News 24 january 2025 Michael
A man ties the boat with a rope knot through the cleat to the pier

10 rules to help you survive mooring, unmooring & anchoring your yacht

Bimbarent will touch on several key topics that will help a novice skipper learn how to safely navigate a yacht in Ukraine. And experienced captains will become even more professional, because many of them have never ride to the open sea. Remember that the most important thing is the safety of the crew.

Mooring errors

Never rush, but never procrastinate.

Make sure none of your team jumps onto the pier from a distance. It is always better to go ashore from a comfortable distance, otherwise a member of your crew may not make it to the pier and fall between the boat & the pier. Also, don’t forget that a pier sailor with a fender in hand is much more effective than three helpers with nothing.

Second moment. If you are berthing in an unfamiliar narrow yacht club, then go astern into the wind. This will help you better control the boat in strong crosswinds. When something goes wrong, you can always jump ahead, – go for a second run.

Fear of looking incompetent and not asking for help when needed

Even the most experienced sailors may encounter situations when docking that they can’t handle on their own. Do not hesitate to ask for help.

Failure to check mooring equipment before departure

You’ll laugh, but some inexperienced captains forget to bring mooring lines or tackle because they don’t plan to make stops at restaurants on the water in Kyiv either other yacht clubs during the trip. Always take a complete set of berthing equipment with you.

Protecting stern boat at yacht club

How to enter the marina with a fair wind?

Nose to the marina. If your berth is in the middle of the marina, you pass your berth, then back up and dock. If your place is at the very end of the marina – there is no room for a turn, then you make mooring in two passes. The first swim in order to look around. The second one turns the boat around astern, enter the marina in reverse.

Leeward side. It is better to get up to the pier with the stern on the leeward side. We got up. Make fast the lines, then secure the buoys. By the way, the sailors on the shore do not always understand what to do, so do not throw away two mooring lines at once. The first is windward, the second is leeward.

If the gust is strong, then it would be better for you not to go out on the water at all. We’re joking. Just this time, ask the moorer temporarily secure the windward thrown to him. After that, you give a forward move, level the yacht, fasten the mooring and then tie the mooring lines with an earring, securing the running end to your cleat. Remember?

The boats are tied to the pier with ropes

Thruster

A holy thing that doesn’t always help. The rudder does not pull the bow of the boat against a strong side wind. The rudder only helps to stop the movement of the boat. Remember that using the steering wheel for a long time, longer than 10 seconds, can cause the fuse to blow.

Errors when unmooring

There are times when you have already given up and started to move away from the pier, and your crew member forgot to unplug the power cable. What to do? Try to back out carefully. Otherwise, most likely your assistant will not throw or throw the power cable over the pier – it will fall into the water. Do not worry, the machine will simply knock out on the column, if not, then run for the landing net to collect a fresh catch. After returning to the marina, dry the plug of the power cord. You will be dissuaded, but it will not make it worse.

Ignoring the tides

One of the most common & dangerous mistakes, but not in the Black Sea, is the tidal height of water fluctuations. In the Black Sea, it fluctuates only 3-10 centimeters. In the Mediterranean Sea, it is 20 cm, but in the coastal areas of the oceans, the tide level can reach 10 meters. Therefore, if you moor the vessel too tightly at low tide, the moorings will be stretched too much at high tide and may break.

Ignoring wind

It may sound trite, but breeze direction, speed, current have a significant impact on how you should moor your yacht.

How to get out of a narrow marina when there is no wind?

When there is not enough room for the noses to exit, start your start at an angle. Then stop turning, unscrew the steering wheel in the direction of rotation. Then you give a sharp move forward, – your stern goes in the opposite direction, so you make a U-turn on the spot.

How to leave a narrow marina when there is side & downwind?

The gust will help you throw your nose in the right direction. Leave the marina forward or backward, depending on the direction of the exit.

How to get out of a narrow marina when the wind is squeezing?

If you’re new, tell the team that it’s okay to have a drink at a local cafe in the meantime. Yes, it’s not easy the first time. When the breeze blows to your stern, try to hold on to your moorings with the help of a neighboring yacht, laid to you on the middle cleat. Otherwise, you may be carried away to the boats on the other side of the passage. As soon as you have turned around the lee of the yacht and you have entered the passage, you cast off – leave at full speed.

The cabin has passed, the manoeuvre is over

Have you heard this joke? This is when the driver of a truck with a trailer passes a turn with a cab, and then a long trailer demolishes a stop, a counter or a store. So, when you turn the steering wheel sharply, for example, to the left, please look to the right if there are any boats there.

How to anchor properly

Did you know that the most common reason for yachts to run aground is careless anchoring and lack of control of what is happening! In smart books they write that you need to lower the anchor to a triple depth. However, many experienced captains play it safe – give the chain 4-5 times more depth. For example, when depth is 10m, you anchor 40-50 metres of chain. Why is this being done? So the boat is held not so much by the anchor as by the weight of the chain. After dropping the anchor and chain, try to reverse at low speed.

How to secure the yacht to the shore?

When attaching the stern to the shore, drop anchor first. Then you pull the boat to the shore and send a sailor on a dinghy to the shore with a mooring line. After that, you are make fast for stones either thick trees. In this technique, the main thing is to be constantly on the alert, because when the wind changes, you can be blown aground – hit by rocks.

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