Bye bye sea ray :(

I moved Marinas this year and for the first time I'm bow in at the slip, bow in is harder to dock then stern in, have you tried stern in? stern in will give you zero chance of hitting the pilons

Skylark. I haven't. But maybe this next weekend if the instructor is available. He got upset with my last session. Guess he thinks I am an idiot.


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Who are you working with? Maybe that is the problem?

My instructor is probably a nice guy. Doesn't need the money. Owns a very nice, large navigator. But I DO think he looks down on me even though I can afford much more than what I have. I already told him I am not taking the boat out again until I get another. No response. So I think he thinks I am an idiot.

Seems like you have now lost faith in the instructor. Which in my opinion renders him useless. Time for a new instructor. One that WANTS to teach.

mwph said:

Seems like you have now lost faith in the instructor. Which in my opinion renders him useless. Time for a new instructor. One that WANTS to teach.

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I have to agree. In addition, you have to be open minded and want to learn. This reminds me of teaching my 74 year old father-in-law Google Maps on his iPhone.... Although he liked what he saw and he understood how to use the app in theory, he said he was more comfortable printing maps from Mapquest.

Not exactly the same thing as docking a boat but the point is that he asked for help but was not open minded about learning.

I doubt you're an idiot but reading this thread makes me think you need to lighten up a bit....pardon my bluntness. When I had my 280 Sundancer I thought I was docking the Titanic the first season that I owned it. My sales guy from Marine Max gave me good advice... he told me that I was too uptight and nervous about crashing and damaging my boat. He told me to go out and have a couple of beers and try it again. He was right, I didn't get drunk and try docking though. I just lightened up and opened my mind to his instruction and it worked. It's just a big hunk of fiberglass -- DON"T WORRY ABOUT IT. Nothing you do will cause irreparable damage. Go out, learn to dock and have fun. If you take out a chunk of gelcoat get it fixed. If you bang your neighbors anchor get him a new one. It's a boat, it's expensive and it's suppose to be fun.

Tonka Boater said:

I doubt you're an idiot but reading this thread makes me think you need to lighten up a bit....pardon my bluntness. When I had my 280 Sundancer I thought I was docking the Titanic the first season that I owned it. My sales guy from Marine Max gave me good advice... he told me that I was too uptight and nervous about crashing and damaging my boat.

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I can second that. The very first time I docked my 310, I was uptight as heck. So nervous that I over-reacted and crunched the swim-platform into a piling. Mostly cosmetic damage, but it gave me a "reset" moment. I was focused on "the worst thing that can happen", which was hit something, and sure enough, I did it. I pulled away, told myself "Well, that happened", and relaxed. Like the first time you get a ding in a new car - you stop worrying about it so much. Put it in the slip the next try, and every time after that.

I've certainly had my share of pucker-factor moments since then, but I'm always concerned about what I'm doing, instead of what I might do, and I can just work through whatever is causing me problems at the moment.

On the other hand, I will freely admit that my docking situation is MUCH cleaner than yours. But look at all the other boats at the dock. They do it. You can too, with practice and the right attitude.

I do need to lighten up. But because my instructor, towards the last couple of sessions, started to sound very frustrated with me, it added to my anxieties. I should just say 'F it' and take the boat out on my own and see what happens. Just was so afraid of crashing into another boat, concrete pilings or rocks. I laid out my last $25k on upgrades I didn't want to spend more on idiot move repairs.

I would like to note that my instructor, as well as at least half the boats in this marina have thrusters. They apparently did more research than I did before buying a boat and docking in this marina.

Thanks to all for your inputs and time. I really do appreciate it. Give me valuable insight and another way of looking at things.

I'm a bit late to the party but Scott's advice about stern in vs. bow in is a good one. I am assuming you have V drives or straight shafts. My last instructor had me face the stern with my back to the throttles/shifters and dock that way (my 320DA). Your sight lines are much better and after 15 minutes or so became second nature. Here another instructor like the one I had might make a big difference. Another poster mentioned that the props on your boat were a bit on the small side which could increase the time it takes to make correcting adjustments. When I changed from 3 blade to 4 blade props on my 320, I noticed improved slow speed maneuvering response. Replacing props vs. putting in a bow thruster is a much cheaper alternative If the boat already has 4 blade props this suggestion is obviously moot.

Like others I hate to see you take a haircut on the selling/buying process to get another boat but if that is the best course of action for you that by all means take it and good luck.