Then I would recommend the procedure of using a spring line while under power as described in the video I posted up thread.
I watched it and it should do well for Ward. He has the full length of the dock and I think he has a winch that is far enough forward. I have to emphasize that the maneuvers have to be simple enough to accomplish quickly because the wind really shortens the opportunity to get it right. I'm always amused by the videos because they usually show a maneuver performed in breathless conditions. Of course it looks good and simple. I never see these things performed in real-world conditions when you have a gale pushing the boat around as soon as way-on is coming to a halt. Plus, there is another guy at the helm (they
almost manage to conceal that in the video) and a guy on the dock to secure the line. A beautifully maneuvered docking during breathless conditions with 3 guys … Imagine that!
His photo also shows my boat. As you can see, I don't have a dock and the finger pier (you can't see it in the photo) is short. It ends far short of mid-ship. If I was to pull my boat in to the stbd side, I'd be bouncing off our neighbor's boat - he happens to be absent in the photo (he does have a fender out, usually). Also, as seen in the photo, my winch is pretty far back and isn't much better positioned than the stern cleat. I don't have a mid ships cleat.
The difficulty I have is that I give the boat hook to Sue so she can grab a dock line on the finger pier and slip it on the bow cleat. We have to come in fast enough to avoid being pushed by wind and waves, which means I've got my hands full with steering and throttle / gear controls. I have to glide in, reverse, throttle and steer and get it just right to come to a stop. If Sue is successful at the bow, the stern quickly blows away from the stbd-side piling (usually too fast for me to grab anything) and I'm lucky if I can grab the port-side piling before I'm blown right by it. Sometimes I catch the piling but she has failed to catch a line at the bow and the bow goes swinging to port. Often, there is somebody around to catch the bow pulpit, which saves our bacon and is a big help! (Often it's Ward!)
I think I need to set up some nice-sized loops with rope on the finger pier and the stbd side piling that both Sue and I can grab more easily, each with our own boat hook, just so we can keep the boat still while we grab dock lines. Trying to hook a dock line just right with the boat hook is often hit or miss because the boat blows away too quickly to get more than 1 brief shot at it. Aside from that, footing is very difficult in my small cockpit, especially when the bimini limits headroom and the ability to reach outside the boat. Just reaching and holding something outside the boat is a trick much more easily said than done - and I'm pretty nimble!
Obviously, I'm describing the condition we face with a wind that makes it difficult. That's really the point of the thread. I don't think either Ward or myself have any particular problem docking when the wind isn't a factor. It's just that we seem to always be dealing with the wind.
There is one advantage with the wind … it blows the greenheads away. I'm often surprised how aggressively they swarm around us at the car and around the clubhouse. We walk out on our dock, and they are much less a problem because of the wind.
