Sailing, we've gotten pretty good at. Two evenings in high winds and we did good. Docking is another matter. The way our slips are made it's better for us to back into the slip. Last year, I'd use the motor to back us in. It's not easy to steer a boat in reverse and I had to push us off a piling more than once. This year I approach the slip very slowly and use the hook pole and grabbing a line as we slowly go by and pull the boat by hand into the slip. It's been working pretty well. Saturday, the wind was from the east at 15 to 18 mph - and blowing into the marina. Halfway down the main channel, I knew I was going to fast, so I dropped into neutral. Still too fast, so into reverse at a idle speed. I use idle speed to move out of the slip. We made the turn into our row of slips. Still too fast, a little more motor speed. Now the wind is hitting me from the rear and side and it's blowing me into the pilings. Had to push off of one of them. I found it hard as hell to steer the boat moving forward with the engine in reverse. Seconds later, there we are, engine in reverse, moving forward too fast, quickly sliding past our slip. Aimed at a row of boats. Hmmmm. So, I reached out the pole, hooked the line and pulled like a mad dog. Not too smart! Luckily, I wasn't pulled off the boat, but I did manage to stop and pull her in. Not easy, but I did. Later, Bonnie wanted to know if our insurance covered knocking the noses off a half dozen boats that were "safely moored" in their slips. I didn't have an answer. One thing about sailing, we never know what to expect. It's always different, with stress, tension, and sometimes a good scare. We were tired after that evening of sailing. Sailing in high wind is work!
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Know What You Mean!
Hi Frank, Joan and I went out for four days starting on the fourth. We and another couple anchored out of Annapolis for the fire works, great show on the water. We took the other couple back to the marina at 11:00. As I was backing out of the slip turning around when the cable from the pedistal to the Honda motor decided to break while in forward. Now Joan starts hollering to get into reverse and I can't even get into netural!!! We are aimed straight at a Cape Hatteras. I turn the motor off and tell her to get forward to push us off. Well we hit but at very low speed and crushed the bow nav light. I need to order several of these, we always are taking out a pile with the light. We almost started down your way Saturday. Joan wanted to goto Solomans. If I known the wind was going to keep blowing we would have. Should been able to make it in 3-4 hours. All told for the four days we sailed 103 miles, not bad for just goofing off. Jim S/V Java
Hi Frank, Joan and I went out for four days starting on the fourth. We and another couple anchored out of Annapolis for the fire works, great show on the water. We took the other couple back to the marina at 11:00. As I was backing out of the slip turning around when the cable from the pedistal to the Honda motor decided to break while in forward. Now Joan starts hollering to get into reverse and I can't even get into netural!!! We are aimed straight at a Cape Hatteras. I turn the motor off and tell her to get forward to push us off. Well we hit but at very low speed and crushed the bow nav light. I need to order several of these, we always are taking out a pile with the light. We almost started down your way Saturday. Joan wanted to goto Solomans. If I known the wind was going to keep blowing we would have. Should been able to make it in 3-4 hours. All told for the four days we sailed 103 miles, not bad for just goofing off. Jim S/V Java
extra squirrel power
Frank; You just need to geet(oops Jimbo) a new squirell cage filled with them little rascals so they can give you extra power. yes your insurance will cover that so tell Bonnie the answer is yes. We all have accidents. Try launching a car into the lake with the engine running and then sink like the Titanic. I did that and sure is funny now. Crazy Dave Condon
Frank; You just need to geet(oops Jimbo) a new squirell cage filled with them little rascals so they can give you extra power. yes your insurance will cover that so tell Bonnie the answer is yes. We all have accidents. Try launching a car into the lake with the engine running and then sink like the Titanic. I did that and sure is funny now. Crazy Dave Condon
Test Drive for Newbies
I was amused to read your docking problems. I sold a Catalina 250 last year, partly because I could never get the darn thing into a slip. I had a 23.5 with a Mercury 8hp that you could steer with the motor with no problem. I am about to buy a Hunter 27 and discussed my docking problems with my broker salesperson. He said that the best way for the inexperienced to practice this is to pick out a channel marker (not a shallow water buoy!) and practice docking to it. It won't hurt to hit it. I thought this was a great idea and plan to put it into practice to help me learn how my new boat moves at slow speed. Hope this idea helps someone. John
I was amused to read your docking problems. I sold a Catalina 250 last year, partly because I could never get the darn thing into a slip. I had a 23.5 with a Mercury 8hp that you could steer with the motor with no problem. I am about to buy a Hunter 27 and discussed my docking problems with my broker salesperson. He said that the best way for the inexperienced to practice this is to pick out a channel marker (not a shallow water buoy!) and practice docking to it. It won't hurt to hit it. I thought this was a great idea and plan to put it into practice to help me learn how my new boat moves at slow speed. Hope this idea helps someone. John
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