AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT In the name of MoorControl Pty Ltd entitled "A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSISTING IN THE MANOEUVRING OF A BOAT AROUND A DOCK" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: Prepared by the Inventor Andrew Bartlett from Australian Provisional Patent Application 2008902307 by Fisher Adams Kelly 1 "A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSISTING IN THE MANOUVERING OF A BOAT AROUND A DOCK" FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method and apparatus assisting in 5 the manoeuvring of a boat around a dock. In particular, the invention relates to docks that form part of marinas and therefore will be described in this context. However, it should be appreciated that the method and apparatus may be used on any variety of docks. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 10 The number of people who own and utilise boats is constantly increasing. With the number of boats and boat owners increasing, the space required to store these boats is also increasing. Accordingly, marinas have been built due to their relative ease of construction and their fantastic use of space in sheltered harbours. 15 Even though marinas utilise sheltered harbour space very effectively, it is often difficult for boat owners to manoeuvre their vessels in and out of the floating docks that form the marina. Typically, the space that is located between docks of the marina enable two boats to be moored between adjacent docks. However, only a very small space is typically 20 allowed between adjacent boats increasing the risk of one boat colliding with an adjacent boat during manoeuvring within the floating dock. Boats which are powered by single engines having single propellers are also prone to have their stern move in the direction of rotation of the propeller. That is, when a boat is reversing, its stern tends to move 2 sidewards and has very little manoeuvrability. Further, any wind which is present can increase this movement. Accordingly, people tend to reverse their boats from a dock at speed in order to prevent one boat colliding with an adjacent boat. However, 5 when reversing a boat from a dock into a channel of the marina at speed, this increases the likelihood of a collision occurring with another boat which is travelling down the channel of the marina. A further way in which manoeuvring boats from or into a mooring is to locate people adjacent the outside rails of the boat so that they 10 are able to fend off contact between the boats to avoid collision. This is a dangerous practise and can result in the crushing and/or breaking of limbs. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to overcome or alleviate one or more of the above disadvantages or to provide the consumer with a useful or 15 commercial choice.
5 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an apparatus for assisting in the manoeuvring of a boat around a dock; FIG. 2 is a side view of an apparatus for assisting in the 5 manoeuvring of a boat around a dock FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the boat commencing reversing out of a dock; FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the boat continuing reversing out of a dock; 10 FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of the boat still continuing reversing; FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of the boat reversing from a dock in which the mooring line has reached the end of the docking fixture; FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of the boat being able to 15 be straightened with respect to the dock when the mooring line is at the end of the docking fixture; FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of the mooring line being released from the boat and the boat continuing into the channel; FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of the boat being able to 20 be redirected with respect to the dock FIG. 10 is a schematic representation of the boat continuing to be redirected with respect to the dock FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of the mooring line being released from the boat and the boat continuing into a channel.
6 FIG. 12 is a schematic representation of a boat entering a dock; FIG. 13 is a schematic representation of the boat continuing to enter the dock and approaching the mooring line; FIG. 14 is a schematic representation of the boat being 5 attached to the mooring line; FIG. 15 is a schematic representation of the boat being manoeuvred after being attached to the mooring line; and FIG. 16 is a schematic representation of the boat being moored to the dock.
