So there I am, approaching my slip for the first time. Wind is 5-10 from the southeast. Slip approach is directly upwind. Very little room to turn in the narrow part of the harbor. Dana is on the bow with a dock line in each hand. The slip looks a little narrow for our 13 foot beam.
I slide the tranny into neutral as we approach at 2 knots, put the helm hard over and spin the nose of the boat into the slip. The bowsprit passes a cool 8 inches from the outermost piling. Dana gasps. I smile. We glide in. I center the rudder, giving myself equal distance between the two pilings.
Uh oh. This slip really is narrow. A starboard fender binds up against a piling. The fender is connected by a light piece of line to the starboard toe rail. 20,000 pounds of boat is stretching the line and crushing the fender against the piling. Something is going to give. I wonder whether the line is strong enough to rip the toe rail off my boat.
PHFFFFTTT! HISSSssssssss.
The fender ruptures and gasses its airy contents into the warm evening sky.
I’m a cruiser now. Pictures to follow.
