Docking: trials and tribulations

Docking.

It's the worst part of sailing because it comes with an audience. 

As a wife, you can't win. If you take the position that you're not going to help because it's his boat and his hobby, you come off as a princess or a useless human being. I am neither, but I will tell you what I am. I am a very short person with unusually short legs, weak arms, poor balance, bad spacial perception and no sense of direction. None of these make for great docking material.

There are a couple of classic Norwegin videos covering docking.

Here is the nightmare: TA IMOT!

So far, we have been lucky to be approached by people waiting on the pier to catch a rope and help so that I have not had to make the leap. I have not had to do much other than get the ropes attached to the boat, fender it up, throw the ropes and wait as Reidar does everything else. It makes me feel a little useless, but I can live with that. Before this trip, the only time I actually jumped onto the dock and tied us off went badly, and that was with other crew on board. I let the rope slack too much and we scraped a brand-new gas tank at a fueling station.

Then, the day before yesterday, we made the decision to pull in to Seilmakerfruens Kro in Lyngør for lunch and before I had too much time to think about anything other than the lobster gratin and a cold beer, I did jump off onto the deck and set the rope. Calmly and correctly. I was so proud of myself. This was an easy dock and there was no wind. Still, a definite win. 

So, yesterday when we came into Stavern in wind I positioned myself in the middle of the boat, swung around the rigging and stood ready do jump with a rope in my hands. Nervous as hell and with the crowd gathered to see Ed Sheeran at the Stavern Festival watching. Well, it probably was more like one self-satisfied chick who fenders in a bikini sitting there with her glass of wine watching from a distance. Most of the people for the festival were in fact at the festival.

Reidar maneuvered the boat pretty close to the pier, but not close enough for me to be confident to jump. "Clare, come back," he said. "I'm going to try another place." So, let it be said that the guy does never want me to risk falling into the water or even doing anything he or I am uncomfortable with. That's love and that is also a great thing to know. However, this is how we ended up in the dangerous position that we did last night. 

So, there are some things I can work on from that list.

1) I could lift some weights and work on my arm strength. My son actually made me instructional videos for these types of exercises, but it turns out that watching the vidoes is not enough.

2) I could keep working on my balance. In truth, I do hike regularly in terrain and I can't imagine how bad my balance would be if I didn't, and if I hadn't taken up figure skating as a child.

3) I can learn more about wind direction and how it affects the boat. I have really been content to just let Reidar tall me what to do, but I am getting to the point where it would not be so stupid to actually start thinking. That should help to make up for the lack of sense of direction. 

Soon, I will be docking in style like this.

Alternatively, I could see if Johnny Depp is available. He did such a great job in Pirates of the Caribbean.