Might as well go for a stern thruster as well, then who needs dock hands!
Base upon some bad experiences of hanging on a fender, I don’t launch fenders until I am inside the pilings.
Mostly true Chris....every now and then some marinas have pilings on the outside of the floaters just to keep us on our toes.
I have arrived at the point of not flipping the fenders over until ready to turn into the slip much of the time....heck, some marinas that I am really familiar with and conditions are nice, I dont even rig fenders any more.
Excellent idea. Then I could add the whole Yacht Controller remote thing, too!
-Chris
Wifey B: I'll add one thing to teach dock hands as part of their training. Teach them the challenges different type boats may face, the difference between single and twins, with or without thrusters, the drafts of different size and type boats, how different boats are accessed. Teach them what boaters can and can't do in various conditions. Many deck hands are not boaters, haven't been on many boats if any, and don't understand the operation.
Not sure that would help them that much - it's hard to see those differences in a boat that is approaching your marina just from looking at it.
Wifey B: You know what it is before it approaches. You don't have to identify by sight. They're reserved dockage for a certain boat.
Do you guys mean a t-head tie?
Isn't everything a side tie?
T-head would qualify, but largely talking about long side tie transient docks. I refer to side tie as something where you only have a dock on one side, as opposed to a slip.