SEAMANSHIP CH.

BOAT HANDLING

REFERENCES: Chapman’s Chapter 6 and AUX study

guide
 RESPONDING TO 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.
 “HELMSMANSHIP”

1. The ability to steer well.

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

1. Know Your Boat

2. Take it easy on another’s boat until you
“get the feel” and know their boat.
3. Out of sight of land use compass and keep
lubbers line on the course to be steered.
4. Near shore use landmarks
 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 Cont’d
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 Cont’d
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 Cont’d
HEADWAY• STERNWAY• TURNING•RIGHT/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 Cont’d
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 on 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.
 SCREW CURRENT

• 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.
• RUDDER(S) are ONLY EFFECTIVE, when the boat moves through the water.
LEFT HAND / RIGHT HAND
PROPELLERS
 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

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 Cont’d
WIND•CURRENT 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 Cont’d
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.
TURNING THE RUDDER OR ENGINE
MANEUVERING TWIN SCREW BOAT
 MANEUVERING WITH DIRECT THRUST
Outboard and I/O

1. The boat is maneuvered by directing the propeller thrust. There is no

rudder.
2. Directed propeller thrust makes slow speed maneuvering easier.
3. Normal or high speed turns are sharper.
4. May not respond well when there is no thrust.
5. While reversing, propwalk of reversing propeller tends to throw the
stern to port, but to a lesser extent than inboard craft.
 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
No Wind Or Current
Close Quarters
 Wind Or Current
Off Dock
• Use sharp angle of
approach
• Secure after spring line
• Apply power and use
inboard
steering control to bring
stern to dock
wind
• Go slow
or
current
 Casting Off
Wind On Dock
• Release stern line
• Place fenders
• Shift into forward
• Release bow line after stern is clear

wind
or
3 current
2
1
4/24/2019 Ted Potter DCAPT/SHR
 Casting Off
Wind Off Dock
• Release all lines
• Push boat away from dock
• Shift into forward and depart

wind
3
or
current 2
1
4/24/2019 Ted Potter DCAPT/SHR
 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 it’s own length
c. turn within 1/3 of it’s 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