Stern in docking

Captn TJ

Active Member
Sep 19, 2017
872
Catawba Island, Oh
Boat Info
2005 280DA
Raymarine E80
Engines
5.0 with Bravo 3
for those of you with stern drive I/O boats. How you you tell the position of the out drives (for reversing into a dock). This is our first stern drive boat and I'm struggling especially in a cross wind. I know that the smart craft gauge has a display for it but my boat doesn't have an indicator.
 
Ours is 1.5 turns from the lock, so if I’m questioning it I’ll just quickly turn it to the lock and back while in neutral
 
On my 225WE with B3, I have a steering knob and I keep track of the position of the drive by counting the number of turns away from center.
 
What they are saying. before you start to maneuver, you can center your wheel by turning all the way to one side, count the revolutions to get to the other side, and divide by 2, then back to center. Once you know the answer, you will only have to go one way, and back to center helm. Works on every boat, every time.
 
you will need a little throttle on the reverse side to start your "kick" - how much and how long is dictated by the current and wind
 
If there ever was an indicator that I wanted on my boat, that would be the one. However, I do not have it. What I do when I come into either my marina or another location I go in a straight line and then use the shifters to back up and make my turns. I try not to turn the steering wheel as this screws me up big time.
 
When we took an on-water course from a captain many years ago, the docking advice he gave us was to practice over and over while in a safe area away from obstacles using a point on land for reference. Then when you're more confident, use a dock where you could side-tie the boat and practice going stern-in without fear of hitting anything on either side of you. Once you've done these two exercises you should have a much better sense as to which maneuvers to use to dock your boat stern-in. I agree with the advise to not use your steering wheel to dock. You'll have much more control if you learn to maneuver your boat using only the throttles.
 
If there ever was an indicator that I wanted on my boat, that would be the one. However, I do not have it. What I do when I come into either my marina or another location I go in a straight line and then use the shifters to back up and make my turns. I try not to turn the steering wheel as this screws me up big time.
Good move, and will work well when other forces are not bothering you, like wind and current. Here's what's gong against you:
in a 28 ft boats beam, your stern drives are closer together than they are apart, so just like outboards, there is not as much separation between the props. The props are well behind the thing they are dragging, namely the hull, so you won't get as much pronounced turning as an inboard would. The good news, is that sometimes I wish I could turn my props a bit to Port or Starboard to execute against a gust or current, but can't. You can. Baby steps is the key. You don't have to angle very far to make a big difference in your turn. You can also do this strictly with straight ahead helm and manipulating the shifters, but you will use throttle in both directions to overcome the location of your props relative to the hull. That's ok too. You will figure out what's best for you. Practice. I've been backing in professionally for 40 years, and it's still easy to get surprised.
 
I have twin IO's with the port being a counter rotating drive. I let the drives centered and turn the boat with the shifters using the differential thrust to spin the boat. I can add power if needed and can usually kick the stern around and get in line with the slip this way. You need to remember that the pivot point with IO's is your transom, so plan your approach with that fact in mind. I try not to use the wheel but sometimes have to due to the strong tidal current in the canal I'm slipped in.
 
TJ, when you're backing in a crosswind, are you backing directly upwind until you get to the opening of the slip?

I have found that is the easiest way to do it, and then when the stern is right at the opening I'll give the upwind engine a bit of throttle so it can swing the bow around to a point where I'm aligned with the slip, then just back straight in.

The whole secret is to practice it when there's no wind, then when there's a little wind, then more and more wind until you have built the confidence and KNOW you know how to do it.
 
I go past my slip so that when I start backing up I am backing in a a straight line then turn the wheel as needed. Most times I can get it the first try but when there is a strong current or wind it might take a couple of tries. No harm in pulling forward and starting over.
 
Practice makes perfect....... but with a nice wind all bets are off. ;)

I had a single I/O B3 for 5 years and I got pretty good at backing but in windy conditions the 2011 260 DA I had acted like a big sail and it sometimes became frustrating.

A few things to remember don't panic around the dock and you can't hurt much if you go slow. I added some corner bumpers to my slip so in windy conditions if I could land part of the boat on the dock sideways I could just rotate around to straighten up.

Big thing is to practice during the week when the marina is not busy....... go in and out a few times and it will become second nature in no time.
 
Don't force it if you miss your mark. Pull away, circle around and give it another shot. This will show patience and experience. The not so experienced captains will do everything possible to force the first try so they're not embarrassed. This is when accidents happen.

-Rich
 
I bought one of these on my old boat. Cheap and worked great. Search steering indicator
 
I bought one of these on my old boat. Cheap and worked great. Search steering indicator
 
I bought one of these on my old boat. Cheap and worked great. Search steering indicator.

(Sorry. My phone was acting up)
 

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I used a different approach when backing into a slip. Treated the twin like a single I/O with one engine in neutral. I backed up with the crosswind on my stern from down wind. Backed upwind and placed the rear rub rail on the slip piling and pivoted the boat around and into the slip with the steering wheel. This gives you total control of the boat, and due to low speeds, does no damage to the boat or slip.
 
With twin engines I agree to center drives and use the throttles to turn the boat.
 
One of the windier places to dock a boat in tight quarters is Leland Harbor in Leland Michigan. We spend a lot of time there and have watched people dock all sorts of boats under all conditions including a near gale one year. I have to say after watching for many years, I do not recall ever seeing anyone successfully dock an I/O boat in a crowded, tight fairway in 15MPH crosswinds by centering the drives and steering with throttles. The skippers who dock well, almost without exception, place the stern to the wind, back into the wind, and use the steering wheel to pivot the boat into the slip. Not saying a blind squirrel never finds a nut. There are probably a few skippers who can do it with throttles, but that is not the easy way.
 
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One of the windier places to dock a boat in tight quarters is Leland Harbor in Leland Michigan. We spend a lot of time there and have watched people dock all sorts of boats under all conditions including a near gale on year. I have to say after watching for many years, I do not recall ever seeing anyone successfully dock an I/O boat in a crowded, tight fairway in 15MPH crosswinds by centering the drives and steering with throttles. The skippers who dock well, almost without exception, place the stern to the wind, back into the wind, and use the steering wheel to pivot the boat into the slip. Not saying a blind squirrel never finds a nut. There are probably a few skippers who can do it with throttles, but that is not the easy way.

Combination of both is usually necessary. Our 4 blade alpha props helped a bit, but at almost 11000# dry we need plenty of throttle on the reverse side to get it moving. A lot of the time I will spin with throttle but use directional thrust to move the boat sideways into a tight opening, fuel dock, etc
 

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