you can access all of our information via a mobile phone's internet browser. We provide a 'Lite' site, Lite In Your Foot Steps using the shorter initials www.liyfs.com, that presents our data in a simplified, speed optimised format. Similarly, if an internet connection is limited or expensive, switching to the 'Lite' site enables faster and more efficient access.

Alternatively print this page's text, illustrations and photos, but without the internet menu, layout, backdrops and Google maps, or economise upon printer consumables and print this page with text only, to get a hardcopy of this location.

Print this tip

Add a review or comment:

Please log in to leave a review of this tip.

inyourfootsteps.com makes no guarantee of the validity of this information, you must read our legal page. However, we ask you to help us increase accuracy. If you spot an inaccuracy or an omission on this page please contact us and we will be delighted to rectify it. Don't forget to help us by sharing your own experience.