Slip Flip
Have you done a slip-flip? Spun your boat by hand in your marina/berth so that instead of being docked bow to the pier, you’re stern to the pier?
I did it a few times this week for work at the stern of the boat, in essentially still air. Process:
1. Tie a line longer than your boat to the end of the boat you want to pull back into the slip.
2. Ensure that you have shore power and all docking lines detached.
3. Give ‘er a gentle push out into the fairway. Surprising how little effort is required to get a thirty-two moving.
The more momentum you add to the push, the harder it is to arrest for the spin so take it easy.
4. Let the boat clear the end of the slip by at least 3-5 feet. If you try to spin it too early, you’ll bash into your neighbors.
5. Stay at the end of the slip and make sure the rotating ends of the boat clear the slip.
6. Gently guide (pull) the boat back in with the line which is now the near side of the boat.
I’m spoiled with a quad-tie single berth. If I was doubled up with another boat, I would be more cautious or have to invest in more fenders.
Or I could fire up the engine and turn the boat with the motor. But doing it by hand is slicker, I think.
Speed Mods
Careful if you follow me down this road. Amazing increase in hull speed. It’s like adding a foil.
I bought some Viking stickers on e-Bay. Start with a putty knife and a heat gun:
Scrape the surface plastic. Next remove the underlying adhesive:
Buff out the surrounding area. Then clean the compound off, apply the decal and voila, 0.85 kts faster through the water:
Also, my reign of anonymous piracy on the San Francisco bay is over. I bought these boat name stickers from BoatUS. I probably achieved another .5 kts of theoretical hull speed:
Isn’t that a lovely sunset? We’ve had poor wind of late, but some evidence of the divine:
