[Shreddy]

I feel very comfortable docking a boat in most conditions. Obviously, wind and tightness will severely diminish anyone's confidence. Two years ago, I taught my sister how to dock the boat. We pulled about 100 feet outside of Suissevale marina in the open area, I grabbed a frisbee I had on board and threw it into the water, and then I made her simulate docking up to the frisbee so I could lean over and pick it up. We did this for at least a half hour, until she was comfortable, and then I let her bring it back into the marina and dock it with no issue. As everyone has preached...practice builds confidence, however, nobody is invincible when it comes to the art of docking and there will always be a time where things do not go according to plan. We've all been there.

The biggest point I stressed to her was that you need propulsion to steer the boat...HOWEVER, NOT A LOT. As such, since boats do not have brakes (go figure), when I dock I generally go extremely slow so I am in control. I primarily float in neutral and when I need to steer I shift to gear for a little direction and then back to neutral. When I'm docking, I may shift from neutral to gear 10+ times to control my speed and direction. This is my personal preference when conditions aren't too variable. Other times, if windy and I need full control I stay in gear with some speed and simply power in and settle with a reverse maneuver for the back end. Just my quick $.02