SEAMANSHIP CH.

5
BOAT HANDLING
REFERENCES: Chapmans and AUX study guide

RESPONDING TO THE LAWS OF

PHYSICS
1. Discovering the relationship between the laws of
physics and boat behavior can be perplexing.
2. No two boats respond the same even under
identical circumstances.
3. Successful boat handling requires PRACTICE,
PRACTICE and MORE PRACTICE.

ABILITY TO STEER WELL

HELMSMANSHIP
1. Cannot be mastered from a book or in a classroom.
2. Involves your reaction - response to the entire boat
and its total environment including the weather.
3. You must attain the basics of performance from
hands on experience in order to fully understand and
master the helm.

SECRET OF GOOD
HELMSMANSHIP
1. KNOW YOUR BOAT
2. Take it easy on anothers boat until you
get the feel and KNOW THEIR BOAT
3. Practice, practice and practice some more.

BASIC TERMINOLOGY
INBOARD OUTBOARD I/O THRUST PROPELLER

1. INBOARD: Engine mounted within the hull

2. OUTBOARD: Engine mounted on the transom and detachable.
3. I/O: Combination of inside and outside.
4. THRUST: Force moving the boat through the water, gained by a
propeller.
5. PROPELLER: A screw which, when rotating. draws in water
from ahead and pushes it out astern

TERMINOLOGY Contd
SINGLE/TWIN SCREW AUXILIARY INBOARD OUTBOARD
1. SINGLE SCREW: Boat with one propeller
2. TWIN SCREW: Boat with two propellers.
3. AUXILIARY: Sailboat fitted with an engine
4. INBOARD: Fixed direction of thrust, only changed by rudder
action.
5. OUTBOARD OR I/O: Direction of thrust is changed by
rotating the engine. Change of direction of thrust is the
rudder.

TERMINOLOGY Contd
STEERING THRUST RUDDER PORT STARBOARD

1. STEERING: Accomplished by CHANGING direction of thrust.

2. CHANGING THRUST DIRECTION:
A. By rudder action
By changing engine direction of outboard or I/O lower unit.
REMEMBER: PORT and STARBOARD sides are fixed, no
matter which heading you have.

TERMINOLOGY Contd
HEADWAY STERNWAY TURNINGRIGHT/LEFT RUDDER

1. MAKING HEADWAY: Going forward in the water

2. MAKING STERNWAY: When backing down.
3. TURNING TO PORT: Bow is moving to the left.
4. TURNING TO STARBOARD: The bow moves to the right.
5. RIGHT OR LEFT RUDDER: Direction the bow turns to.

TERMINOLOGY Contd
RIGHT/LEFT HAND PROPELLERS
SINGLE/TWIN ENGINES
1. RIGHT HAND PROPELLER: Screws through the water in a
clockwise rotation, looking at the transom from the stern. LEFT
HAND( the opposite).
2. Most single engine boats have RIGHT HAND props o n them.
3. TWIN ENGINED: Usually have counter-rotating props to offset
torque with RIGHTHAND prop on starboard, left hand prop on
port side. Without counter-rotating props vessel would be almost
impossible to steer.

SUCTION SCREW CURRENT

1. SUCTION: Incoming water current FROM forward of
the propeller
2. DISCHARGE: Outgoing current aft of the propeller
3. RUDDER(S) are placed in the center of the
DISCHARGE flow and the current of water rushing by
produces a pressure on the rudder blade which controls
the direction of the boat moving in the water.
4. NOTE: RUDDER(S) are ONLY EFFECTIVE, when the
boat moves through the water.

SUCTION SCREW CURRENT

PROPELLERS
1. RIGHT-HANDED: View from
stern. Propeller is turning
CLOCKWISE ( NOTE
OUTSIDE TIP AT TOP)
2. LEFT-HANDED: Turning
COUNTER-CLOCKWISE.

LEFT HAND / RIGHT HAND

PROPELLERS

Prop Walk

PROPELLERS
TORQUE, EQUAL / UNEQUAL BLADE THRUST
When moving foreword, RIGHTHAND props produce
GREATER thrust to starboard at the stern AND
LEFTHAND props produce Greater thrust to Port at the
stern.
ALL PROPELLERS RELY ON SMOOTH FLOW OF
WATER for max efficiency.

EFFECT OF TORQUE BY SINGLE

SCREW RIGHT HAND TURNING
PROPELLER MOVING FORWARD
1. TORQUE will move the stern to
the right.
2. ALWAYS visualize the
DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT
OF THE TOP of the prop for
DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT
OF STERN.

HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS
PLANING Vs. DISPLACEMENT HULLS

1. HEAVY BUILT: Displacement, load carrying hulls.

Stable. Slower.
2. LIGHTER BUILT: Planing; Sport hulls. Shallower
draft. Much faster. Less stable.
3. BOTH: Handle completely differently, especially in
heavy weather
4. PLANING hulls revert to displacement hulls at low
speeds.

