Leaving and Coming Alongside in a Yacht

Prerequisites

You have read the lesson Motor Cruiser Handling for the Power ICC in this course. It explains pre-start engine checks, prop walk, the pivot point and springing off in detail. This lesson applies those ideas to a single-screw sailing yacht and adds what the ICC sail assessor tests.
You can tie a bowline, a clove hitch and a round turn and two half hitches, cleat a line and throw a coiled line (Competent Crew level).
You know the basics of COLREGs, in particular keeping a proper lookout (Rule 5) and safe speed (Rule 6).
You have read Passing the ICC Practical Assessment, so you know how the day runs.

Learning Objectives

This lesson covers items 1, 2, 3 and 7 of the official ICC sail syllabus (form ICC-4b). By the end you will be able to:

Preparation (item 1): give a short crew briefing, run pre-start engine checks, start the engine, check the cooling water and state the fuel range.
Depart from a pontoon (item 2): use springs to leave a lee wall or pontoon, position fenders correctly and communicate clearly with the crew.
Turn through 360 degrees in a confined space (item 3) in a single-screw yacht, using prop walk.
Come alongside a windward pontoon (item 7): prepare warps and fenders, choose the angle of approach, control speed, stop where required, secure to the pontoon and stop the engine, while keeping an eye on other water users.
Explain how stern-to (Mediterranean) mooring differs, for charter skippers heading abroad.

How a Yacht Differs from a Motor Cruiser

Everything in the lesson Motor Cruiser Handling still applies, but a sailing yacht has its own character under engine:

Deep fin keel, small engine. The keel gives grip on the water, so a yacht drifts sideways less than a motor cruiser, but the engine is small (typically 20 to 60 hp), so she accelerates and stops slowly. Plan to stop early.
Strong prop walk astern. The propeller sits under the hull just ahead of the rudder, often on a saildrive or a shaft at an angle, and many yachts kick hard to one side when you go astern. Most yachts with a fixed propeller turning clockwise ahead (seen from astern) walk the stern to port when going astern. Find out on the day; do not assume.
Poor steering astern at low speed. The rudder only bites going astern once the boat has some way on, and then it can snatch hard over. Hold the wheel or tiller firmly.
Windage forward. The mast, furled genoa and high bow catch the wind. At low speed the bow blows downwind faster than the stern, so a yacht drifting in a crosswind falls off until she lies roughly beam-on or stern to the wind.
The pivot point is roughly a third of the length back from the bow going ahead. When you turn, the stern swings out a long way. Keep the stern clear of pontoons and other boats.

Preparation (Syllabus Item 1)

Safety brief and forecast

Before you leave the berth the assessor expects a short safety briefing to the crew: lifejackets and when to wear them, the MOB equipment, liferaft, flares or other distress alerting, fire extinguishers and the fire blanket, gas and fuel shut-offs, the VHF and how to send a MAYDAY, the first aid kit, and moving safely about the deck. You will also be asked where you got your weather forecast and what it means for the day. Both topics are covered in the lesson Passing the ICC Practical Assessment.

Engine checks, start and cooling

The pre-start checks are the same as for a motor cruiser (see Motor Cruiser Handling): fuel level, engine oil, coolant, raw water seacock open, belts, bilge dry, no leaks, battery switched on. Then:

Gear lever in neutral. If the boat has a kill cord (rare on yachts), attach it.
Preheat (glow plugs) if the engine has them, then start.
Check cooling water is coming out of the exhaust with the exhaust gases within a few seconds. No water means stop the engine and investigate (seacock closed, blocked strainer, failed impeller).
Check the oil pressure and charging warning lights have gone out.
Let the engine warm for a few minutes at fast idle before putting load on it.

Fuel range

You must know roughly how far you can motor. A typical 30 hp yacht diesel burns about 2 to 3 litres an hour at cruising revs. With 80 litres in the tank, keeping a reserve of a third, you have about 53 litres usable, or about 20 hours, which is around 100 miles at 5 knots in calm water. Headwinds and waves can halve that. Fuel gauges on yachts are often unreliable: dip the tank or fill it before you leave.

