Quote:
Originally Posted by Shreddy
My sister wanted to learn how to drive the boat...that's easy. Docking is a bit more of an art. Took her out in front of the marina and threw a Frisbee I had out into the water. I told her I wanted to be able to pick it up off the side of the boat (equivalent to docking). Every is different when it comes to docking. Many will tell you to just cruise in at a 45* angle and then hit reverse and spin the wheel to get the ass-end into the dock. It works, but to me it's not ideal. I come in almost as slow as possible, gliding in neutral. If I need speed or to steer the boat at all I shift into gear and then immediately back to neutral. The quick impulse is enough to control the boat and steer it coming in very slow and through tight situations. I probably go back and forth from neutral to gear and back anywhere from 5-15 times (guessing) when I'm docking.
I'm sure people won't care for this technique, or I'll find out it's doing something bad to my boat, but I've never had in issue in the past 15 years doing it this way. Good luck...practice makes perfect.
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Two posts here echo Boating magazines philosophy. One, don't come in any faster than you want to hit the dock. Two, as part of that, short bursts of the throttle, either in forward or reverse rather than coming in fast.
Judging the effect of wind and current can add into the mix, but going slow can help to minimize, and take advantage, of these conditions.
Now, if I could just practice what I preach.
