Ins and Outs

Tuesday during waterfront club we had an very exciting and interesting day we were doing in and outs with our Navy launch Indy 7. This day was special because the juniors were training our sophomores and some freshman, many of whom did not have a lot of experience line handling. Each junior was assigned a line while the sophomore and freshman rotated. I was assigned the stern spring. As we leave the dock, Gino who was at the helm yelled "Drop the stern spring." I instructed Grace (a sophomore in vessel ops) to drop the line and to repeat the command so the helmsman knows you're doing it. As we left the dock I explained to Grace how to properly coil a line so it won't kink.

I then explained the triple F: Fair leads, Figure 8s and Fingers. I told her that fair leads gives you friction and which is how you know it's correct. The line then goes on the cleat in a figure 8. You need two to three wraps then a hitch to create enough friction to hold the boat. The most important part is to watch your fingers and keep your hands out the way at all times. Those are the 3 Fs. At first she had trouble but once she got the hang of it she looked like a pro.