"We have to go back to the box, our shore power cable hasn't been disconnected yet!" The call from the foredeck makes the skipper's hair stand on end at the helm. The forward lines are already loose, but fortunately the reverse gear has not yet been engaged - it would almost have been a mishap.
On the second attempt, casting off seems to work until a forgotten fender jammed between the dolphin and the side of the boat stops it. The bow slowly but surely turns towards the freshly polished hull of the neighbouring boat, on which the owner is frantically and loudly giving tips as the massive anchor approaches ever faster.
Even when the problem has just been brought under control with combined forces and a roaring engine, there can be no more talk of calm and composure on board the departing yacht. The annoyed skipper's increasingly loud speech and the onlooking experts ashore do the rest. When the boat turns the wrong way round into the pit lane due to the wind direction and the unnoticed wheel effect, the nerves of everyone involved are on edge. Harbour cinema at its best. But how can it be done better?
- Click here for the 10 tips at a glance
Keep calm when leaving the harbour
Firstly, the skipper should always be the calming influence on the crew and exude both confidence and competence. And: there always needs to be a plan.
Before casting off, we generally sit down in the cockpit with the entire crew, discuss the upcoming manoeuvre and distribute the tasks. If we have already been underway for a while, we incorporate the experiences of the last few days and work out suggestions for improvement. This shows that a debriefing of yesterday's manoeuvre is just as important as a discussion of today's manoeuvre.
Only when everyone feels sufficiently informed and the filing process has been thought through and understood can the process begin. Under no circumstances should a quick start procedure be used.
Limits must also be accepted. There are conditions under which the crew can no longer control their ship, even with the best line work and the strongest bow thruster. And in addition to these purely technical limits, a good skipper must know where the crew's limits are. Such situations and the resulting harbour days are part of sailing and must be accepted.
Plan the manoeuvre step by step
However, once the decision to set off has been made, the mooring situation is analysed and the manoeuvre is planned step by step. It is important to clarify as much as possible in advance.
We always start by asking the following questions: Where is the wind blowing from? Are additional manoeuvring lines required? Do mooring lines have to be laid on the slip? Which fenders need to be hauled in or additionally deployed? Is additional help required on the jetty or the neighbouring boat? Who operates which line? How should communication take place during the manoeuvre?
In the event that the departure does not go one hundred per cent according to plan, all fellow sailors should know what to do in their positions. Where can you simply moor again? Alongside or with a single fore line on the dolphin? What happens if the engine fails? You can also anchor in harbours - but is the anchor clear?
There are perfect instructions in magazine articles, video tutorials and books for every conceivable manoeuvre. If you are looking for the right manoeuvre, you may be lucky, find what you are looking for and try to copy it. In most cases, however, the reality you encounter will not match the theory.
Clear up in the harbour and prepare the sails
After all, casting off also involves clearing up in the harbour and preparing for the actual sailing. If you are alone on board, you must leave the helm. One option in this situation is to engage the engine backwards and fix the tiller amidships. The boat then swings its stern into the wind. It holds its position there, and if the speed is set correctly, it makes no or very little headway astern.
If space and traffic conditions allow, the mainsail can be set in the harbour. Here you usually have cover and therefore little wind and no waves.
In principle, the more you have already worked through in the harbour, the more relaxed the start will be when you leave it. And then it is not a tragedy if the conditions outside the harbour are not as calm as you might have hoped.
The magic word for a stress-free departure
Basically, "anticipation" is the magic word for a stress-free departure, looking ahead and anticipating. I therefore go through my manoeuvre many times in my mind. For each individual section, I imagine where the wind will take me when I release one line and tighten the other.
It helps to know your boat inside out. I know exactly where it turns when the wind comes from the side. And I have tested several times how long a spring needs to be and at which point it needs to be attached so that it is particularly effective when steaming in. With this experience gained from many - and not only successful - casting off manoeuvres, you can devise your own tactics.
If I have crew on board, I see my role as a skipper as getting the others to ask questions, think and ultimately anticipate. Sailing with a crew is first and foremost a communication challenge. A kind of bring and fetch obligation. I try to explain the approach to our manoeuvre as precisely as possible. On the other hand, the crew must and should raise objections, suggestions for improvement and ask questions.
Even as a charterer, it is possible to approach manoeuvres slowly, carefully and purposefully. Anticipating what is to come is of course much more difficult on a completely unfamiliar ship. Nevertheless, you can get a first impression of what will happen when you let go of the lines completely, for example, by letting go of them at the mooring.
Colour in the manoeuvre
I am often travelling with a large classic boat. There is usually a regular crew on board, but often also several inexperienced fellow sailors. In complicated docking or casting off situations, we like to take out a piece of paper and pencil and simply draw our manoeuvre. This really helps to clarify the procedures and the respective roles.
Finally, a change of perspective also creates an understanding of what is happening. In moderate conditions, manoeuvres can be performed with reversed roles, for example. This makes it easier to understand why someone has acted differently here or there than you would have previously assumed. This is fun and gives you confidence and self-assurance for upcoming trips.
The stronger the wind, the greater the importance of lines and fenders. Their correct use enables controlled, slow manoeuvres that are carried out without rushing and, above all, without full throttle and a roaring bow thruster.
