How to spring off a pontoon

Why the helm alone won't do it

A boat turns about a pivot point near her middle. Lying alongside, if you put the helm over and motor ahead to steer away, the bow does start to point out, but the stern swings the other way, into the pontoon. She ends up pressed against it and the turn stops.

The answer is to get one end well clear of the pontoon first, and a spring does that. A spring is a line that stops the boat moving fore and aft. A bow spring runs from the bow and leads aft to the pontoon, past midships. A stern spring runs from the stern and leads forward.

Springing off the stern, step by step

1. Rig the bow spring as a slip line, so the crew can let it go and recover it from on board.
2. Fender the bow. She will pivot on her bow, pressed against the pontoon, so put a fender there.
3. Forward gear, gently, with the helm towards the pontoon (on a tiller, push it away from the berth). The spring holds the bow; the stern swings out.
4. When the stern is well out, centre the helm and pause in neutral. The pause reduces the risk of trapped fingers or a line round the propeller.
5. Go astern out of the berth while the crew slips the spring and recovers it.

Springing off the bow

To swing the bow out instead, use a stern spring: from the quarter to a cleat well forward on the pontoon. Put her in astern gear with the helm towards the quay and the bow swings out. It is less powerful than springing off the stern and may not work on every hull, so try it in calm conditions before you rely on it.

Which end to take out first

When the wind is blowing you onto the pontoon, a modern yacht is often easier to take out stern first, because she lies with her stern to windward. Springing off the stern also puts her in astern for the exit, and on a spring prop walk stops mattering.

The full lesson, including springing in with a midships spring and a stepper diagram for leaving from between two boats, is in Module 16: Anchoring & mooring.