What's up, dock?

[Stephen Prusinski]

easy-in and reverse to stop

Like most everyone else, I cut power and slip the shifter into neutral, then I stop the boat by sliding the shifter into reverse and give it some gas until it stops. One time my shifting linkage rod came off the shifter and I didn't know it until I hit reverse and gave some gas. The boat never shifted out of forward and I kissed the dock quite snuggly. Fortunately the boat suffered only slight cosmetic damage. The bow road up the front of the dock and slid back into the water! What a great ending to a great day of sailing!

 

[Mark]

Slow as you go

The old saying."The speed you approach the dock will be the speed you hit it".Interesting to read someone else has had a gear linkage fail resulting in it being stuck in forward. Happened to me "once". The only time I haven't checked for reverse thrust well clear of the jetty and you guessed it. Smasho!Never never never happen again though.

 

[Mark]

Good thinking Charmaine

When I come in (reverse)on my own (pen) I always pick up the the windward side pylon mooring line. I have a rope tied off at the bow and temp tied on the stern. As I past by the pylon I pick up the mooring line undo the stern to bow line and pass this bow to stern line through the loop on the mooring line and refasten the bow to stern line to the stern cleat. I then continue to reverse in and this stern to bow line keeps her roughly centre of the pen. I then attach stern lines and put the motor in forward at idle. This keeps the stern off the dock and allows me to go forward to attach bow lines and then work my way back to the stern fixing springers.Works for me????

 

[Mark]

Hey Jim Seamans your a charmer.

Letting your wife do all the work!No word on Ray & Maria yet?

 

[Warren]

Getting out more of a challenge

We just got our boat 9 months ago and the first few times we pulled into our slip were, to say the least, exciting. I’m sure our neighbors were saying, “Oh great, here they come again - get out some more fenders”. We did manage the first few weeks with no real harm done and now I don’t think too much of it anymore. When returning to our slip I usually put the engine in neutral at the head of our fairway and since our slip is about halfway down the pier by the time I’m ready to start my turn into the slip I’m barely moving. I jockey the throttle to maintain steerage, just slipping the boat into and out of gear unless there is a strong wind and then a little more gas is called for. We dock bow in with our starboard side against the finger pier on a floating dock. I start my turn by aiming the bow about halfway between the middle and end of the finger pier coming in at about 45 degrees and then turn in more sharply to port as we get into the slip. I end up with the boat about 3 to 4 inches away from the finger pier. Apply a little reverse thrust to kill any remaining headway and the admiral steps off with the dock lines and ties us off. Timing is everything though. If the wind is blowing hard the admiral had better be quick getting a line cleated off or it can still get exciting in a hurry.Getting out of the slip has been more of a challenge because as soon as we would undo the dock lines, depending on the wind either the bow or stern would start to blow into the boat next to us. Now I use spring lines while standing on the finger pier while my wife drives the boat. This way I can keep the boat from blowing off into our neighbor and with a little reverse and with the spring line looped around the cleat at the end of the finger pier the stern swings in, the bow swings around facing down the fairway and the boat is “T”,ed at the end of the finger pier. Then I just step on board and let the admiral take us out while I tidy up lines and pull in the fenders.

 

[Robin Colson]

Practice makes perfect

Having a port prop walk we have mastered a technique that our fellow dock mates now use. As we approach our slip we pass it on the port side of the causeway and turn starboard bringing the boat to a "T" in front of the open slip. I retrieve the lines giving the starboard line to the helmsman and retrieve the port line for myself. Moving the boat's stern in front of the slip I walk my line to the bow hence making the boat turn into the slip. The helmsman then meets me at the bow and I tie us up. After numerous tries at backing in this has proven succesfull.