Practice..Practice...

[Irie308]

Does anyone have any suggestions on some practice drills to get better at docking and undocking? The owner of our Marina told us we could pick a day when there was light traffic to practice on some empty slips but even before we try that i would like to practice in open waters to get a feel for the boat while backing up, turning left/right etc however there are no reference points to really make it count. Are we better off paying to go out with someone for the day that would show us the "ropes"? We are docked on a river with a pretty strong current at times. Over the past month I thought we were getting the hang of it but the current this weekend said otherwise.

I'm also thinking about going down to a few of our distant neighbors to see if we could get some pointers. We chose to be at the distant end of the marina for ease of docking however it somewhat puts us in "no mans land" with few neighbors.

 

[IanBat]

There is no substitute for having an experienced trainer go out with you.

That said I had to learn the hard way, picking up pointers etc from conversations. I was lucky that one of my slip neighbours was a Maritime Officer and gave me some geat info.

If I was going to go through it again, I would pay someone

 

[Steve S]

I am still in the learning mode on my 340 Sundancer. One thing that echoes in my head is a comment a very wise senior member of CSR once posted... "Only go as fast as you are willing to hit something". Following that mantra I was able to take the 340 the first time I had ever captained a twin engine boat... off the finger pier at the ramp where we splashed it, carefully maneuvered and turned 180 degrees... navigated out of the commercial slip area and out into open water for a few minutes, back into the harbor, down the fairway to my slip, turned her around and carefully backed her into the slip.... by myself... I thought I did very well for myself!

 

[endless seas]

Old rule of thumb ( never go faster than you want to hit something).
Good luck!

 

[Bama Boater]

"Only go as fast as you are willing to hit something". Words to live by.

 

[Tonka Boater]

When you are around the dock only use short burst of throttle...push into gear and then back to neutral. When backing into a slip, turn the wheel in the intended direction while in neutral then apply short bursts of throttle in reverse then back to neutral. Apply forward throttle as needed to counter the reverse throttle and slow down the momentum.

You can turn a single screw on its axis if you alternate between forward and reverse throttle while adjusting the wheel hard over in each direction...the key is to turn the wheel hard over each time while in neutral though.

Here's an example of backing into a slip with a finger pier on your port side:
1) Approach the slip slowly and stop so the end of the pier is just forward of the pivot point and about one boat width from the end of pier (maybe wider depending on your scenario).
2) In neutral, crank the wheel hard left.
3) Short, quick burst in reverse then back to neutral. This will pull the stern toward the pier and start moving the boat into the slip.
4) While in neutral, counter the previous move by cranking the wheel hard right and bump into forward then back to neutral. This will push the bow around and slow the reverse momentum.
5) Continue steps 2-4 until you are lined in the slip then center the wheel and short bursts to finish backing in.

The pulling of the stern and the pushing of the bow in steps 2-4 are what allow you to rotate on your axis.

All of the above assumes no wind...make the appropriate adjustments to account for wind and current.

 

[Bob & Sue]

Take the marina up on thier offer have someone with you spend as much time as you can practicing every scenerio you can think of till your comfortable with how your boat handles.

 

[MonacoMike]

Follow Tonka's advise and go only as fast as you wish to hit the dock. You can learn the axis the he notes away from the dock.

MM

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

I started out by manoeuvring around a buoy. Backing up to it, then attempting to "hold" the boat in one position, spinning the boat around and backing in from the other side, etc...

 

[Pachanga Boy]

you can always drop a home made markers in open water (I just used empty milk jugs and coffee cans filled with rocks) to act as a reference marker. it's a great way to play around and tinker with different scenarios especially in mild breeze or current so that you can see how the boat reacts to different conditions. it's not the same as a dock but it does help the confidence level and keep stress and tempers (if you have a first mate on board) to a minimum.

 

[GrandMaster]

you can always drop a home made markers in open water (I just used empty milk jugs and coffee cans filled with rocks) to act as a reference marker. it's a great way to play around and tinker with different scenarios especially in mild breeze or current so that you can see how the boat reacts to different conditions. it's not the same as a dock but it does help the confidence level and keep stress and tempers (if you have a first mate on board) to a minimum.

An extra thowable PFD works well for this too...

 

[Irie308]

Thanks all, definitely food for thought. Tonka, i'll give that a try this weekend to see if i can get her to turn on her axis (away from the dock first).