Docking advice

L

Loose Cannon

Member
Apr 2, 2010
164
Havre de Grace, MD
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This is my third year with the 240DA so I am a little embarassed to post a docking question especially with such a small boat; however, I take the boat out a lot by myself and still occassionally have issues docking in my own slip when it's windy and nobody is around to catch a line. The problem is, I lose the bow. This happened last weekend again so I thought I'd ask for some advice.

I have floating docks and a finger pier on the starboard side, no pilons (I back into the slip). When conditions are good, I hit it perfect every time. When I have wind pushing me away from the finger pier, my bow sometimes swings around before I have a chance to jump off and tie up. My tendency is go slow, bump in and out of gear, no sudden bursts, all about safely. I can see that moving slow can be a disadvantage in the wind as the bow really takes off; however, I do not want to compromise safety.

2006 Sundance 240 DA with single engine, 5.7, and Bravo III.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
The one thing I started using that helped was having the "get off line" mounted to the mid-ship cleat. That way if you get off and the bow is leaving you can pull the whole boat back.
 
Thanks Pack66Dad - I actually do attach an "Oh Sh&t" line to the mid-cleat every time and it works if I am close enough to safely jump off. Let me clarify a bit more: when my bow goes, the entire boat tends to get caught in the wind pushing away from the finger pier. So, I am not in a position to jump off and I need to pull out and start over again. Not sure if there are alternate strategies around lassoing a cleat on the finger pier or bringing the stern to the end of the finger pier first instead of trying to parallel dock to the pier in a driving wind.
 
sswall1969 said:
Thanks Pack66Dad - I actually do attach an "Oh Sh&t" line to the mid-cleat every time and it works if I am close enough to safely jump off. Let me clarify a bit more: when my bow goes, the entire boat tends to get caught in the wind pushing away from the finger pier. So, I am not in a position to jump off and I need to pull out and start over again. Not sure if there are alternate strategies around lassoing a cleat on the finger pier or bringing the stern to the end of the finger pier first instead of trying to parallel dock to the pier in a driving wind.
Click to expand...

We do have an alternative when the situation is "oh sh1t!", its called a landing loop. We have used it a couple times when the wind was blowing us away from the dock.
http://www.landingloop.com/loop-dts.htm
 
I will add my common problem here. My slip is on the west side of my marina and I have on finger dock on the starboard side and two pilings. When the wind is out of the east and my boat starts to turn I have ended up basically pinned across my slip (against the two pilings). Now there is a boat in the slips next to mine so what is the best way to get out of this mess without damaging others boats. In the past a buddy of mine would play the role of a bumper and push me off other boats until I was out of the row of slips and into more open water. The slip rows are VERY narrow so I have to push off other boats until I am in the clear.
 
sswall1969 said:
My tendency is go slow, bump in and out of gear, no sudden bursts, all about safely. I can see that moving slow can be a disadvantage in the wind as the bow really takes off....
Click to expand...

I had the same issues with my single screw 280DA....all singles have this issue so don't be too hard on yourself. What I learned from trial and error was to still go slow as mentioned but do it with more power. If your tendency is to use light bumps in forward and reverse, use a little more power in the wind to help counter the forces and get you into the slip quicker. I'm not talking full throttle -- moderate throttle with just enough to give it some authority while still doing short bursts.

My slip neighbor had the same problem with his 240. The 240's can be sensitive to wind because they are relatively high in the water in relation to their width and length.
 
I'm trying to visualize how you approach your dock....from what direction. If the wind pushes your bow away from your dock....can you turn around and approach it from the other direction? That's what I do if I want to back in and the wind is such that it's going to push me away from my dock....which is on my port side when I back in. That way our prevailing winds tend to push me a bit towards my dock...then reversing after turning hard to port pulls my stern around the end of my dock and into position. I may have to "bump" into forward a couple of times but my main goal is to prevent the wind from grabbing my bow and pushing me away from the dock. Not sure if I explained it real well or if you get my drift. Bottom line though....if you can get turned around and come in from the other direction perhaps it might be a bit easier for you.
 
Phlorida said:
It isn't you, a single engine with wind across the bow is difficult. I have a similar boat and I learned a lot from this thread. http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/46188-Any-tips-for-backing-in-a-boat-with-a-single-engine/page4
Click to expand...

Tonka Boater said:
I had the same issues with my single screw 280DA....all singles have this issue so don't be too hard on yourself. What I learned from trial and error was to still go slow as mentioned but do it with more power. If your tendency is to use light bumps in forward and reverse, use a little more power in the wind to help counter the forces and get you into the slip quicker. I'm not talking full throttle -- moderate throttle with just enough to give it some authority while still doing short bursts.

My slip neighbor had the same problem with his 240. The 240's can be sensitive to wind because they are relatively high in the water in relation to their width and length.
Click to expand...

