That's exactly how my season started last year. Wicked east wind, high current (from the east), I gave the approach into my slip one shot and knew it would never happen without breaking something. I then went into the inside of the marina and found a broad-side tie to borrow until the wind died down.

Not the easiest call to make, especially with dock neighbors standing there waiting to catch a line. But I knew damage was imminent if I forced it...

 

I think you handled it exactly right. Pride has no place when docking.

 

Absolutely. I used to single hand cruising blow boats (Morgans, Endeavors, CSY 44, etc. for bareboat charter company). Coming in from a sail usually meant a 20 knot+ onshore breeze, which would make any slip docking a sphincter puckering moment, no matter how many hands onboard. So, I'd come up to the gas dock (old Marina Jacks, before the floating docks), which was taking the wind directly, and put a single spring on one of the pilings, and then lay up against the dock in forward until the boat was secure. Then, I'd go inside, have a glass of wine and wait for sunset. Dead calm at sunset. Then, time to run around to the slip and do everything in slow motion, without wind or current. Didn't bother my pride one bit, and I never had to explain a ding or worse.

 

Winds at 34mph is tough docking any boat.

One thought, there are several apps for your phone which can provide forecast for winds throughout the day. Same day - I have found them to be pretty accurate. Might have saved the headache if you knew the winds were going to be tough later in the day.

 

Good suggestion. I use a generic weather app, however, a dedicated wind app could help. Last year the entire spring season was unusually windy, and it was either buck up and learn how to dock in abnormally windy conditions, or don't go out at all. The first two months plus were like this. I got fairly good at taking the boat out and getting it back in the 20s with gusts in the low 30s. Granted as I think about it, winds were usually out of the SE which at least gives me a fighting chance with a larger path to maneuver.

 

I ended up on my slipmates side the first time I tried to dock this boat. 30+ mph winds out of the South. Luckily he wasn't in the water yet. Dockhand asked if I meant to do it on purpose. I came clean and told the truth. I'm glad your pride didn't win.

 

Old saying, it’s better to onshore wishing you were out there than being out there wishing you were on shore.
>15 we are not moving boat.

 

Ever have that happen to you?

Every single flippn time….. there is alway a south west wind….. every god damn time. It blows me off the dock into the boat beside me in the same well…. It absolutely sucks….. on top of that I have no thrusters…. I have never not docked but I tell you it is a pain in the ass…. Hit my car once…. Jumping to catch the ass end and knocking the boat into forward with my knee….. that was embarrassing when people came running

 

Every single flippn time….. there is alway a south west wind….. every god damn time. It blows me off the dock into the boat beside me in the same well…. It absolutely sucks….. on top of that I have no thrusters…. I have never not docked but I tell you it is a pain in the ass…. Hit my car once…. Jumping to catch the ass end and knocking the boat into forward with my knee….. that was embarrassing when people came running

View attachment 143082 View attachment 143083

So how close do you park your car now?

 

Yeah. It sux. I eventually learned to select my slip so a South orientated wind pushes me to the dock. If the wind is from the north or ne it’s usually a crappy day on the lake.

 

When I had the 290DA I left it on the T at the end of my dock a couple of times. Just not worth it, nothing to be embarrassed about, it's just the smart thing to do sometimes.

 

Happened to me, only once though...

 

I have never hit my car (or any car) with my boat - just sayin...

 

That would be a first for me too. Just sayin...

 

I am impressed you kids know which way the wind is blowing, I am clueless and just know "it's windy".

 

I have to know. At my marina, the dock runs south to north. If the wind is out of the north or south at anything more than 10 MPH, there is no use trying to back in. My boat is just a little over 29', so not big compared to many here, but the shape of the bow makes it a sail. It can be a pain to get in bow first when the wind is up, but I have done it so many times I don't ever have an issue with it.

The dock at our favorite tiki bar can be a challenge if the wind is out of the west. So it pays to know in advance.

 

I've always had a slips that had fingers on both sides that went almost the full length of the boat. Each leading post had protection on it so that, if necessary, you could lay a rub rail on the downwind post and slowly pivot the boat around it. Hardly every had to do it, but it's a nice insurance.

So may of you guys have these two boat bay slips without any protection between the two positions. Not even pylons. I'd be a nervous wreck every time my slip mate came in on the up wind side.

In fact, my boat stuck out of my slip about 7' and when I got a new neighbor with a 390EC, who'd never driven a boat, I hung all my fenders around my bow pulpit when I'd leave. Eventually he got better and we laughed about it all the time.

