T&T: Docking without midships walkway - Single Handing

[Garrett Lambert]

Because I have a 40' Pacific Trawler which I often single-hand, this
issue was top of mind until I found a solution.

What I did was install midship cleats on the narrow side decks, and
then to install small boat hook clips - just the right size for my
5/8" dock lines - on the boat deck overhangs near each pilothouse
door.

What I do has two parts. First I look over the docking situation and
chose which side will be against the dock. Then I stop the boat and
stand off while I set out the fenders and the lines for easy grabbing
from the dock. (If I'm going into a slip, I set fenders on both
sides.) From the boat deck, I can easily drop the eye of a 15 foot
dock line over the cleat, and then press the free end into the clip. I
can do this procedure from start to finish in under 10 minutes,
including fetching the lines from the locker in the aft cockpit.

With everything in place, I pull alongside or into the slip, exit the
pilot house and grab the midships line out of the clip before while
stepping onto the dock, and secure it as quickly as I can.. Since I'm
in the Pacific North West, the common mooring attachment is a bull
rail which means I can loop a single line around it directly opposite
the midship cleat such that that one line controls the boat
beautifully. From this point it's a simple matter to set the "normal"
bow, stern and spring lines. Undocking is just the reverse. It really
is a "no-sweat" operation.

I've thought of an attachable grapple for strong wind and or currrent
coming off the dock, but so far it hasn't been necessary.

Cheers, Garrett