I have learned there can be a lot of smugness by those with twin power, throttles, and shifters, bow thrusters, and joy stick controls, that have never docked a larger boat with a single stern drive and a combo shifter and throttle. And yes, I'm very jealous of that when conditions are tough. :smt043

Don't be embarrassed as it is hard. A very respected captain told me that the 25' to 30' sterndrives are about the hardest boat to dock. MM
 
When I had my 260 it could be more challenging. But also you have to commit with the single when it is windy. If you know you are in - when you don't commit the wind can catch you and mess everything up. It is a balance between hitting the dock and committing. But also have lines at mid cleat worked for me. Twin engines and v drives make it easier. Taller single engine boats are more challenging.
 
I'm going to suggest you try something that is a huge difference from what most people are experienced with. If I'm understanding your situation correctly, you're backing into the slip and have a dock on the stbd side and the wind is pushing from stbd to port so it pushes your bow away from the dock. Right???

OK, with that in mind here's my suggestion. Instead of worrying about the bow so much when you back in, have your lines and fenders all set before you start backing. The most important line is going to be a line off your stern cleat that you can quickly fasten to a cleat on the dock.

Here's how it all works....
You back in, aiming your stern towards the stern cleat on the dock. When you get real close to it, run back and fasten that line from your stern cleat to the dock cleat, and make it as short as you can. Then put the boat in forward gear, at idle, with the wheel cocked a little bit to the stbd side. The boat will try to go forward, but can't because of the stern line. What will happen is that as you keep the boat in gear it will bring the bow around toward the dock as the boat pivots from the stern cleat. When the bow fender bumps up against the dock, leave the boat in gear, stay in the boat and go forward and fasten a line from your bow cleat to a cleat on the dock. Then go back and take the boat out of gear.

This method is called using a spring line to get the boat to do what you want it to do. I know it sounds improbable, but try it once or twice. It works.

My Galley Wench and I use spring lines all the time in touch docking situations and even with a boat that has as much sail area as mine does, spring lines work just great.
 
Last edited:
Gofirstclass said:
I'm going to suggest you try something that is a huge difference from what most people are experienced with. If I'm understanding your situation correctly, you're backing into the slip and have a dock on the stbd side and the wind is pushing from stbd to port so it pushes your bow away from the dock. Right???

OK, with that in mind here's my suggestion. Instead of worrying about the bow so much when you back in, have your lines and fenders all set before you start backing. The most important line is going to be a line off your stern cleat that you can quickly fasten to a cleat on the dock.

Here's how it all works....
You back in, aiming your stern towards the stern cleat on the dock. When you get real close to it, run back and fasten that line from your stern cleat to the dock cleat, and make it as short as you can. Then put the boat in forward gear, at idle, with the wheel cocked a little bit to the stbd side. The boat will try to go forward, but can't because of the stern line. What will happen is that as you keep the boat in gear it will bring the bow around toward the dock as the boat pivots from the stern cleat. When the bow fender bumps up against the dock, leave the boat in gear, stay in the boat and go forward and fasten a line from your bow cleat to a cleat on the dock. Then go back and take the boat out of gear.

This method is called using a spring line to get the boat to do what you want it to do. I know it sounds improbable, but try it once or twice. It works.

My Galley Wench and I use spring lines all the time in touch docking situations and even with a boat that has as much sail area as mine does, spring lines work just great.
Click to expand...
I've seen other posters talk of leaving the boat in gear for various reasons. Sometimes even getting out of the boat while it's left in gear so they can crank the trailer winch easier or letting it warm up while tied to the dock, etc. Getting that first line on a dock cleat so you can take control in poor docking conditions is a good thing to learn, but leaving the helm in gear while crawling around on the bow just seems like it's asking for trouble to me.:huh:
 
I've found that when the wind is blowing, I point the bow into the wind and back slowly. As I'm backing and the bow want to swing I put the boat into fwd gear and straighten the boat and then start to back in again. I bump the throttle everytime i make an adjustment. This seems to work for me and i have not had any trouble backing into my slip
 
sswall1969 said:
This is my third year with the 240DA so I am a little embarassed to post a docking question especially with such a small boat; however, I take the boat out a lot by myself and still occassionally have issues docking in my own slip when it's windy and nobody is around to catch a line. The problem is, I lose the bow. This happened last weekend again so I thought I'd ask for some advice.

I have floating docks and a finger pier on the starboard side, no pilons (I back into the slip). When conditions are good, I hit it perfect every time. When I have wind pushing me away from the finger pier, my bow sometimes swings around before I have a chance to jump off and tie up. My tendency is go slow, bump in and out of gear, no sudden bursts, all about safely. I can see that moving slow can be a disadvantage in the wind as the bow really takes off; however, I do not want to compromise safety.

