“The Pivot” with sterndrives

Presentation

Well-Known Member
TECHNICAL Contributor
Oct 3, 2006
4,404
Wisconsin - Winnebago Pool chain of lakes
Boat Info
280 Sundancer, Westerbeke MPV generator
Engines
twin 5.0's w/BIII drives
Boat handling basics “The Pivot” part I of II

This is a demonstration video I made to show how to pivot away from a dock with a boat that has twin sterndrives. This video shows the pivot point to be very close to the stern or back of the boat. This means you should swing the bow, not the stern, to make a pivot with a boat that has twin sterndrives. This is done single handed meaning one person with no assistance.

Of course you can also simply back away from the dock by turning the wheel however this topic is to focus on doing a ‘pivot’

Video 1 off 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GbDqzRmZqc
 
That's pretty much what my boat does. The stern swings a little in the opposite direction of the bow.
 
Clearly a hoax. You can tell the video is doctored up. You had a car on the other side pulling the bow with 100# test mono.
 
Great video's! I'll have to try throwing a "ling" at the dock next time I try the "povit" manuever! When you were out in the middle spinning it almost looked like your pivot point was near the helm. Of course, that can be altered with applications of throttle one way or another I guess. Still, it seems like it was about where you were standing.

I watched a guy lasso a cleat and thought that was a skill I could really use! I just need to figure out where the lasso's are at West Marine??

I haven't heard the second song in years! I'm whistling it as I speak and I might have to chime in on the "What song are you listening to right now" thread!

It would have been interesting to see you hit the port engine in forward to pivot off the starboard bow to move away from the dock. I think I'll try that this weekend with someone holding some fenders for me!

Thanks for both, but we ALL know it was just an excuse to get away from work without the family to go boating. :smt043
 
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Nice work Doug but an awful lot of effort to disprove 1 persons opinion. Nothing here any twin stern drive owner didn't already know. Oh, and you might want to take those shoes off before you jump on the boat...jus sayin...
 
If you practice the Chad School of docking, you don't dock your boat that way. I use one engine and it's either going forward or reverse, not both. So the boat is either going forward or reverse. If the boat is going forward, the pivot point is 1/3 from the bow. If the boat is going in reverse, the pivot point is 1/3 from the stern. If you use the "spin" method, you can see that you move the pivot point way back with very little leverage. Try doing that maneuver in wind or current and you'll end up on the beach.

If you noticed in your video, when you got the boat moving forward approaching the dock, the pivot point of the boat was 1/3 from the bow.
 
If you use the "spin" method, you can see that you move the pivot point way back with very little leverage.

I don't disagree with that, IN SOME BOATS, particularly with closely-spaced I/O's.

In other boats, (many, many other boats) "spinning" is highly effective.

We need to remember that different boats handle differently.

Doug set out to prove the point about twin B3 pivot point, and he did so with style.
 
If you practice the Chad School of docking, you don't dock your boat that way. I use one engine and it's either going forward or reverse, not both. So the boat is either going forward or reverse. If the boat is going forward, the pivot point is 1/3 from the bow. If the boat is going in reverse, the pivot point is 1/3 from the stern. If you use the "spin" method, you can see that you move the pivot point way back with very little leverage. Try doing that maneuver in wind or current and you'll end up on the beach.

If you noticed in your video, when you got the boat moving forward approaching the dock, the pivot point of the boat was 1/3 from the bow.
Who's Chad? If you had two arms why would you tie one behind your back? If you used one engine on a twin I/O it definitely would not go straight forward or reverse unlesss you had the drive turned right or left, and even then, it would be very hard to go in a line with wind and current.
 
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Yes, the problem with spinning is that it is completely boat dependent. So what works in one boat may or may not work in another boat. But if you use a boats natural pivot points, it works in all boats. You can jump from a 10' to a 40' and it will react the same way. This is why every instructor i've seen teaches a twin stern drive boater to operate the boat like a single screw boat.
 
If you had two arms why would you tie one behind your back? If you used one engine on a twin I/O it definietly would not go straight forward or reverse unlesss you had the drive turned right or left, and even then, it would be very hard to go in a line with wind and current.

leverage is why. If you crank the wheel over and put the outside engine in gear, you have significantly more leverage on the boats pivot point. the more leverage, the more control.
 
leverage is why. If you crank the wheel over and put the outside engine in gear, you have significantly more leverage on the boats pivot point. the more leverage, the more control.
Wouldn't there then be a lot more activity at the helm with wheel turning in addition to throttle switching and more rapid angular motion of the boat to control and correct? I think with more activity required, controls involved, and the more rapid movement of the boat, there is increased chance of error. Using the throttles alone is so easy to back into the slip now that I have learned how to compensate for the wind and current. I've tried using the wheel too and it creates confusion and errors. I've got about a foot on each side of my boat. Now, moving laterally off of a dock is a different story.
 
No more activity than driving a car.

I think it's much more confusing to switch from the natural pivot point of a boat moving through the water, to the un-natural one at the dock using the forward reverse spin. by maximizing leverage and using the boats natural pivot points, every move is predictable, controlled, and repeatable on any boat.
 

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