Warps, fenders and crew roles

Before you cast off, prepare everything for the return too:

Fenders on the side you are lying against, at a height that protects the widest part of the hull. Have one roving fender ready for a crew member to place where it is needed.
Lines led correctly: outside the guardrails and stanchions, through the fairleads, and coiled ready to run.
Roles. Name who handles which line, and agree signals for the helm: who calls "let go", who calls "all aboard". Crew step aboard; they never jump on or off a moving boat.

Departing a Pontoon (Syllabus Item 2)

Read the wind and tide first

Look at the wind direction and strength (flags, the Windex, ripples) and any tidal stream or current along the pontoon (water moving past the pilings, a moored boat's wake). Then decide which way the boat wants to go when you let go. The three common cases:

Situation	What happens when you let go	Usual method
Wind or stream blowing off the pontoon	The boat drifts clear by herself	Let go bow and stern lines, drift off, motor away
Wind or stream along the pontoon	The boat moves along it	Leave into the wind or stream, using it to slow you
Wind or stream blowing onto the pontoon (a lee pontoon or lee wall)	The boat stays pinned	Use a spring to swing the bow or stern out first

Springing the stern out

When you are pinned against a lee pontoon, you cannot simply motor off: the bow will turn out, but the stern will grind along the pontoon because of the pivot point. Springing the stern out first avoids this. The diagram shows the method for a boat lying starboard side to.

Rig the spring. Take a line from the bow, round a cleat on the pontoon well aft (about level with the cockpit), and back to the boat, so it can be slipped from on board. A line led this way is a slip line.
Fender the bow. Put a big fender, or two, right at the bow where it will press on the pontoon.
Brief the crew: who removes the other lines, who slips the spring, and when.
Remove all other lines.
Slow ahead, helm towards the pontoon. The spring stops the boat moving forward, and the prop wash on the rudder pushes the stern away from the pontoon. The boat pivots on the fendered bow.
When the stern is 30 to 40 degrees out (more in a strong wind), go into neutral, slip the spring and pull it aboard quickly so it cannot reach the propeller.
Go astern firmly to back clear of the pontoon. Then go ahead and motor away.

Why it works so well in a typical yacht: if you are lying starboard side to, prop walk astern kicks the stern to port, away from the pontoon. If you are port side to, prop walk astern pulls the stern back towards the pontoon, so you need to come out at a bigger angle and use more power astern.

Springing the bow out

Sometimes the stern is the end you want to keep in, for example when there is a boat close ahead. Rig a spring from the stern, forward to a cleat near the bow, fender the stern quarter well, and go slow astern. The bow swings out. When it is well clear, neutral, slip, and motor ahead. A yacht's bow blows downwind quickly, so in an onshore wind springing the bow out works only if you get the bow out far enough, and then go ahead decisively.

Leaving a pontoon in a crosswind or stream

Off the berth: hold the boat with a midships line while the crew remove the others, then let go and drift clear before you motor ahead. Keep the stern clear of the pontoon as you turn.
Along the berth: leave the line at the upwind or up-tide end until last, so the boat lies quietly. Motor out into the wind or stream if you can; it acts as a brake and gives you steerage at low speed over the ground.

Communicating with the crew

The ICC syllabus lists "communicate effectively with crew" under almost every manoeuvre. In practice that means:

Brief the plan before anyone moves, including what happens if it goes wrong.
Give each person one job.
Use clear, simple calls: "Let go the stern line", "Slip the spring", "All aboard", "Fender to the bow".
Wait for the crew to confirm. A thumbs up or "Done" is enough.
Keep your voice calm; shout only if you must be heard over the wind.

The 360 Degree Turn in a Confined Space (Syllabus Item 3)

Why it is tested

Marinas, especially in the Mediterranean, have narrow fairways between rows of moored boats. You may need to turn round at the end of a dead-end fairway, or turn to go back for a berth you have just passed. The assessor will ask you to turn the boat through a full circle in a space not much more than two boat lengths wide, in control, without hitting anything.