 

I've always had a slips that had fingers on both sides that went almost the full length of the boat. Each leading post had protection on it so that, if necessary, you could lay a rub rail on the downwind post and slowly pivot the boat around it. Hardly every had to do it, but it's a nice insurance.

So may of you guys have these two boat bay slips without any protection between the two positions. Not even pylons. I'd be a nervous wreck every time my slip mate came in on the up wind side.

In fact, my boat stuck out of my slip about 7' and when I got a new neighbor with a 390EC, who'd never driven a boat, I hung all my fenders around my bow pulpit when I'd leave. Eventually he got better and we laughed about it all the time.

I asked last fall to put a pylon in between I even offered to pay for it. I haven’t heard if it went in or not

 

Speaking of thrusting….

Is there a way to improve the performance of a thruster without upgrading to a larger unit? I think I recall seeing something about an improved thruster blade once but didn’t save the link.

 

Most go to a 4 blade from a 3 blade….. seems to make a big difference

 

Docking is also directly proportional to the number of people watching!

 

Exactly... When I launched the boat the other day, I spun it around and backed it in 4" off the dock and stopped exactly where I wanted her... no one was on the dock... now if people were watching... LOL

 

Windfinder! Great app with up to 7 day prediction. I find it real accurate.

 

@douglee25 ....I bought the same boat 2 years ago (sold it and went twin outboard) .......it's usually windy on the coast and I had a time with it. I could not dock it worth a damn lol.....bow would instantly run away from me and required a ton of throttle to recover...if even possible. First big family trip we came into the city docks at Morehead City, NC. My neighbor (who's boated down here all his life) said "you're gonna love backing into those docks......the current is a bitch". I left my pride and a good mark on a piling in Morehead City.

 

We've had some pretty hairy situations, but I think the biggest pucker was getting fuel in Staniel Cae. Hurricane Nicole in 2022 was bearing down on the Bahamas and just came off the Florida coast heading East. We saw the mess coming and wanted to throw a couple of anchors out back in a cove on the East side of Staniel. But we had about 1/4 full fuel and needed to fill in case the fuel dock didn't reopen after the storm. At this point winds have picked up to over 20 knots and seas were extremely mixed up and white-capping. Probably 3's and building. If you've ever been to the fuel dock at Staniel it is exposed to the seas to the West-Northwest - exactly where the wind and waves were coming.
We contacted them, they were starting to secure - we were the last boat to fuel before they closed down.
The girls had the fenders and my buddy had the lines. I've got the boat out over a hundred yards and turned around with the aft in the wind and nose coming into the fuel dock - straight in. Engines in reverse and the wind still moving the boat toward the dock. Forget the wheel, throttles only with the bow thruster in waiting. I'm not so sure the bow thruster would have been any use anyway.
The fuel dock there is very high - over six feet above the water so the chance to rake off the bow railing was real.
The interesting thing is the fuel guy didn't lift a finger to help - he sat on his chair and watched. Sheesh. It was rock and roll. The waves were crashing on the rock shoreline just below the restaurant which is next to the fuel dock and sending spray ten feet into the air; it was a nerve racking calamity. Everyone kept their heads and executed what we discussed to the T. I poked the bow in so a piling would be at the rubrail several feet back. My buddy got the rope on the bow cleat and pulled down on it as I increased reverse power then rotated the boat using the wind and put the starboard at idle reverse and let the wind drive the aft into the dock pilings trying to control speed with the port in reverse putting significant power to it. The bow line was C note tight - thank god that cleat held. We lashed in tight the boat onto fenders but it was rocking about 2 or 3 feet side to side.
The fuel guy slowly got up from his chair, gave me the nozzle and said "good job maan" in an almost un-understandable Bahamian way..... I'm mentally exhausted; the longest 15 or 20 minutes I can remember.
Getting out away from the dock wasn't bad, just pulled the aft away from the dock and cut loose the bow line.
But Whew!

