Canadian Boating June 2024 - 12

did start to wonder! The harbour was very
secure and everyone was skilled at rafting
and the etiquette involved (more on that
later) so everyone had a quiet comfortable
night.
So just how do you raft your boat up to
another boat safely, you ask?
At the tiny Danish island of Christiansø, Distant Shores II, the Shards' Southerly 49 joins the rafts
of cruising boats in the small harbour near the historic fortress.
RAFTING AT ANCHOR
Probably the most common and enjoyable
way to raft-up is at anchor so you can
hang out with your friends on the water
for an afternoon, so let's start there.
First of all, choose your location. You
want to form your raft in a very protected
anchorage where there is no swell and
few wakes from passing boats so that
the boats don't ride up and down against
one another and get out of sync with the
motion of the water when tied together.
For the same reason, watch the weather
and only raft-up at anchor in calm quiet
conditions. Steady gentle breezes are fine
but if the wind is forecast to increase or
switch around, which would put strain on
the anchor and raft, wait for another day
or be ready to un-raft and up-anchor early.
It is not recommended to raft overnight
since conditions could change and put you
at risk during the night. You don't want to
be untying lines and re-anchoring in the
dark.
The largest heaviest boat with the biggest
anchor should choose a spot to anchor
that will allow space for the size of the raft
and for the raft to swing if the wind shifts
direction. That boat should then drop its
anchor before anyone else ties up. It will
then become the centre or building block
for the whole raft.
Preparing to raft-up before entering the canal. Three boats are required to raft together to go
through the Panama Canal behind a ship.
up against their boats since it is the norm
in the summer and it's all very friendly.
We found this was the case when sailing
in the Netherlands and Scandinavia and
also when making landfall in Horta in
the Azores in the springtime following a
transatlantic passage.
Depending on the size of the harbour or
marina, you could be in a raft of 3 or 4
boats deep against a dock or town quay.
We'll talk about how to manage this in the
paragraphs that follow.
Sometimes the tolerance for rafting created
surprising situations. In Denmark, we
entered the small harbour at the tiny island
of Christiansø where they were rafting
yachts out on both sides of the harbour.
Boats kept coming in and the rafts continued
to grow deeper and deeper, such that
we thought the rafts on both sides of the
harbour were going to meet in the middle!
Thankfully, it never came to that, but we
12 CANADIAN BOATING | JUNE 2024
When the anchor is well set, the other
boats can then join one at a time on either
side. Build outward from the anchored
boat on both sides keeping the anchored
boat in the centre and adding the largest/
heaviest to smallest/lightest boats. By
keeping the anchored boat in the middle
of the raft, there is the least tension on the
lines and the boats tend to swing less.
Each boat joining the raft should
approach slowly with four dock lines
ready and with fenders well positioned for
the curve of the hulls that will be side by
side. A general rule is to have at least one
fender for every 10 feet of length overall
(LOA) but the more the merrier we always
figure. Also be aware of the position of
flying bridges and rigging on each boat,

Canadian Boating June 2024

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