LandingLoop for Docking

[SkiDeep2001]

Don't know if this has been seen here before, it's patent pending, but looks like it could be very useful. http://www.landingloop.com/ Rob

[blue angel]

I have one and it works great, recommend it for the m model, put somone on the front and they can catch a cleat, run the line around the bow pulpit and back to the winch, then use the line as a srping line from the front, power forward, turn away from the dock in forward to snug the stern into the dock, also works in reverse with a bit different set up.

[aya16]

gadgets are no sub for skill, when approaching a dock with the mac your speed should be almost zero, we put the mac in neutral a good 25 yards from the dock and we are only going about a knot or less when that happens, the rudders on the mac will control the boat nicely with any momentum, better than any power boat. Once lined up to the side of the dock we scrub off any remaining speed with the engine in reverse.

I think that landing loop would be ok, as long as people dont depend on them as the only way to dock. But the negatives I see are above and the fact you cant use the motor, steer, and that item all by yourself.
Plus storing it, it wont help in picking up a mooring wand or coming along side a buddy. Skill and practice is the best way to do these things. Watch a large party fishing boat come into the dock sometime, the skill of the captain puts the boat right next to the dock at zero speed, crew members get off and tie her up. In heavy winds blowing our boat down the dock, I stop the boat with the engine in reverse step off the mac, I tie the stern first then the bow then go back and pull the stern all the way in. Both bow and stern lines are as long as the boat.

If someone has the skill to do all the above they dont need the landing loop on a normal dock. These kinds of gadgets are made for the new boaters, if in a tuff situation we all carry a expandable boat hook right?
It will grab a cleat or fend off another boat, mine is attached to the mast crutch with quick disconnects, in 5 years I probably only needed it 5 times, but when I did I really did.

Besides whats wrong with the old fashion way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwRQldaK ... re=related

Plus gadgets like that prevent alot of this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS_ec1jY ... re=related and then all the fun's gone..
Mike

[kmclemore]

Don't know if this has been seen here before....

Yep!

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... op#p146443

[Divecoz]

Two rather young fellows show how its done here....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHT-0llFVVs&NR=1

[Highlander]

Or try this !

No dock lines required

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOciHcMK ... re=related

[aya16]

The problem with u tube is when someone links something to it, I end up watching lots of stuff for an hour or so.
Mike

[Québec 1]

The problem with u tube is when someone links something to it, I end up watching lots of stuff for an hour or so.
Mike

Yeah me too . Just finished watching(My time) try out his autopilot for the first time...jibbed it and everything!
Q1

[dutchwinter]

I think that the landing loop is a good idea maybe, but there's an alternative that's much cheaper and can be used with your regular boat hook WM Model #: 8561300 at west marine, its called a dock line holding tool, and with your telescoping boat hook, it should be just as effective as the landing loop, but without the added space needed. As a major benefit with the dock line holder, you can make your loop as big or small as you want. that's what i got, and i like it.

[pokerrick1]

What Mike (Aya 16) said I think he said it best

Rick

[blue angel]

regarding the concept of[quote]coasting in from a ways out at less than one knot[/quote], I would like to see a video of some one who considers him self quite skilled doing that with 26 m with a 30 knot 90 degree cross wind into a narrow slip with obstacles around

I wouldnt argue that there is no replacment for boat handling skills, and I don't use the landing loop most of the time, would not need it for the conditions aya describes, but there are times when the tool is very handy for a difficult task at hand, and I don't think it is either used only by beginners or is only a gadget. it is simply a tool that is very handy for certain tasks, and like most tools is not used when not needed, and some who cruise extensively and in all kinds of difficult wind and/or current conditions use it on macgregors, not just inept beginners.

the macgregor 26 m is so light and has so much windage above water, that it is more difficult to handle in certain condtions than many other sailboats and certainly than most powerboats. and all that freeboard is a challenge for getting off most parts of the boat, much harder to get off the front than a macgregor 25 or catalina 22 If you look at the landing loop video, it is power boaters with lots of freeboard showing how to use it.

also most macgregor owners don't practice every day like those commercial fishermen, so that comparison is mostly irrelevant.

Sheltered docks behind breakwaters where strong cross winds are never encountered, probably even the bignners dont need something like the landing loop, but if you have to pull up rudders or daggerboards in shallow water and still manauver into a shallow dock or onto the trailor with strong crosswinds, the landing loop can be a useful tool

a quick look at the archives and all the comments from the various folks that have had docking issues with the 26 m or 26 x or issues manuvering or even putting the boat on the trailer in difficult conditions suggests that not all who follow this forum consider themselves experts in no need of tools or good ideas, or maybe some of them encounter tougher conditons.

many folks are older or have older folks on board, and/or they are simply not as (over?) confident as others. I have been boating most of my adult life, in serveral states and a variety of motor and sail boats and have experience with various macgregors since the mid 80s, but I am not afraid or embarrased to use or have a crew member use the landing loop in tough conditions where it can be useful, and I know that at least a few other wide ranging macgregor experts use it, at least one of them has put some of the best advice on docking in the archives. much more helpful advice than just saying do it like the commercial fishermen.. I would put more stock in the reviews of those who actually use a tool rather than those who have no experience or need of a particular tool.

btw, how does the west marine attachment work, anyone actually tried it? from the diagram at west marine I cant see how it would be replacement. how does one quickly get the loop off the boat hook, and/or make sure it keeps the right shape?

