I am looking at buying my first keelboat and expect to sail singlehanded often in and around the solent.

Can anyone comment on how feasible this is on say a 31 or 32.5 foot boat.

Am I being unrealistic in expecting to be able to get on and off the finger jetties etc?

Look forward to some advise.

Kind Regards

Goboatie

Hi, Weclome to the PSSA, to answer your question, we would need more information about you and your sailing background. Some of our members sail their P31/P325/P335s regularly single-handed so it is obviously feasible but they have been doing it for a long time and I suspect worked up to that size of boat, either moving up in size single-handed or starting off double-handed and then progressing to single-handing. It is really more about you than the boat. What boat do you have at the moment and what is your experience?

Martin Watson P27 (single hander)

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Hello Goboatie,

For some excellent "how to" guidance, you could do a lot worse than have a look at Duncan Wells's book "Stress Free Sailing ", which deals specifically with single-handed techniques for getting on and off moorings and finger pontoons, and most of the techniques in the book come with a QR code so you can watch a video  of him demonstrating them on a 35 footer.

Cheers,

Graham Ellison

Anticipation is key - somewhere safe to get lines and fenders ready, even if the means grabbing an empty alongside pontoon somewhere you can easily get on and off again. As in going up the Hamble ...

And not all marina berths are safe at all states of the tide - slack water is best for some of them. Again, phone ahead.

I've always found marina staff very helpful if you tell them you're single handed; they've often allocated me a favourable berth, and come down to meet me and take my lines, or even stood at the berth to greet me so I know where to aim.

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