 

We've had some pretty hairy situations, but I think the biggest pucker was getting fuel in Staniel Cae. Hurricane Nicole in 2022 was bearing down on the Bahamas and just came off the Florida coast heading East. We saw the mess coming and wanted to throw a couple of anchors out back in a cove on the East side of Staniel. But we had about 1/4 full fuel and needed to fill in case the fuel dock didn't reopen after the storm. At this point winds have picked up to over 20 knots plus and seas were extremely mixed up and white-capping. Probably 3's and building. If you've ever been to the fuel dock at Staniel it is exposed to the seas to the West-Northwest - exactly where the wind and waves were coming.
We contacted them, they were starting to secure - we were the last boat to fuel before they closed down.
The girls had the fenders and my buddy had the lines. I've got the boat out over a hundred yards and turned around with the aft in the wind and nose coming into the fuel dock - straight in. Engines in reverse and the wind still moving the boat toward the dock. Forget the wheel, throttles only with the bow thruster in waiting. I'm not so sure the bow thruster would have been any use anyway.
The fuel dock there is very high - over six feet above the water so the chance to rake off the bow railing was real.
The interesting thing is the fuel guy didn't lift a finger to help - he sat on his chair and watched. Sheesh. It was rock and roll. Everyone kept their heads and executed what we discussed to the T. I poked the bow in so a piling would be at the rubrail several feet back. My buddy got the rope on the bow cleat and pulled down on it as I increased reverse power then rotated the boat using the wind and put the starboard at idle reverse and let the wind drive the aft into the dock pilings trying to control speed with the port in reverse putting significant power to it. The bow line was C note tight - thank god that cleat held. We lashed in tight the boat onto fenders but it was rocking about 2 or 3 feet side to side.
The fuel guy slowly got up from his chair, gave me the nozzle and said "good job" in an almost un-understandable Bahamian way..... I'm mentally exhausted; the longest 15 or 20 minutes I can remember.
Getting out away from the dock wasn't bad, just pulled the aft away from the dock and cut loose the bow line.
But Whew!

Sounds like a pucker factor 10+!!

 

I stuck this picture back in the first post, but here's the illustration which should help clarify the issue.

I really need to be past that gangway to start backing which just isn't possible.

Usually the wind is from the SE which gives me plenty of room to back from down the fairway.

 

I stuck this picture back in the first post, but here's the illustration which should help clarify the issue.

I really need to be past that gangway to start backing which just isn't possible.

Usually the wind is from the SE which gives me plenty of room to back from down the fairway.


View attachment 143113

Could you pull bow-in when it's really nasty?

 

Gangway, fairway - are you boating or golfing? ;-)

 

I usually prefer to dock by myself as I have a routine. Now when we go to a marina for a trip, and it's my first time there, different story.

My current slip has pilons on both sides and I use them to turn the boat when needed. One of the last slips was an open slip for 2 boats, no pilon in the middle. Short finger piers as well. I nailed it every time. @douglee25 that's the marina and slip where you met me that one time to look at the stereo. Luckily I was good friends with slip mates, but never bumped into them.

 

I didn't read that entire thread ......

I think you made the right decision.

I've had to land a bit sideways and pivot myself into my slip a few times but there are so many outboards and anchors sticking out past the dock on the neighboring slips, I would hate to make contact and hurt anyone elses boat.

 

I feel for you! Its looking like this year, just like last year, i'm looking at 20+ MPH gusts on the day i have to move my boat from winter storage to my summer slip, which means docking in high winds without any pre-set lines. The only good thing is that because its so early in the season, our dock is usually pretty empty, so i have plenty of room to whip it into the slip without much concern for other boats. Last year was our first full season with the boat so it took 4 or 5 tries to get the boat in the slip far enough to grab a cleat and tie up the back to hold it in place while i get some lines set. Hopefully this year goes way easier now that i'm more comfortable on the controls.

Had another day out last season when the winds were even stronger, and we had to tie up in a marina for the weekend to hang with friends, and i got blown practically sideways on attempt number 1. Got it on number 2 with much cursing and yelling back and forth with my wife. Nerve wracking for sure

 

I got stuck in the public dock at Put N Bay once when we had our 340 AJ. There were boats tight in front and behind us and every time id get the boat away from the dock the wind would blow me right back. After about 2 minutes a crowd gathered. Owner of the most embarrassing moments for me as a captain. Eventually I was able to get the boat out but not before hurting my pride quit a bit.

 

A little tid bit an old salty captain told me once. He said "Son, a bird will always stand facing the wind. As soon as you get near the marina, find a bird somewhere at rest. Now you know which way the wind is blowing".

 

A little tid bit a old salty captain told me once. He said "Son, a bird will always stand facing the wind. As soon as you get near the marina, find a bird somewhere at rest. Now you know which way the wind is blowing".

With my aging eyesight I think I'm better off finding the closest flag!