Bow in or stern in at your dock/slip ?

[baz]

Many boats at my marina dock their boats bow in. Few dock stern in.

For many of the boats that are bow in their bowsprit and/or anchor juts out far enough such that it overhangs the dock's walkway and becomes a hazard to boaters as they pass by -- much like bicycle holders do on the rear of cars in parking lots. I suspect these boats are trying to maximize their slips length so they don't poke out into the water-ways that boats traverse to get to open waters.

I mention this as my grandson happen to hit his head on one of these overhanging anchors as the anchor was just right at his head height. It was not pleasant at all.

I found a piece of red cloth and attached it to the offending anchor in the hope it would avoid another head bashing incident and to alert the boat owner about the danger.

Our Marina is always discussing this aspect in their monthly news letter.

Which way do you dock your boat in your slip ?

 

[lashobe]

I dock bow in Barry for just the reason you mention, it allows me to be in a 35' slip with dinghy on the swim platform. Regarding the safety hazard the Edmonds marina rule is the bow anchor pulpit may not extend beyond the electrical boxes which are on the pier. That at least minimizes a safety risk. I have observed though that many boats with a sharp vee hull protrude well beyond the electrical box. Since the marina is vigilant in enforcing less important rules you might want to point this out to them.

Lee

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Barry, we typically bow in for easy access to our dinghy as well as we can sit in our cockpit and have a nice view of the water with the buffer of the channel between docks for a bit of privacy. When docked with our stern in we feel obliged to talk with anyone and everyone who may be walking the docks which is fine most times but sometimes the privacy is nice to have.

Jim F

 

[Bruce Moore]

In our home marina, we use a bow in starboard tie. Some moorages lend themselves to exiting and boarding Moondance by stepping over the gunwale using the R-29's gull wing steps. But, our dock makes using the swim step and cockpit door more convenient. A stern in tie would block this access, given the position of the tender stand-offs.

We have a 36' slip which easily accommodates our R-29's overall length, and have had davits installed on the dock which position the boat, anchor and all, well inside the boundaries of the dock.

Cheers

 

[baz]

With our slip I always bring the boat in stern first. The primary reason is to avoid the anchor overhang issue plus my dock then becomes situated on my starboard side and this makes it easy for me to position the boat precisely up against the dock side using short bursts of bow/stern thrusters. This makes it a one-man operation for me which is important as 1st mate has a balance and mobility handicap. As we have a Portland Pudgy on our swim step seeing where the dock walkway is becomes an issue... however, I deal with this with a marker on the dock which I line up with my helm position to ensure there's no collision. Our dock is covered and is well sheltered from wind and rain so docking is really quite easy. The downside is that when I have to dock elsewhere where conditions can be very different my docking experience will be lacking.

1st mate and I are somewhat averse to sunshine... we got too much of it while in New Zealand, Atlanta and North Carolina years ago. So sitting in our cockpit with boat stern in suits us down to the ground. The Portland Pudgy provides us with sufficient privacy with just our heads poking up for all passers to see... :lol: and our two Wire Hair Fox Terriers provide full entertainment for all passers. 😉 ...another added feature for the way we dock is that we expose our wonderful Pudgy's sunset yellow bottom with our boat's name and hailing port labeling on it to all passers. :lol:

We are situated in a slip that handles two boats. It's wide enough so that if I need to lower the Pudgy to use it around the Marina I can do so by easing the Pudgy out between our boat and my neighbours boat. I do have to pull our boat out temporarily to lower the Pudgy and unhook the davits mind you.

 

[Barry Cohen]

No finger slips at our marina. Stern to is a must.

 

[commander bill]

I am so used to backing in for "stern in" that I do not think about the other option. Most slips on upper Tennessee have finger peers so either option is open. However, many chose to back into their slip. Many boqts have home-made ramps from the dock to their swim platform so stern in works well for those. Some marinas are located in shallow areas where the water level can get low in winter when TVA drops lake levels. In those affected slips the boats often are reversed to help with clearance to bottom.

 

[eric]

I usually get in sorta sideways.. :lol: Stern first if I try hard enough :mrgreen:

 

[Stella Maris]

Other than the obvious that Barry pointed out, boats being pulled to far forward when bow in, there is another that many people do not think about. Statistically, boats that are bow in are more often burglarized than a vessel that is stern in. Since most low life scum (another name for those people that mess with other peoples boats...), like to use the door, they tend to look for a door that is not so visible..... Stern in makes your boat less of a target.

 

[commander bill]

Another consideration. In my area many of the Marina thiefs that rob you actually come into the marinas at night with small man operated boats (this avoids much of the video security and live-ons which observe strangers). They paddle up to baots and load up your goodies. I am no expert but I would think a Bow-in boat would be more vunerable. Maybe this practice is not used elsewhere but is common on upper Tennessee.