I'm lucky to have gotten a very good slip. It's a goofy slip no one else wanted, with the dock on an angle, the two rear piling are on an angle. There is a pair of bow piling, 30 feet out from the nearest rear one and another pair another 20 feet out. The previous boat was a 50 footer. Everyone backs in at my marina cause the finger docks are short and it's the only way on and off the boat. The piling spacing allows me to lay my boat against two piling most of the time. But the angled dock means I must lay my boat's stern on one piling. If I go in too far, the bow can swing past the forward piling and into my neighbor's boat, so I'm careful not to do that.
I learned to back in effortlessly solo using short pulses of power. I'm sure others use this method. I approach the marina bow first with my engine at idle and shift to neutral and try to coast to a position where I line up the boat well out from the slip, like twoo boat lengths, and come to a full stop, Sometimes I use reverse to stop the boat, then I walk around in front of the wheel so I'm facing aft, the wheel and the direction of travel. Now I have a great view of the slip and key reference points; the rudder head and backstay mark my boat's centerline; the stern rails mark the sides of the boat. I center the wheel, marked with white tape, and give a short burst of power to start the boat moving backward. Once it's moving backward toward the slip, I shift to neutral and steer to keep the boat aiming always for the centerline of the slip. The engine is idling and I steer and operate the shifter only, into reverse to keep her moving slow. I find the bow follows the keel and the keel follows the rudder, and I come into my slip with the engine at idle, then shift to forward for a short burst to stop my boat so the stern quarter can rest against the rear piling and I can reach the landlubber line between pilings to grab my springline and tie it to a midship cleat. One more dockline and she's safely in the slip. Two lines are all that's needed if you get the right two. Then I grab the boat hook and fetch all the rest till I have 6 lines securing the boat. This method requires you to mark the wheel to center the rudder, and mark the docklines so the length is the same each time. I use red and green tape to mark the docklines, but a sharpie would work as well. Why back in? I used to bow in to the dock for privacy, but if the bow gets blown off the course, there is no way to check it without a bow thruster. You really have more control backing in. You're closer to the end of the boat as it approaches the dock and have easier judgement and better control of the engine and the bow is less suceptable to crosswinds this way. Chuck Resolute 1990 C&C 34R Broad Creek, Magothy River, Md > > On October 21, 2016 at 9:17 AM Michael Crombie via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > I single hand a lot and prefer the slip on my port. I come in bow first > so I pull towards the slip when i go into reverse to stop the boat (as I'm > returning to the slip.) It is a slight hassle departing, but i just give the > stern a bit of a push off as I step aboard. > > I also made sure that i picked a slip that faces into the prevailing > wind...this makes docking easier if you ever need to sail into your slip. I > just turn into the slip and the wind stops me. > > I agree with a previous lister that you want to avoid slips with the > prevailing wind pushing you off the slip. This situation causes the most > problems at my marina, even for boats with lots of crew. > > Mike > Atacama 33mkii > Toronto > Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network. > Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell. > > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you > wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: > https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > > All Contributions are greatly appreciated! >
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