[SkiDeep2001]

I could have used a tree branch even to keep me off the bow anchor of S/V Hespian in John Wayne Marina which is a sheltered marina, but when your centerboard doesn't drop at launch and a gust of wind comes over the hill and pushes me I had few options and I tried them all. I have 40 years in powerboats from small hydros, powered skiffs and in between up to 32 foot cabin cruisers. I've been pushed about in high winds and did not sink , cause damage,(not much anyway) or die (or hurt someone else). The wind that pushed me was not very strong, little more than a ripple on the water. Now I know how little wind it takes to push a Mac sideways or swing the bow. And I didn't need a stick to get docked single handed. Not making posts to start arguments but I have been a member for 4 months and owned my boat for 5 and I and others post things occaisionaly that hit nerves or start lengthy discussions and that is a good thing in my opinion. And sometimes it brings out the comic in some of us. I am a rookie sailor (on Mac w/ sails) and make big goofs in my posts and assumptions sometimes but overall I think at the least I and others make people more aware and most of this stuff has been discussed before but there are new members joining all the time and so this should be a running educational board.(IMHO) I'm sure in a few years I'll see topics over and over and go, not again, in fact I've seen that in just the short time I've been a member here. Not whining or bothered, I will even apologise if I come across wrong sometimes but hey, if this site were not here I and others would be in a world of hurt trying to get our boats and ourselves ready to face mother nature out there on whatever waters we may be sailing/motoring. Oops, I think I'm rambling, if you see a post by me you can read it knowing that I and others are trying to make myself and others aware of options and little gems available on the web that may or may not have been posted here. Whew!!! Rob PS: well that was a fun little bit of writing. Here it is the night of the 4th and I can hear all the fireworks going off and and I'm on the cpu writing this spiel. Not even necessary but I'm visiting relatives and I needed to get away for a bit. BOOOOOM!!!

[dutchwinter]

the dock line holding tool from shurhold is at west marine for 12 bucks. it Velcros straps onto your boat hook, anywhere along the shaft, close for a small loop, and further away for a bigger one. the way you use it is by making a loop through a spliced dock line, you hold one end of the open loop at the end of the hook, and another on the dock line holder. you simply snag the cleat you want, and friction will pull the loop away from the holding tool, and a twist of the wrist (depending on how you hooked your loop on the boat hook) and you can just secure your boat, and start up the grill. since i so far have only done single hand sailing, its very important for me to have that first line on a cleat fast, and this is how i do it. as far as shape of the loop, its not the same as the one you use, but along with a 12 foot telescoping handle like the one i got, you'd have a hard time not catching a cleat. As with any tool, it takes some practice to get used to.

[PatrickS]

the dock line holding tool from shurhold is at west marine for 12 bucks. it Velcros straps onto your boat hook, anywhere along the shaft, close for a small loop, and further away for a bigger one. the way you use it is by making a loop through a spliced dock line, you hold one end of the open loop at the end of the hook, and another on the dock line holder. you simply snag the cleat you want, and friction will pull the loop away from the holding tool, and a twist of the wrist (depending on how you hooked your loop on the boat hook) and you can just secure your boat, and start up the grill. since i so far have only done single hand sailing, its very important for me to have that first line on a cleat fast, and this is how i do it. as far as shape of the loop, its not the same as the one you use, but along with a 12 foot telescoping handle like the one i got, you'd have a hard time not catching a cleat. As with any tool, it takes some practice to get used to.

I just use a thick rubber band on my boat pole. Hook one "corner" of the loop at the end of the hook as usual and stuff a short bit of the other "corner" under the rubber band. Not used much anymore these days, as so many docks here in Finland have rings rather than cleats, so instead, on the ends of most of my mooring lines I have spring shackles with a metal loop/lever that the boat hook tip slips into and you hold the shackle open with tension on the line to hook the ring.

But a rubber band is cheap when you want a loop to drape over a cleat.

Cheers,

Patrick

[dutchwinter]

I just use a thick rubber band on my boat pole. Hook one "corner" of the loop at the end of the hook as usual and stuff a short bit of the other "corner" under the rubber band. Not used much anymore these days, as so many docks here in Finland have rings rather than cleats, so instead, on the ends of most of my mooring lines I have spring shackles with a metal loop/lever that the boat hook tip slips into and you hold the shackle open with tension on the line to hook the ring.

But a rubber band is cheap when you want a loop to drape over a cleat.

Cheers,

Patrick

yeah, that sounds like it would work pretty much the same. wish i thought of that before. all i need now is to add some friction nubbins to a rubber band , patent it, and see if i can market it west marine for 6 bucks instead of 12 for the dock line holding tool. millions are made that way, just ask the chip clip guy.