First Solo Docking

Astraea at anchor in Half Moon Bay.  She never fails to take my breath away when I see her. 

In Joshua Slocum’s book, “Sailing Alone Around the World”, Slocum tells about his first time as a solor sailor docking his new sloop.  He described how his “heart was in his stomach” as he approached the pier.  Granted that Slocum was landing a sailboat, without an engine, alongside a pier.   

I will admit that 114 years after Slocum the addition of a powerful new Westerbeke engine makes Astraea much easier to handle than a boat like Slocum’s.  However despite the advantage of diesel power I was, like Slocum, nervous taking Astraea alongside an unfamiliar pier and docking her alone.  I made a slow approach, came close alongside the fuel dock, backed the engine slightly to slow her forward movement, and leaped ashore.  Now this was an unnatural feeling, to jump from my boat onto the pier with nobody left aboard her.  However as soon as I landed on the dock I grabbed her amidships spring line and made it fast  to a cleat on the dock, then moved forward quickly to secure the bow line.  The stern was too far out to reach the stern line, so I jumped back aboard, grabbed the stern line, and then leaped ashore again, line in hand.  Of course I had run the line incorrectly so had to jump back aboard, rerun the stern line and then jump back ashore.  Within a total of about two minutes or less I had gotten my morning exercise and Astraea was fast to the fuel dock. 

We topped off both fuel tanks and headed back out to our anchorage for another night in Half Moon Bay. 

I must admit that I left San Francisco pretty fast, and just threw my provisions (food) on board.  The rest of the afternoon was spent properly preparing Astraea ready for sea, securing everything loose, and stowing all the provisions and other loose items in their proper places.