The technique for a right-handed propeller

For a boat whose stern walks to port astern, turn to starboard (clockwise), so that prop walk helps you on every burst astern. The diagram shows the cycle.

Start slowly on the side of the space that gives room to turn to starboard. In wind, start on the upwind side so any drift takes you into the space, not out of it.
Wheel hard to starboard (tiller to port). Give a short, firm burst ahead, for example two seconds at about half throttle. The prop wash hits the rudder and kicks the stern to port and the bow to starboard before the boat gathers much speed.
Neutral. Leave the helm hard over.
Short burst astern. This stops the forward movement, and prop walk pulls the stern further to port. The turn continues.
Neutral, then ahead again, helm still hard over.
Repeat until the boat has come round. Each cycle turns her perhaps 45 to 90 degrees, depending on the boat and the wind.

The secret is short, firm bursts. Long, gentle bursts build up speed ahead or astern and the boat travels instead of turning. Pause briefly in neutral at each change of gear to protect the gearbox.

Using the wind

The hardest part is usually pushing the bow up through the eye of the wind, because the wind on the bow resists it. Make your firmest burst ahead with full helm when the bow is approaching head to wind. Once the bow is past the wind, the wind helps and you may need gentler bursts. If the wind is strong, you can choose to turn the other way so the bow blows downwind with you, even if prop walk then works against you on the bursts astern. Explain your choice to the assessor.

On the day

Ask for a minute in open water first to find which way the boat walks. Put her in neutral, then give a firm burst astern and watch the stern. If it kicks to starboard, the propeller is left-handed and you should turn to port instead. A folding or feathering propeller usually has less prop walk; a saildrive often has less than a shaft drive.

Coming Alongside a Windward Pontoon (Syllabus Item 7)

What "windward pontoon" means

A windward pontoon lies upwind of the boat when you are alongside it. The wind blows off the pontoon, so as you slow down the wind pushes the boat away. This is the harder case: you have to get a line on quickly before the bow blows off. (Coming alongside a leeward pontoon, with the wind blowing onto it, is easier to stop but needs good fendering because the boat lands sideways.)

Preparation

Fenders on the berthing side, at the right height for the pontoon. Pontoons are low, so fenders should sit low; a high quay wall needs them higher.
Lines: bow line, stern line and a midships line (from the midships cleat or a strong point near the shrouds) ready, each cleated on board at one end, led outside everything and coiled. The midships line is the key line on a windward pontoon.
Crew briefing: who steps off, with which line, and where to put it. They step off from the widest point, near the shrouds, when the boat is alongside and nearly stopped. Nobody jumps.
Escape plan: agree that if the approach is wrong you will go round again. Going round is good seamanship, not failure.
Look round. Check for other boats coming out of the fairway, dinghies and swimmers. The syllabus asks you to show awareness of other water users.

The approach

The diagram shows the sequence for a right-handed propeller, port side to.

Angle. Approach at a steeper angle than you would in calm conditions, about 30 to 45 degrees to the pontoon. A shallow angle lets the bow blow off before you arrive.
Speed. Come in a little faster than in calm conditions, because the wind takes speed off quickly. Still slow: no more than a brisk walking pace, about 2 knots.
Aim the bow at a point on the pontoon level with where you want the shrouds to end up.
About a boat length off, go into neutral. As the bow gets close, turn away from the pontoon to bring the boat parallel.
Stop with a short burst astern. With a right-handed propeller and port side to, prop walk pulls the stern in towards the pontoon. Starboard side to, it kicks the stern out, so arrive closer to parallel and use a gentler burst.
Crew step off with the midships line and take a turn round a cleat level with or slightly ahead of the boat's midships cleat.
Hold her alongside. Put the engine slow ahead with the helm turned away from the pontoon. The midships line stops her moving forward and the prop wash pushes the stern in. The whole boat lies quietly alongside while the crew fit the bow and stern lines and springs.
Secure fully (bow line, stern line, springs), adjust the fenders, then stop the engine, which is a syllabus item in its own right.

Securing properly

For an overnight stay, a boat alongside needs four lines: bow line, stern line, a fore spring (from the bow, led aft) and an aft spring (from the stern, led forward). The springs stop the boat surging fore and aft; the bow and stern lines hold her in. Leave a little slack for any tidal rise and fall on a fixed wall; on a floating pontoon the lines can be snug.

Coming alongside in stream or current

Where there is a tidal stream or river current, always berth facing into it. The stream gives you steerage at very low speed over the ground and lets you stop by matching it. A downstream approach is fast and very hard to stop.

Note for Charterers: Stern-To Mooring

In most Mediterranean marinas and town quays you will not lie alongside. You will moor stern-to (or bow-to): stern to the quay, held off by an anchor or a fixed mooring line ahead.

Lazy lines. Many marinas have a light line running from the quay to a heavy ground chain. A crew member picks it up from the quay with a boathook, walks it forward outside everything, and makes the heavy mooring line fast at the bow, pulling it tight.
Own anchor. On town quays you drop your own anchor about three to four boat lengths out (enough for a scope of at least four times the depth with chain), then reverse in, paying out chain, and snub it to hold the bow.
Reversing in. Go astern with enough speed for the rudder to work. Prop walk will try to swing the stern sideways; correct early with the helm and short bursts ahead to straighten. Start your approach upwind of the berth in a crosswind.
Two stern lines go ashore, often crossed, and fenders on both sides because you are squeezed between neighbours.
Expect help from the marina staff on the radio or in a dinghy. Tell them early which side your boat walks.

A charter company's check-in may include a demonstration in the marina. Practise reversing in a straight line before the holiday if you can; it is the skill most charter skippers find hardest. For more on chartering abroad, see the lesson Chartering Abroad with an ICC.

Worked Example

Leaving a lee pontoon and coming back to a windward one

Raj is taking his ICC sail assessment on a 10 metre yacht with a right-handed shaft-drive propeller. He is lying starboard side to a pontoon with a Force 4 wind blowing straight onto it.

Preparation. He briefs the crew and the assessor on safety, quotes the inshore waters forecast he downloaded that morning, and runs the engine checks. After starting he points out the cooling water in the exhaust. "We have 70 litres, about 2.5 litres an hour at 2,000 revs; that's well over 20 hours of motoring, keeping a reserve."

Departure. "The wind's pinning us on, so we'll spring the stern out. Mike, a line from the bow round the cleat by the cockpit and back to the bow cleat as a slip. Jo, the big fender at the bow." He removes the other lines, goes slow ahead with the wheel turned to starboard (towards the pontoon), and the stern swings out. At about 40 degrees: "Neutral. Slip the spring." He waits until Mike calls "Spring aboard", then goes astern. Prop walk kicks the stern further to port, away from the pontoon, and the boat backs out cleanly.

The 360. In the fairway, the assessor asks for a full turn. Raj checks: prop walk is to port, so he turns to starboard. He starts on the upwind side of the fairway. Wheel hard to starboard, two-second bursts ahead, neutral, burst astern, repeat. The bow hesitates head to wind, so he gives a slightly longer burst ahead; once through, the wind helps. She comes round in about one and a half boat lengths.

Return. The assessor names a berth on a windward pontoon, port side to. Raj moves the fenders to port, prepares bow, stern and midships lines, and briefs Jo to step off at the shrouds with the midships line. He approaches at about 40 degrees, a little faster than usual, goes to neutral a length off, turns to starboard to bring her parallel and gives a burst astern; prop walk tucks the stern in. Jo steps off and takes a turn on the cleat. Raj engages slow ahead with the wheel to starboard, away from the pontoon, and the boat lies alongside while Mike fits the bow and stern lines and springs. Only then does he stop the engine.

The assessor's comment: "Good planning and calm calls. Next time tell the crew what we do if the approach goes wrong."

