Leaving a berth The simple case


If there isn’t a lot of wind or tide, the best way off a berth for a small yacht or boat is to drop her lines and shove her bow off. Unless she is ‘houses high’ like some motorboats or very large yachts, to do more than this is to be pedantic and to make work.


The weather berth (blowing onshore)


With strong onshore winds, only the smallest craft will be able to shove off effectively. The answer now lies in the spring lines. If all ropes but one spring are removed and the engine is run against that spring with a fender suitably in place, the opposite end of the boat will be levered off the dock. Thus, going astern against a stern spring forces the bow off, vice-versa with a bow spring. Once the relevant end is far enough away from the wall, the line can be taken in and the boat driven out (fig 1).


Spring Lines – Bow or stern? The advantage of a stern spring is that the boat steers out of the berth going ahead. She is thus immediately under full control. For most single-screw motor craft, this is therefore generally the best option. So too for sailing vessels, except that many of these have so much windage forward from the mast that it is hard to spring the bow off. For them a bow spring can be more effective. The bow spring has the additional advantage that water is being thrown at the rudder by the engine running ahead. This means you can steer the stern away from the dock, and double the effectiveness of the spring line.


It’s ‘horses for courses’, but so long as you understand which line does what and their relative benefits, you won’t go far wrong (fig 2).


Slip line


Slip line


fig 1 74 | MANUAL OF SEAMANSHIP


fig 2


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