Manoeuvring lines, lines laid on slips, steaming into lines, using springs, exploiting the wheel effect, correct positioning of fenders are all things that could be relevant. Countless combinations of berth, wind and waves turn every manoeuvre into a unique situation. Some principles must always be observed in equal measure.
Release lines
It is important, for example, that all loosened lines, especially if they are not buoyant, are taken on board as quickly as possible. Otherwise there is a risk of them getting caught in the propeller.
Always consider whether fenders are still needed when casting off and, if so, where. If they are hanging outboard in the wrong place, they can thwart any manoeuvre if they get caught between the pole and the hull at the worst possible moment. The boat will stop and may also be forced into an unwanted turn.
You can always ask your neighbour for help; this is particularly recommended if you need to leave a box in a strong crosswind. In such a case, you should always try to deploy the windward line at as good an angle as possible and slowly fiddle it out. However, the neighbour to windward can lead a line at a perfect 90° angle until the boat is out of the box. This is an advantage that should definitely be utilised.
Commands come from the skipper
However, it is important in such situations with outside help that it remains just help. That the commands continue to come from the skipper and not from helpers on the jetty or other vessels who were not present at the manoeuvre briefing.
Here are two examples of typical casting off situations that occur and proceed in a similar way time and again: steaming into the stern spring and leaving a box in reverse.
Evaporation is the order of the day on classic boats and in commercial shipping, but is rarely used on most pleasure craft. However, there are situations in which it is the best alternative. For example, if you are moored alongside a jetty in onshore winds and the conditions do not allow you to cast off parallel fore or aft, you will have to work with lines if there is no powerful bow thruster available.
Suppose the wind is blowing with a force that no longer allows the bow or stern to be set down. If you now know what a spring is, where it is best placed and how to steam into it, you can now help yourself effectively.
It is possible to bring both the stern with the fore spring and the bow with the aft spring free from the jetty and then put it down either forwards or backwards.
Departure with your own ship
With my boat, I prefer to cast off forwards. This means steaming into the stern spring and getting the boat to slowly swing its bow away from the jetty against the wind. Once I am clear of all obstacles and the bow is far enough away from the jetty, I release the stern spring, which is set to slip. As all the other lines are already released and back on board at this point, I can now quickly engage the forward clutch and pick up speed.
However, this is only one of several common variants. You can find countless videos on the subject of casting off in onshore winds and pore over the harbour manoeuvring literature.
Much more important than the theory is practising in simple conditions and finding out which of the manoeuvres works well on your own boat. Although they are similar in principle on all boats, they often have very different effects in detail. You should therefore try out whether it is better to go forwards or backwards with the respective boat, where the ideal points of attack are for the relevant spring, how long it should be, where the fenders should hang and so on. After all, complicated manoeuvres should not be performed for the very first time if the weather offers no alternatives.
Leaving the berth from the box in reverse
Another situation that initially looks quite simple is leaving a berth from the pit in reverse. If the pit lane is only slightly wider than the length of the boat, things get complicated. Even in favourable conditions with the wind blowing directly from the front or rear, it is not easy to turn out of the box into the lane. If you start too early, the bow will touch the previous stern post of the box you have just left. If you start too late, it quickly becomes tight behind the stern, especially when the wind is coming from the front.
This problem is really quite simple to solve, and it's amazing that you rarely see this in harbours: If you want the stern to port, all you have to do is put the port stern line on slip before the manoeuvre. Now you can move to the dolphins on the other side of the pit lane with centimetre precision and tighten the stern line here. My boat then turns in the desired direction as if on a disc. I then sail forwards and cast off the line, ideally a floating line, and haul it in. A trick that makes the manoeuvre absolutely stress-free.
Keep an eye on the weather
With a view to the weather development, it makes sense to already have the next day's casting off situation in mind when mooring. Perhaps the harbour will allow me to lie alongside somewhere where the wind will blow offshore the next day. Then all the problems are solved in advance and it's just a case of "Cast off and go!" - In this case, the wind does the work.
It also makes sense to use mooring lines with large bowline eyes at the end rather than those with spliced-in eyes. The advantage is obvious: if your neighbour has thrown his lines over mine, the knot can be untied easily.
What also makes casting off easier is when everyone on board, even children, animals and newcomers, know what they are supposed to do during the manoeuvre and also what they must not do under any circumstances. When our son was still small, he waited below deck strapped into a child car seat while we cast off. He didn't find this particularly difficult, but perhaps it was also due to the biscuits he was allowed to eat in the morning as an exception in such situations. Luk, our dog, also disappears below deck for a few minutes during complicated manoeuvres, which is more relaxed for everyone involved.
10 tips at a glance
- Practising in light winds and getting to know the boat in detail
- Analyse the lying situation, then anticipate reactions
- Discuss manoeuvres in detail beforehand and afterwards
- Discuss different error scenarios
- Have an emergency plan ready
- Distribute tasks
- Bring small children and pets safely below deck for the duration of the manoeuvre
- Agree signals, hand signals, commands
- Create manoeuvres in such a way that they can be performed as slowly and in a controlled manner as possible
- Seek outside help if necessary
About the author: Mike Peuker
