Hafenskipper 2 Manual: Harbor Maneuvers

4. Harbor Maneuvers

Note on fenders: Hafenskipper 2 does not simulate fenders so keep in mind that you need to prepare an move your fenders docking the ship in real life.

4.1         Stop & Go

During the Stop & Go exercise the ship is stopped so it does not make any way through the water. It is important to exercise this maneuver to be able to reliably estimate the distance needed to bring the ship to a halt at any given speed.

If the boat is moving forward, engage the reverse gear and give thrust until the boat comes to a halt. Also, the boat should not move much sideways.

Figure: Practising to stop the boat

4.2         Turn in close quarters

Why do we need to train the turn maneuver in tight spots? If you find yourself in a tight spot and want to get out, you could simply reverse out of the spot. One reason to train this maneuver is, to be able to align the ship for parking in close quarters.

Figure: Turning in close quarters

Turn as you would do with a car going back and forth multiple times. Be careful to always have enough space to maneuver.

A ship with prop walk can turn easier in one direction than the other. The easy direction is the one that is supported by the prop walk in reverse.

4.3         Dock at the pier

To dock at the pier with no wind and current present, you just drive towards the pier at a 45° angle, then shortly before you reach the pier, you turn parallel to the pier and use the inertia of the ship to drift the last meter to the pier. Here are the steps in detail:

  1. Drive towards the pier at a 45° angle.
  2. About 2 boat lengths in front of the pier, go into neutral.
  3. About 1 boat length in front of the pier, turn the wheel fully to get parallel.
  4. Steer straight / counter steer to keep the boat parallel.
  5. Engage reverse to get the longitudinal speed of the ship to zero.
  6. Let the boat drift to the pier – you’re done.
Figure: Dock at the pier

 

4.4         Undock from the pier

The ship is parked at the pier and you want to drive off. However, you can freely maneuver the ship only when the ship is away from any other object. Often it is best to first get the stern off the pier and then back away from the pier in reverse. Especially, if there is onshore wind, this maneuver helps you to get the ship clear of the pier. Have enough fenders around the bow.

  1. Turn the rudder to the pier, and give forward thrust for a short time. The stern will turn away from the pier.
  2. Set the rudder straight and put in reverse to move away from the pier.

In windy situations you may use a spring line to hold the bow in position while you are turning away the stern. This can be practiced in the free running mode.

Figure: Undock from the pier

4.5         Dock at the pier with wind

The previous training levels were designed to train the basic maneuvers under ideal conditions. With the following two levels, you can train to dock the ship at the pier while offshore or onshore wind is blowing.

When docking against the wind, you approach the pier at a sharper angle than without wind. You go into neutral gear later using the higher speed to turn and align the ship with the pier quicker. Generally, if you do the maneuver quicker, the wind will have less time to move the boat away. 

Docking with tail wind should only be tried when there is just a light wind. With strong wind, you need to find a different location to dock against the wind or with wind from the side. With strong tail wind, there is the danger to lose control of the ship and to collide with the pier with too much speed.

With light tail wind, approach the pier at a smaller angle. Turn the ship parallel to the pier earlier so that you align and stop the boat a small distance away from the pier. Then, wait for the wind to move you to the pier. There are other maneuvers to dock with tail wind, that might be safer depending on the winds.

Usually you have on-shore wind at the day and off-shore wind in the night, here’s why:

On-shore wind (wind from the sea)

At daytime, the air heats up quicker on land than on water. The warm air ascends above the land and draws air from the sea onto the land. Therefore, wind blows from the sea onto the land. Usually the on-shore wind starts before noon. 

Off-shore wind (wind from the land)

In the night it goes the other way. Water stores more heat than the land and the warmer air above the sea ascends and draws air from the land.  The wind blows off the shore from land to the sea.

4.6         Dock with bow line

In this training level we want to dock while we are having a stronger off-shore wind. We use a bow line to dock at the pier:

This maneuver does not work well with the sailing yachts. First, you can’t use the prop wash around the rudder to turn the stern as you are going reverse. Secondly, the yachts are long and relatively thin. This means when going reverse, you are mainly pulling on the line, but you are not creating a lot of momentum to turn the yacht around the bollard towards the pier. For the sailing yachts the maneuvers described next are more suitable.

