"Walking" a single I/O to the dock

[lawndoctor]

As I said on another thread....handling a boat properly is an art form. Some are naturally better at it than others. But it takes practice. How many of you twin engine guys ever practice maneuvering with one engine. Very few I'm betting and yet it is an occurrence that will happen to us all at least once and more if you boat for a long time. I take boat handling very seriously and practiced often. Sometimes when coming into my marina I would just shut off an engine and brought it in on one. Not easy but I knew what to expect when it did happen.

Not to "walk" too far from the original subject, but this is an excellent point for boats with twins. We have had a hellacious first season with our 330 DA. First ride of the season the port water pump went while underway, lost a couple of weeks to repairs, got two weekends of use after that, then hit a submerged log mangling much of the port running gear. Even now we are still on the hard, waiting for a new transmission to come in, and at this point just hoping to get in some some decent fall boating. I was forced to "practice" maneuvering on one engine, probably more than with both engines this season, and it is a good skill to have. It is not that difficult wth practice and, as said above, it is a skill that everyone will have to use some time.

 

[Mittens]

any tips for someone with twin Vs thats never tried it on One.. I will this weekend for fun.

 

[Tonka Boater]

Thanks, very good explanation. Parallel docking I feel comfortable, I was referring more when backing into a slit (finger type dock).

Backing into a slip? Absolutely! I did it all the time with my 2008 280DA with single BIII. It took a full season of practice but I mastered it. I currently have a Bravo I and it's harder but I can still do it.

It requires shifting from neutral to reverse, then back to neutral, etc. You can't back a boat into a slip like you back a car into a parking spot. A boat does not track in a line the way a car with 4 wheels does.

Here's how I do it...assume the slip is on the port side.

1. Learn where your boat's pivot point is. This will help with spinning the boat.
2. Approach the slip slowly and bring the boat to a stop about 5'-6' from the pier with the end of the pier at about mid-point of your boat.
3. While the boat is in neutral, turn the wheel hard left.
4. Give a short burst of REVERSE throttle then return to neutral. This will pull the stern toward the pier.
5. While still in neutral, turn the wheel hard right.
6. Give a burst of FORWARD throttle then return to neutral. This will start to spin the boat and push the stern toward the pier.
7. Continue the orchestra of reverse-neutral-spin-neutral-forward-neutral-spin until you're lined up then slowly back into the slip.
8. Go SLOW and make adjustments as you enter. If the bow get away from you, pull out and start over.

Finally, take wind and current into consideration and use them to your advantage whenever possible.

 

[lawndoctor]

any tips for someone with twin Vs thats never tried it on One.. I will this weekend for fun.

No real tips, other than taking it very slowly, and not hesitating to take it back out and start over again rather than continuing after what may have turned out to be a bad initial approach. With the reduced control, the initial positioning is more important. I also have a bow thruster, which is a big help. When I first looked at the boat my initial reaction was that a bow thruster is overkill on a boat this size with twins, but I changed my tune on that pretty quickly.

 

[Z-Worthy]

The key to boat handling with any single-prop setup is understanding prop-walk. Anyone who's run a sailboat or a single straight-drive inboard knows how the prop will pull or push the stern in the direction of rotation. Understanding this will greatly improve your skill around the dock.

My father loves to impress people on his sailboat by turning hard-lock and then spinning the boat on a dime without ever touching the wheel, but he can only do it in one direction. The old salts running classic Lyman's and Chris Crafts do the same thing. Prop walk is the key.

 

[badtothebones]

Thanks to all, been practicing and feel more comfortable.

 

[badtothebones]

Backing into a slip? Absolutely! I did it all the time with my 2008 280DA with single BIII. It took a full season of practice but I mastered it. I currently have a Bravo I and it's harder but I can still do it.

It requires shifting from neutral to reverse, then back to neutral, etc. You can't back a boat into a slip like you back a car into a parking spot. A boat does not track in a line the way a car with 4 wheels does.

Here's how I do it...assume the slip is on the port side.

1. Learn where your boat's pivot point is. This will help with spinning the boat.
2. Approach the slip slowly and bring the boat to a stop about 5'-6' from the pier with the end of the pier at about mid-point of your boat.
3. While the boat is in neutral, turn the wheel hard left.
4. Give a short burst of REVERSE throttle then return to neutral. This will pull the stern toward the pier.
5. While still in neutral, turn the wheel hard right.
6. Give a burst of FORWARD throttle then return to neutral. This will start to spin the boat and push the stern toward the pier.
7. Continue the orchestra of reverse-neutral-spin-neutral-forward-neutral-spin until you're lined up then slowly back into the slip.
8. Go SLOW and make adjustments as you enter. If the bow get away from you, pull out and start over.

Finally, take wind and current into consideration and use them to your advantage whenever possible.

Great explanation, this is working for me. Thanks for taking the time to type this!