Advice re berthing....very short pontoon

[Jam]

Hi
Presently on short finger pontoon, boat is Bavaria ocean 38 so boat sticks out a fair bit.  Having difficulty as more often than not wind is blowing off pontoon.  Have been using middle cleat on boat and  spring onto cleat on pontoon which at the end on pontoon, there is no middle cleat on pontoon. Have tried various ways, rope lying  attached to first cleat on pontoon with loop and the opposite attached to middle cleat on boat for crew to secure to cleat on pontoon plus both together just in case.  Problem is I am fairly far into berth before crew can step off but they sometimes they miss the cleat especially with a one which lies on the pontoon permanently as I am too far into berth, my fault.!!!There is little room for error as I am well into berth and near the end before crew can jump off from the widest part of the boat and attatch spring.  Have added a largish pontoon fender for the bow but missed judged it and touched pontoon slightly with bow no damage luckily. Any ideas appreciated, re best practise.  Was thinking about bow fender and adding another pontoon fender?  There are no larger pontoons availabile. Boat has fair amount of windage too which doesn't help.  I am ok in longer pontoons.
Thanks
John

[IslandAlchemy]

Definitely stick a pontoon fender where the bow sits, at least then if you do nudge the bow you won't do any damage.

We use the lassoo method.  Long rope with a loop in one end.  Put the loop through the centre of the midships leat and loop it over the back horn of the cleat.  Make a big lassoo loop with the other end of the loop running round the front horn of the cleat and then back to the sheet winch (only once round) and back to the helm.

As you arrive, get the boat as neat to the end cleat on the finger as you can and stop the boat. Get your crew to throw the lassoo over the finger cleat (and then pull in the slack to make sure it doesn't slip over the top). You also pull the slack out.  Once you get the thumbs-up that it's on, motor forwards gently, with the helm full over (trying to turn the bows away from the finger), whilst easing the rope on the winch as you go.  You will creep forwards and as you do the boat will straighten up.

Get your crew to call the bow distance, and when you are in, stick another turn on the winch and lock it in the self-tailer (leaving the engine in forwards and the helm hard over).  The boat will now sit there for as long as you want, while you both get off and tie up.

The rope you used to get in can then also be used as a spring by simply removing it from the winch and tying it off at the miship cleat.

Hope that helps

Bob

[Neil]

I'm not entirely clear about the details of your issue from your description.

My boat (Bavaria 39 2006) has a fair amount of windage as well due to the relatively high freeboard. The bow will tend to blow off and this is the key and it depends on the strength of the wind.

It may be worth trying reversing in, you can go in fairly hard with practice. One advantage with reversing is you can easily judge the end of the pontoon. The stern can then be easily attached, as the bow starts to blow off, without the need for a crew member (or yourself if single handed) trying to jump a gap. In my view this is the biggest risk. Fenders should be set up in advance.

A warp attached to the mid-ships cleat and left down at the stern can then be quickly taken onto the pontoon and attached to a cleat to prevent the bow blowing off further. The rest can then be sorted out. This is not a particularly tidy method, but avoids the necessity of trying to lasso a midships warp  (run from the midships cleat in a loop a back to a winch) onto a cleat on the pontoon under pressure as the boat blow off the pontoon, though this would be my preferred method when conditions permit.

[Yngmar]

I use the same method as IslandAlchemy, except without crew, so I slow the boat down once far enough in, step out of the cockpit, drop the loop over the cleat, pull it tight on the winch and then adjust helm and throttle. Picked this up from the Duncan Wells' excellent book, Stress-free sailing, and the method works well.

Instead of pontoon fenders, I'd go for a shaped bow fender such as this:

[Laysula]

Similar situation. Short pontoon and blown off. We use a dedicated length spring from the centre cleat on board with a large loop to drop on the end pontoon cleat. This  prevents the bow touching the main walkway. we use a long sternline also with a large loop in it for the end cleat on the pontoon with the boat end round the winch and resting by the helm Also a longish bow line. as the helm brings the boat in I can stand midships with the spring and stern loops in one hand and the bow in the other. once I am close enough to step off both spring and stern loops are dropped over the end cleat and the helm pulls the sternline tight whilst I keep the bow in and tie off.Sounds complicated but works really well for us.

[Symphony]

If this is your home berth then might be better to have the spring on the end pontoon cleat permanently attached. When leaving drop it onto the finger in such a way that it has a loop sticking up. Make the spring the exact length so that it will stop the bow from hitting the end. Then as you go in your crew can pick it up with a boat hook and put it over the cleat on the boat. No drama, no jumping off and boat always under control. Refinement is to put a pole with a hook on the top to take both the spring and the stern line which can be picked up as the boat goes past.

I used that method single handed with my old 37 very successfully. Now, though with my new 33 I go in backwards until the stern almost touches the walkway, pick up a stern line with a boat hook. Once that is on the boat can be held in to the pontoon by putting in gear with the rudder over (although I have a bow thruster which makes it easier). All lines, which are made to exact length with loops are permanently on the pontoon, so easy to walk round the boat picking them up and drop over the cleats.

[abouttime]

I agree with the reverse in, stern line, forward gear approach. But if you are permanently, or at least annually, at the marina, why not get them to fit a cleat halfway along the catway/short pontoon? That way, a line from bow cleat to forward cleat on pontoon, then up to deck centre cleat, back to pontoon centre cleat and then to stern cleat, should keep things tight. I'm in Canet, prone to the Tramontane and its kept my boat safe for a couple of years. I should add that I also use double stern lines and double the lines too from end of pontoon to the bow - because I need to really.

[Jam]

Thanks for all your advice. Lot of good ideas, I think I am on the right track, but info will help modify further.  May try from the centre cleat and back to winch with loop on end of spring as suggested.  Plus bow fender as Ygnmar suggested also, have pontoon fender at front and on corner already.  Also need to improve my skills with boat further as it fairly new to me, so tricky with short pontoon.
John