Figure: Catamaran docks with bow line

4.7         Dock with spring line

As in the previous level, we want to dock while having a stronger off-shore wind. This time we use a spring line to dock at the pier:

  1. Before docking we need to prepare fenders especially for the bow. Approach the bollard/cleat and attach the line to be used as a spring line.
  2. Lock the line and go forward slowly to avoid jolting.
  3. Steer away from the pier to turn the stern to the pier.
Figure: Catamaran docks with spring line

4.8         Park in the slip

To park the ship in a slip, you stop the boat perpendicular to the slip so that the bow is on the same height as the front of the slip. Bring the ship to a complete stop. Any remaining forward motion would result in the ship drifting after you have turned into the slip. This is especially important for the motor boats without a keel.

Next, turn the ship parallel to the slip in one move. The ship should be located directly in front of the slip. If necessary, do a reverse move to align the boat. Then drive into the slip. 

Figure: Park in a box

4.9         Park in the slip with light cross wind

To park in a slip with light cross wind, you need to adapt two things:

  • Maneuver quicker. The quicker you go, the less time the wind has to move the ship away.
  • When driving into the slip, adjust the heading of the ship in the direction of the cross wind to compensate for the drift, see the screenshot. The stronger the wind and the slower the ship, the more you need to turn the bow into the wind.
Figure: Drive with a correction angle to compensate cross wind

At stronger winds you should work with mooring ropes, so that you can always control the movement of the boat. You can train this in the free running mode and one training level. Especially for these scenarios however, we recommend you to learn the maneuvers at a professional driving school.

4.10    Slip reverse using spring lines

In this level, we park the ship in reverse using spring lines to align the ship in the box.

This maneuver is a good way to park single-handedly as you can control both spring lines and the engine at the helm.

Drive backwards into the slip. While the stern passes the poles, put the spring lines around the poles. Now you can let the springs out in a controlled way to go further into the slip and continuously be able to align the ship.

The following steps are not required to complete the training level, but you can try it in the free running modes:

  • After you have arrived and aligned the ship in the slip, you can start to tie up the ship. While the engine is still running in reverse, bring out the stern lines and secure them.
  • When you have secured the stern lines, you can engage the forward gear. The stern lines will now hold the boat in place.
  • Disconnect the spring lines and tie up the bow to the poles.
Figure: Slip reverse using spring lines

4.11    Turn around pile into slip with wind

With stronger winds perpendicular to the slip, you can use the leeward pole to turn the ship into the slip.  

Position the ship next to the lee-ward pole and connect a spring line from the pole to the stern.  Turn the ship around the pile using the spring line and the engine in reverse. The bow is turned through the wind which gives you good control over the turn movement.

All steps in detail:

  • Position the ship next to the lee-ward pole.
  • Connect a spring line from the stern to the pole. Turn the ship through the wind with the engine in reverse gear.
  • Let the spring out to move the ship backwards into the slip. When you pass the windward pole midship, connect a spring to the pole. Use both spring lines to control the movement of the ship.
  • When you are near to the pier, bring out and secure the windward stern line. When the stern line is secured, you can engage the forward gear. Adjust the forward thrust so that the ship is held just by the stern line. Now you can connect the bow to the windward pole and remove the spring lines.
  • After securing the windward lines, bring out the leeward lines.
Figure: Sailing yacht turn around pile into slip with wind

4.12    Extras – Turn around at pier

Turning the ship at the pier can be done with or without the support of lines.

Figure: Dinghy turns around at pier

4.13    Harbor Tours

In the “harbor tour” levels you can proof that you can handle a whole sequence of maneuvers flawlessly. Within the “Duck Race” you can put your skills to the test to maneuver in close quarters. Have fun!

At the beginning of the exercise you’ll get 1000 points. If you reach an intermediate goal, you’ll get bonus points. Exceeding the speed limit or colliding with objects decreases your amount of points. If the points are down to zero, or the time is up, the exercise is cancelled. If you successfully reach the goal, you will get extra points for the time left on the clock.

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