HANDLING Contd
WINDCURRENT Vs. HULL TYPES

1. HANDLING: ALL HULLS affected by WIND and

CURRENT.
2. HIGH BOWS: Tend to fall off the wind NO MATTER
what is done to prevent it, especially at low speeds.
3. CURRENT: Biggest reaction factor in all hull types.
4. DISPLACEMENT HULL: Current greatest affecting
factor

HANDLING Contd
EXPOSED HULL AREA Vs. WIND DRAFT
CURRENT
1. The more structure above the water, the more effect
from wind.
2. The deeper the draft, the more effect from current.
3. Effect of current is greater than effect of wind on
displacement hulls.
4. Effect of wind greater than current on planing hulls.

MOORING LINES
BOW TO STERN
1. BOW LINE: Stops the bow from moving aft
2. BOW BREAST: Stops the bow from moving outward from the
dock.
3. AFTER BOW SPRING: Stops the boat from moving foreword
4. FOREWARD QUARTER SPRING: Stops the boat from moving
back
5. STERN BREAST: Stops the stern from moving out from the
dock
6. STERN LINE: Stops the stern from moving foreword

MOORING LINES

animation

TURNING THE RUDDER OR ENGINE

MANEUVERING TWIN SCREW

BOAT

SPRING LINES

SPRINGING OR WARPING INTO

1. WARPING: Bend a mooring line to a bow cleat and pass it to a
person on the dock to secure it to a cleat or bit.
2. Shorten the line on the boat side to suit and cleat it off.
3. If youve done this on the starboard side, put the rudder to
PORT and give the engine moderate power AHEAD.
4. The left rudder will swing the bow out.
5. The power will move the boat ahead until it is stopped by the
mooring line
6. The shortened mooring line will force the hull into the dock and
stop its forward motion.

SPRINGING INTO THE DOCK

Take It...

CLICK

With Wind or Current From the

Dock
DEPLOY FENDERS
Approach the dock slowly at a fairly
sharp angle (about 45 degrees)
At the dock, shift into neutral and
secure a bow line
Turn hard in the direction away from
the dock
Slowly go forward against the bow
CLICK
line
The stern will move toward the dock

ANIMATION

WITHOUT WIND OR CURRENT

DEPLOY FENDERS
Approach the dock at a very slight
angle (10 to 20 degrees)
When the bow is close to dock, shift
into reverse to slow headway
Ease into the landing
CLICK

ANIMATION

Into the Wind or Current

DEPLOY FENDERS
Approach the dock at a slight angle
(20 to 30 degrees)
When the boat is close to the dock,
turn the boat so that it is parallel to
the dock
Put the bow line over first
The stern will then swing into the
landing
CLICK

ANIMATION

With Wind or Current Astern

DEPLOY FENDERS
Approach the dock at a slight angle
When the bow is close, use reverse
to slow headway
Make fast the stern line
Make fast the bowline
THIS APPROACH IS VERY DIFFICULT
AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED
Be ready to use reverse gear at all
times
CLICK

WIND

TOUGH !!!

AVOID !!!

With Wind or Current Toward the

Dock
DEPLOY FENDERS
Approach parallel to the dock
Shift into neutral
Let the wind and the current carry
the boat into the dock
CLICK

ANIMATION

SPRINGING OR WARPING OUT

STERN FIRST
1. RIGHT rudder
2. SHORT after bow spring, well cleated on both ends
3. RIGHT RUDDER to swing the stern away from the dock
4. LOW power to move the BOAT out from the dock.
5. Short spring will stop the outward motion and swing the hull on
the forward cleat to a position almost perpendicular to the dock.
6. Release the dockside spring line.
7. Youre on your way in reverse.

SPRINGING AWAY FROM DOCK

STERN FIRST

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 1

1. The part of the current that flows into the
propeller is called the ___ _____ _____.
a. back lash current
b. back tide current
c. suction screw current
d. post screw current

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 2

2. When a right-handed propeller is turning
clockwise, the boat will go _________.
a. forward
b. backward
c. to the right
d. to the left

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 3

3. The stern of a single screw boat with a left hand
propeller tends to go _______when the propeller is
reversing.
a. to starboard
b. to port
c. ahead
d. up

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 4

4. When the rudder is put over, the stern is _____
the direction the rudder moves.
a. kicked toward
b. kicked away from
c. kicked in
d. not affected by

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 5

5. When backing a single screw inboard with a
right-handed propeller and rudder amidship, the
stern will___________
a. go to starboard
b. track straight back
c. drift to starboard
d. move to port

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 6

6. The mooring line that keeps the boat from going
ahead is the _____
a. Bow line
b. Forward spring
c. Breast
d. after bow spring

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 7

7. By going ahead on one engine while reversing
the other enables a twin screw vessel to_______
a. turn in a much wider area
b. turn within its own length
c. turn within 1/3 of its own length
d. back easier

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 8

8. Getting away from a dock, when the boat is
being set into it by the wind, generally
requires
using_____________.
a. an after bow spring line
b. a breast line
c. a boat hook
d. a stern line

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 9

9. Breast lines are set ________ the boats hull.
a. parallel to
b. next to
c. perpendicular to
d. at 45 deg. angles to

REVIEW QUESTIONS NO. 10

10. The discharge current of the propeller is always
located on _______
a. the down current side of the propeller
b. the up current side of the propeller
c. behind the propeller
d. ahead of the propeller

END CHAPTER 5