Nothing’s more fun than a mid-summer raft-up with friends. In the best of circumstances, a raft-up can be a floating picnic, a way to get together with old and new friends who all share your love of boating. Birds of a feather…In the worst of circumstances, well, you don’t want to go there. Here’s a great video from Motor Boat & Yachting about how to pull off a raft-up so you get all the enjoyment without any scrapes and bumps along the way.
As with most of cruising, the key is preparation. If you’re rafting up to just one boat, take a test drive-by to see how your two boats will fit together; it’s best, of course, if you can raft-up to a boat that’s both similar in size and configuration to your own. And in the test drive you also can judge the effects of the current and wind, of any.
Then place your fenders carefully to protect both boats; this is perhaps the most crucial part. When in doubt, opt for more. It’s a lot easier to hang one more fender than it is to repair a nick in the hull. Set your fenders at gunwale height, where the rubbing strake covers the joint between the hull and the superstructure; make sure they’re not over any windows in the hull, which may not be able to handle the extra weight. And set enough to make sure that any wake from a passing boat is not going to cause boats in the raft-up to bang into each other. Make sure your lines – bow, stern and spring – are ready before you approach the other boat, and that your crew knows what you want them to do.
Then, once you’re rafted up, talk with the other captain or captains to make sure everyone has the same exit strategy, as well as a strategy to handle any dragging at anchor. Leaving a raft-up is every bit as crucial as joining one in the first place. For more tips, see the video here:
