Marina pinball

[FlyWright]

Bob, I bet all dock eyes are on your boat when she comes in. She's such a looker.

 

[Bob Cofer]

Bob, I bet all dock eyes are on your boat when she comes in. She's such a looker.

I does limit the ability to hide mistakes when they happen!

 

[FlyWright]

...and most of my mistakes don't splinter!!

I do have a couple pulled cleats on my port side from some unruly raft up buddies who shall remain nameless.

IMO, every mark tells a story and they all make me smile.

She's Comfortably Imperfect.

 

[Andy G]

There's been some great information posted, I've learnt a thing or two. Sorry that the OP seems destined to sell his boat before he gets to grips with it.

 

[mvweebles]

A good way to illustrate that is with a grocery cart. The wheels in back steer so similar to a boat.

I agree that twin engine boat owners miss out on some principles of prop walk.

Having only owned singles, I tend to drive a twin like two singles tied alongside each other.

I drove a 82-foot 74 passenger dinner cruise boat on SF Bay for a while (later bought-out by Hornblower). SF Bay is a breezy place to be in the first place, and it takes a half-hurricane for a dinner cruise company to cancel a gig, and many runs involved multiple pick-up/drop-off locations in downtown SF, Alameda, and occasionally Sausalito. I got pretty good at docking, but never really comfortable, especially backing-out of long fairways because the boat was longer than the fairway was wide so spinning was out of the question.

The guy who trained me was an amazing driver (though not much of a teacher - he was more concerned that the windows were spotless so passengers had the best view possible). Docking, I held my composure well, and never got into any trouble, but I have to say, it felt like I was lucky more often than I was skillful. I found delivering yachts along the Pacific coast between PNW and Mexico to be much less stressful.

I had one docking maneuver down pat that I used virtually 100% of the time as all pick-up/drop-offs were side-ties on floating docks. I'd pick a cleat on the dock that would be my forward cleat from a forward-quarter cleat on the boat and aim straight for it at about a 35-45 degree angle. As the dock would disappear under the flare of the bow, I'd drop the outboard engine (furthest from the dock) into reverse to slow the boat and simultaneously walk the stern towards the dock via prop walk, ideally bringing the boat alongside the dock without being too far off or so close that she bounced off her fenders. I might have to feather the throttle a bit to increase prop-walk, maybe a skootch of forward on the inboard engine to nudge her forward perhaps with a bit of rudder, but that was the docking gig - 100% muscle memory and thank goodness for agile dockhands. I could do it with my eyes closed which, coincidentally, was how I did it a few times given the high winds.

Overall, it was a fun job as I met a lot of people. But I don't miss the frequent stress of docking at all.

Peter
USCG 100T 899414

 

[TollerTrawler]

The worst part of boating

I'll only add that my wife and I have a philosophical technique that's helped us over the years. When either one of us is docking, the other says as we enter a marina under challenging conditions, "This is all over in three minutes." In a crazy way, it diffuses the intensity of the moment and helps us re-center on the task knowing that good, bad, or otherwise, very shortly we'll be popping a beer on the dock and life will go on.

 

[RickyD]

Ok here comes some brag and some humility. My first non-sailing boat was a Lien Hwa 47 twin screw. My first slip was double loaded with a 46 foot Irwin sailboat next to me with only fenders for protection. Plus it had a Portland Pudgy hanging off the stern so I had to get past it and then twist and then push in. When I first brought it in, with normal 6-8 knot breeze at 1 o'clock, I came in well. I guess I just had a good feel for the boat. Ins and outs over a couple years were mostly all good. I thought I was a pro. Then I had a group of non-boater friends aboard for a cruise and the wind was oddly at 7 or 8 o'clock. I though....Ok, the aft half of the boat with the fly bridge and canvas will be blowing me to starboard. I'll back way out of the slip till almost coming to the boats at the next dock, then spin her out with starboard thrust and port reverse. Made sense. Except the bow has less resistance in the water and the wind blew my bow to starboard. I got to the point where anything I did made it worse. Put a nice scratch in the boat from a neighbors anchor sticking out. In the future I'd back all the way out. Live and learn from experience.

 

[Moon]

All great advice! Moonstruck has a tendency to be pushed by the wind whenever I don't need it to happen. Usually that is when trying to back into a slip. Even with a lot of experience I am challenged at times. The marina I used to be in always had wind blowing out of the east in the afternoon, just when I wanted to return after a day on the water. I finally moved to a different location. Problem solved. Wind can still pose a problem but my new dock is sheltered from most of it. Don't give up. We always think people fixate on us when we actually fixate on ourselves. Let it go and cast off!

 

[Lollygag1]

When we first got the boat it was a challange. One of the other boaters just looked me in the eye and said “add more fenders” we did and also put on a dock wheel

 

[Monk36]

I hired a Captain at. Sea school near us. A half a day on your own boat with an experienced Captain can change your life and give you the confidence boost you need.biggest takeaway for me was to have a plan with your first mate to arrive and leave the slip. And most importantly, take it SLOW.

It happens to us all.

 

[Jackhulse]

Our old Silverton is our first powerboat, and first boat in a slip. When we got it 2 years ago an old salt pointed at the flybridge enclosure and said, "you got a big sail there.", and ive been mindful of that. During the seatrial we were instructed about using the twin screws to manuever the boat in and out of the slip, and I've practiced and watched training videos etc. But after 2 seasons I've yet to execute what I'd consider the perfect landing.

The other day we returned from a cruise down the river and when I came in a 10 knot breeze was setting me toward the slips. I struggled to stay away but the breeze kept pushing the bow and it was almost as if i had no control. By the time I was abeam of my slip and turning to back in, the wind and maybe some current swept me into a couple other boats. People rushed over to fend me off and I eventually got her in. But not without total humiliation. No damage done but it pretty much ruined my day.

I know I need to be better at reading the wind and currents but I'm at the point where I just dont trust my skills, and I'm hesitant to venture out again.

I feel like im destined to be the ooh ooh captain from the Boatniks.

We now have an Endeavour 44 cat trawler with twin engines 18’ apart, which makes reverse control a lot easier. Still, everyone has non photographic landings. One helpful hint from my monohull sailboat days, terrible control in reverse, is that when the stern starts to go in the wrong direction, quickly kick it into forward and give a throttle burst to kick the bow around. You have a lot more control in forward, and kicking the bow to one side will make the stern go in the opposite direction
Try it in open water to get the feel of it
Good luck with the new boat
Jack Hulse
Endeavour 44 cat trawler “Two’s Company
New Orleans

 

[Capnal]

Backing against a spring line on a forward piling is fairly wind/current resistant. The boat will pivot on the piling putting the stern right into the slip.

 

[tekdiver]

Same here. I have several battle damage scraps and dings in the hull. I, like you have an enclosed sail. Sometimes it will take me several times to get to the dock and I am not shy to abort and try again.

If backing into your slip is the way you do it and the wind comes up, bow it in instead of sterning in. You can change it later. Bow into the wind is always easier in the wind, if possible.

Find a dock and practice. But remember this and you will be fine:

"Approach the dock/slip as fast as you want to hit it!"

Just did my first senatorial with my new to me boat. Wind and current drive me crazy. Think I did 6 passes to get it done ended up using a front spring line and reverse to get it done. Not pretty but it worked.

 

[carpedatum]

So much good advice here! I have a relatively-new-to-me Cruisers 4285 Express with a full flybridge enclosure, which does try its best to act like a Silverton when we back her in at Moss Landing. I got similar advice (from the surveyor) about the flybridge enclosure and wind.

We hired a training captain when we first got her. He showed us a strategy for backing her in that amounted to observing the wind, then picking the right spot upwind of the slip to start rotating the boat, and picking the right angle to back her in, aligning her with the finger only at the last moment. The point being to put her transom on the right course and worry about the rest of the boat later. I figured I could master that in, oh, a few hundred attempts.

Then I spent some time at theboatdocker.com (https://theboatdocker.com/). It is a nice effort. I don't think it taught me how to bring the boat in, exactly, when the wind is up, but it gave some nice clues.

What it did do really well was sell me on thrusters.

It was a lot of money and work, but I've installed Sideshift thrusters on the bow and stern. I did not have to haul the boat (but did have to spend a few very peculiar moments in the dinghy, underneath the bed in the forward stateroom, in the bilge, in the worst parts of the engine room, etc.).

Here's a story about how thrusters helped one Silverton captain:

https://youtu.be/XuvH5Bdsrm0

After installing the thrusters (and fixing various other things), we asked our training captain for another session. Within three hours he'd concluded that we didn't need him anymore. He asked a few questions about how I'd engineered the 24v battery banks and how we intended to use the boat, gave me a ton of good advice, and charged me far less than he was worth.

The two of us brought her in through a 12 knot cross wind last time we went out. That was a little tricky even with the thrusters and there was a lot more conversation in the marriage-savers than usual, but we got her in without bumping a thing.

If you decide to do it, call Sideshift. They offer good advice, IMO (and maybe a discount). Might even be able to find you an installer.