Common Mistakes

Motoring straight off a lee pontoon. The bow comes out, but the stern grinds along the pontoon. Spring the stern out first.
Not fendering the pivot point. When springing off, the bow (or stern) takes all the load against the pontoon. Put the big fender there.
Leaving the spring in the water. Slip it and get it aboard before going astern, or it may wrap round the propeller.
Long bursts of power in the 360. The boat moves instead of turning. Use short, firm bursts.
Turning the wrong way. Turning against prop walk makes the 360 much harder. Check which way the boat walks before the test.
Too shallow and too slow onto a windward pontoon. The bow blows off before the line gets ashore. Steeper angle, a little more speed.
Crew jumping ashore. A sprained ankle or a person in the water. Crew step off when the boat is alongside.
Lines led inside the guardrails or not cleated on board. When the crew step off, the line is caught or the end goes with them.
Stopping the engine too early. Keep it running until the boat is fully secured.
Giving no escape plan. If the approach is wrong, go round again.

Summary

A yacht under engine has a deep keel, a small engine, strong prop walk astern, a bow that blows downwind and a pivot point about a third of the length from the bow.
Preparation: safety brief, forecast, engine checks, start in neutral, check cooling water at the exhaust, and know the fuel range.
Leaving a lee pontoon: spring the stern out with a slip line from the bow led aft, fender the bow, slow ahead with helm towards the pontoon, then neutral, slip and go astern.
The 360: turn the way prop walk helps (to starboard for a right-handed propeller), with the helm hard over and short, firm bursts ahead and astern.
A windward pontoon has the wind blowing off it. Approach at 30 to 45 degrees with a little more speed, stop with a burst astern, get the midships line on first, then motor slow ahead against it with the helm away from the pontoon.
Secure with bow, stern and two springs before stopping the engine.
Abroad, expect stern-to mooring with lazy lines or your own anchor.

Check Your Understanding

You are lying starboard side to a pontoon with the wind blowing you onto it. How do you leave?

Answer: Spring the stern out: rig a slip line from the bow led aft to a cleat on the pontoon, fender the bow well, go slow ahead with the helm towards the pontoon until the stern is 30 to 40 degrees out, then neutral, slip the spring, and go astern clear.

After starting the engine, what must you check, and where?

Answer: That cooling water is coming out of the exhaust with the exhaust gases. No water means stop the engine and investigate.

Your engine burns 3 litres an hour. You have 60 litres and want to keep a third in reserve. Roughly how many hours can you motor?

Answer: About 13 hours (40 usable litres divided by 3 litres an hour).

Your yacht walks the stern to port when going astern. Which way do you turn for a 360 in a fairway, and why?

Answer: To starboard. Each burst astern then kicks the stern to port, which keeps the boat turning the same way.

Why use short, firm bursts of power rather than long, gentle ones in a confined turn?

Answer: A short, firm burst kicks the stern across with the prop wash before the boat gains much speed. Long bursts build speed ahead or astern, so the boat travels instead of turning.

What is a windward pontoon, and why is it harder to come alongside?

Answer: A pontoon upwind of the boat, so the wind blows off it. As you slow down, the wind pushes the boat, and especially the bow, away before a line can be put ashore.

How do you change your approach for a windward pontoon compared with a calm day?

Answer: A steeper angle (about 30 to 45 degrees) and slightly more speed, then a burst astern to stop and a midships line ashore first.

With the midships line on, how do you hold the boat alongside while the other lines are fitted?

Answer: Slow ahead with the helm turned away from the pontoon. The line stops her moving forward and the prop wash pushes the stern in, so she lies alongside.

When do you stop the engine after coming alongside?

Answer: Only once the boat is fully secured with bow and stern lines and springs, and the fenders are adjusted.

In a Mediterranean marina, what is a lazy line?

Answer: A light line from the quay to a heavy ground chain. You pick it up with a boathook, walk it forward and make the heavier mooring line fast at the bow, to hold the bow off while you lie stern-to.