7 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 1. FIG. 1 shows a typical marina formed from floating docks 100 with two adjacent boats located within the marina. Both boats are moored to the floating docks with the smaller boat connected to an apparatus for 5 assisting in the maneuvering of a boat around a dock. 2. The apparatus for assisting in the maneuvering of a boat 130 around a dock is formed from a dock fixture 110 and a mooring line 120. The dock fixture 110 is made from a rope 114, tied between two docking cleats 112 located adjacent an end of the floating dock 100. 10 3. The mooring line 120 is also formed from a rope, having a steel reinforced eyelet 122 formed in one end of the rope. 4. In order to produce the apparatus for assisting in the maneuvering of a boat 130 around a dock, the rope 114 used to produce the dock fixture 110 is feed through the steel reinforced eyelet 122 of the 15 mooring line 120. The rope 114 is then tied between the two docking cleats 112 located adjacent an end of the floating dock 100 to form the dock fixture 110 and to allow the mooring line 120 to reciprocate along the dock fixture 110 as shown in FIG 2. 5. It should be appreciated that the mooring line 120 and docking 20 fixture 110 may be made of various materials and various configurations. For example, the docking fixture 110 may be formed by a rail that mounts a reciprocateable carriage. The mooring line 120 may be in the form of a cable attached to a carabineer which is attached to the carriage of the docking fixture 110. Again, the mooring line 120 is able to reciprocate with respect to 8 the docking fixture 110. 6. In order to use the apparatus for assisting in the maneuvering of a boat 130 around a dock 100, the mooring line 120 is attached to a cleat 137 adjacent the middle of the boat 130. The boat 130 is then placed in 5 reverse moving boat 130 backwards with respect to the floating dock 100. As shown in FIG. 3, the mooring line 120 forms a pivot point between the boat 130 and the dock 100 restricting movement of the boat 130 with respect to the dock 100. Accordingly, this limits the movement of the boat 100 towards a neighbouring boat. 10 7. FIGS. 4 and 5 show the boat 130 continuing to move rearwardly. As the boat 130 continually moves out from the dock 100, the apparatus assists in guiding the boat 130 to assist in preventing the two boats located adjacent each other from colliding. A fender (not shown) may be located adjacent the front of the boat 130 to ensure the boat 130 does not 15 collide with the dock 100. 8. Once the mooring line 120 reaches the end of the docking fixture 110 as shown in FIG. 6, the attitude of the boat 130 at least can be adjusted by moving the rudder 135 and changing the torque of the propeller as shown in FIG. 7. Once the correct attitude of the boat 130 has been 20 obtained and the person steering the boat 130 has checked for oncoming traffic in a channel of the marina, the mooring line 120 is released to simply continue reversing the boat 130 at relatively slow speed for position in the channel in which they can head out of the marina as shown in FIG. 8. 9. FIG. 9 tol1 show how the boat 130 can be maneuvered out of 9 the dock 100 to face the opposite direction in the channel of the marina. Once the mooring line 120 reaches the end of the docking fixture 110, the boat 130 begins to pivot around the pivot point formed between the mooring line 120 and the end of the docking fixture 110. A person steering the boat 5 130 can then again operate the rudder 135 and adjust the torque of the propeller to swing the boat 130 in correct orientation before entering the channel. The mooring line 120 can then be released and boat 130 reversed into the leisure of the person steering the boat 130. 10. The apparatus also assists in docking the boat 130 when it has 10 been out to sea as shown in FIGS. 12 to 16. When coming back into the floating dock 100 of the marina, a person steering the boat 130 drives into the floating dock 100 aiming the middle cleat 137 at the mooring line 120 as shown in FIG 13. 11. Once the mooring line 120 is captured by a deck hand, the 15 propeller is stopped to allow the mooring line 120 to be connected to the middle cleat 137 as shown in FIG. 14. Once the mooring line 120 has been connected to the middle cleat 137, the boat 130 can be powered forward slowly allowing the mooring line 120 to run along the docking fixture 110 as shown in FIG. 15. The only requirement for a person operating the boat 130 20 will be to keep the boat 130 relatively straight. Should the arrangement of dock cleats relative to the centre cleat of the boat allow the mooring line 120 to reach the end of its travel before the boat has reached the end of the dock, the mooring line 120 forms a berthing spring line and pulls the boat 130 alongside the floating dock 100. At this point, additional ropes 140 are 10 attached to the boat 130 to fasten the boat 130 against the floating dock 100 as shown in FIG 16. 12. The apparatus for assisting in the manoeuvring of a boat 130 around a dock 100 is simple to install, easy to use and is portable. Further, 5 the apparatus assists people in reversing from a dock 100 in different directions and even assists people when entering a dock 100. Now even people with little experience can manoeuvre a boat 130 around a dock 100 with little stress. 13. It will also be appreciated that various other changes and 10 modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.