2006 Sundance 240 DA with single engine, 5.7, and Bravo III.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Good questions and nothing to be embarrassed. I actually learned this almost the hard way on my 240DA. Any wind over 15MPH will catch that light bow and swing it hard. This is when I've learned two important things:

1. Commitment - as soon as you determine your approach and take the shot, there should be no hesitation. As soon as you see that the stern fits between the pilings you go for it and go a bit faster. Not too fast so you crash, but you need to apply some throttle to put that stern in between the pilings. All you need is to have the stern just past a piling.

2. Soft Landing - which means gently touch and USE those pilings to your advantage. My biggest mistake was back in the day, I was always trying avoid touching the pilings. This was a huge mistake on a windy day. And don't think that it's night and day difference with twin gas boat vs. single screw. When the wind was catching my 320DA (full camper was always on making the boat like a huge sail) the situation was pretty much the same. So, learn how to use the piling (no lines needed) and you'll dock like a pro. After I understood the simple principals I never had an issue docking in any kind of wind. My simple goal was to have my stern pass a piling just a little and as soon as I softly touch the piling that's it, I'm in. I use it as a pivot point to straighten the bow and then continue going straight back in to the slip. That's it, no magic, no lines.
 
sswall1969 said:
This is my third year with the 240DA so I am a little embarassed to post a docking question especially with such a small boat; however, I take the boat out a lot by myself and still occassionally have issues docking in my own slip when it's windy and nobody is around to catch a line. The problem is, I lose the bow. This happened last weekend again so I thought I'd ask for some advice.

I have floating docks and a finger pier on the starboard side, no pilons (I back into the slip). When conditions are good, I hit it perfect every time. When I have wind pushing me away from the finger pier, my bow sometimes swings around before I have a chance to jump off and tie up. My tendency is go slow, bump in and out of gear, no sudden bursts, all about safely. I can see that moving slow can be a disadvantage in the wind as the bow really takes off; however, I do not want to compromise safety.

2006 Sundance 240 DA with single engine, 5.7, and Bravo III.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Alex F said:
Good questions and nothing to be embarrassed. I actually learned this almost the hard way on my 240DA. Any wind over 15MPH will catch that light bow and swing it hard. This is when I've learned two important things:

1. Commitment - as soon as you determine your approach and take the shot, there should be no hesitation. As soon as you see that the stern fits between the pilings you go for it and go a bit faster. Not too fast so you crash, but you need to apply some throttle to put that stern in between the pilings. All you need is to have the stern just past a piling.

2. Soft Landing - which means gently touch and USE those pilings to your advantage. My biggest mistake was back in the day, I was always trying avoid touching the pilings. This was a huge mistake on a windy day. And don't think that it's night and day difference with twin gas boat vs. single screw. When the wind was catching my 320DA (full camper was always on making the boat like a huge sail) the situation was pretty much the same. So, learn how to use the piling (no lines needed) and you'll dock like a pro. After I understood the simple principals I never had an issue docking in any kind of wind. My simple goal was to have my stern pass a piling just a little and as soon as I softly touch the piling that's it, I'm in. I use it as a pivot point to straighten the bow and then continue going straight back in to the slip. That's it, no magic, no lines.
Click to expand...
It sounds like he doesn't have any pilings to use.
 
A finger pier can work just as well, if there are no pilings.
 
I am in my 6th season with my 300 Sundancer and still have problems sometimes when I'm alone.
I dock alongside the bulkhead at my home slip, so I don't get nearly the amount of practice I should at backing in.
Not enough can be said for the value of having a line on the center cleat. I find that if I control the center of the boat, I control the boat.
When I am going back to my home dock alone I usually tie a line from the center cleat back to the aft cleat and keep it pulled very tight. Once I get next to the dock I hold on to that line as far forward as possible as I step off of the boat, and hold on to it until I put my dock line on that cleat. It works everytime.
When backing in I also try to do the same thing controlling the center of the boat. The problem with I/O's and outboards (single or double) is that the pivot point is at the very back of the boat. If you move the stern a foot either way, it results in a big swing in the bow. Sometimes throwing a line to someone on a dock when backing in can do more harm than good if they don't know what they are doing. Experienced boaters will hold the line or put a loop on a cleat for you. Inexperienced (but well meaning ones) will pull hard on that line to pull you in. The problem with that is the line is likely to be tied to one side or the other and giving a good yank on it will result in swinging that bow around to the opposite side. Same thing happens when you have a well meaning passenger who pushes you away from a pole as you are backing in. Not only is that dangerous, but it makes things harder more often than not.
I find that for backing in I do better when I pull as far forward of the slip as I can, line it up between the poles, and use the steering to make fine adjustments as I am backing. If it looks like I'm going to miss, I have plenty of room to abort and start over.
 
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