Easy boat to dock

[MicHughV]

yah, there are days when I lust after a powerboat....twin diesels, yeah buddy....dat be me...but to date, have not dabbed my toe in those waters yet...but you never know

[yorkville]

Once again, thank you all for the great info.

Just to address some of the comments on the perpetual debate of power vs sail. I posted this message here as I am under the impresson that, one, power offers more liveaboard space, and two, power is easier to dock. I am fairly sure my assuming on living space is correct. Please correct me if assumption on ease of docking is incorrect.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by yorkville

Once again, thank you all for the great info.

Just to address some of the comments on the perpetual debate of power vs sail. I posted this message here as I am under the impresson that, one, power offers more liveaboard space, and two, power is easier to dock. I am fairly sure my assuming on living space is correct. Please correct me if assumption on ease of docking is incorrect.

Ease of docking, power vs sail, is it depends. As mentioned in prior post, I have given close quarter maneuvering lessons on over 100 boats. I can think of nightmares on either. For power, high windage can be a challenge if you're in an area subject to afternoon winds and you pick a boat without side decks. For sail, underpowered with folding or feathering prop makes for low resistance when sailing, compromised propulsion when docking. Pick your poison. Bow thrusters solve a lot of problems - sailboats occasionally install them too.

I have to say, I don't recall meeting someone who made a sail vs power decision based on docking attributes.

Where do you plan to liveaboard? Some areas are more conducive to sail such as San Francisco. Other areas are more conducive to power such as PNW or Florida.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Twin inboards can be steered in reverse (by using the engines), but singles cannot unless going backwards fast enough for the rudder to have some effect.

I had a twin inboard, 32 foot cruiser. It was actually pretty easy to dock, just using the engines. I had learned to drive a bulldozer in my teens, and I found that using the gear selectors alone, if I just visualized I was driving a bulldozer, I could grease that sucker into the slip in forward or reverse.

The one day I had an engine go out (broke a fan belt, and I didn't have spare on board), I looked like a drunk trying to dock that thing on one engine. Having my dock master (a friend of mine) standing on the dock shouting instructions, and laughing like a fool at me, didn't help!

[MicHughV]

I think it comes down to practice...practice..practice....over the years I have developed the skills to back my sailboat into a slip under almost any condition, straight as an arrow, I know exactly what the boat will do under practically any condition now..all this with a single engine...but I also use the boat's momentum....it takes a while to develop the confidence in your on ability.
Besides the sailboat, I recently acquired a twin engined fishing boat. This too, required a learning curve for me. Nervous at first, I can now back that thing up anywhere, any distance, no problem.

It would be hard for me...or anyone, to explain how to do it....you just need to go out and practice...practice...spend a few hours, just getting into your slip and out again....after a while, you will develop a " feel" for what you need to do.

Likewise, practice getting around on a single engine....so when the time comes, it doesn't come as a " surprise" ensued by panic.

That's it...really...time on the water !!!

[rslifkin]

Practice is definitely key. You can be told what to try up to a point, but unless the instructor has played around with the boat in question, it won't be 100%. Even boats that seem like they should respond similarly sometimes have some unexpected differences in maneuvering.


When coming in with one engine out on a twin, there will be certain things you just can't do. And it's good to know what those things are and what your options are to work around them. Coming into my own home slip, I'd need pretty light wind. If I've got the port engine running, I could back in as normal, just a bit more clumsily. If I've got only the stbd running, I wouldn't be able to make the turn to back in, so I'd have to come in bow first. Given any meaningful breeze, I'd be taking one of the empty t-head docks and either fix the issue there or deal with moving the boat after.

[gansett]

I just sold our twin screw 31 powerboat. It had a flybridge with enclosure and I can tell you that the problems were more with windage than anything else. When we bought the boat an old salt at the dock said, "you got yourself a big sail up there", and he was right

If the wind was toward the dock backing in was a problem in that the wind would want to push the bow off position. Add to that the fact that we were in a tidal river and it was difficult to overcome the foul wind and tide by steering with the engines at reasonable docking rpms. I was no expert but I saw alot of more experienced people in our marina with the same problems.

[rslifkin]

Having a high windage boat myself, I've found the trick is to never back perfectly straight into the slip (unless it's so narrow that you have no choice). Always turn slightly as you come in. Typically I run the transom corner along the dock and pivot the bow into place as I back in, although depending on wind direction and slip layout, sometimes I'll back in with the bow towards the dock and the stern heading for the next boat over, then kick the stern to the dock once I'm in far enough.



By doing that, it's easier to compensate for wind pushing the bow around. While backing straight up, it's much harder to keep the bow from getting blown down wind without needing lots of room to shuffle the stern around while you pull the bow back to where you want it. All assuming no bow thruster, of course. If you have one, a well timed squirt when the bow starts to blow off should take care of it.

[CarlF]

If you want an easy to dock boat get one with both a bow thruster and stern thruster (or add them). It would add less than 5% to the cost of a new 40ft boat.

Virtually every super yacht now is equipped this way and their professional captains don’t seem embarrassed to be seen using thrusters.

My 55ft sailboat has both bow and stern thrusters. Do I know how to dock without using them? Sure - I did that for 40 years. But this is easier - especially in tricky docking situations with difficult wind/current or a tight spot between other boats.

That said, the OP should still get some lessons. Handling a boat is not like driving a car - and I bet someone taught you how to parallel park a car when you were 16.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by CarlF

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

That said, the OP should still get some lessons. Handling a boat is not like driving a car - and I bet someone taught you how to parallel park a car when you were 16.

Yup, I was taught how to do that, too. Only problem I have now is my wife saying, "Ah, I see you still try to park by braille!"


Here's one experience I had in 2016 in Eureka, California, on our trip up the coast. We'd had this boat for 18 years! Single engine sailboat, I know, but still...



Getting into our slip was tricky. Very tricky, and it took me three tries. The strong flood current was pushing the boat down into the slip but was also pushing the entire boat away from the dock on our port side at the same time. We had to go around a few times until I realized that the midships spring line techniques we’d employed in the Bay Area would work here but I had to work a LOT harder “to put the boat where I wanted it to go.” I finally got us close enough for Morgan to leave the shrouds for the dock with the stern line, wrap it a few times without the cleat hitch, and I threw him the already prepared midships spring line to secure the boat first, and only then and much later get the bow line. We usually do the spring line first, but the current was so strong that if we missed we’d have to come around yet again, so I chose to use the stern line first; at least we’d be “connected” to the dock if not as “parallel” to it as we would be with the spring. Morgan was really quick with both lines.


A sailboat docked in next to us. Don filled us in on some local knowledge. He also noted and showed me his “rig” for a BIG stern line that he uses first when he comes back into his slip on a flood current.

My experience shows that power boats seem to use the stern line first technique.


That's why I earlier questioned the need to hasve the ability to get out from the wheel inside steering station when docking, especially if you're singlehanding.

[rslifkin]

Ability to single hand is definitely dependent on boat layout. My boat has great side decks, but in my mind, it can't be safely singlehanded except with calm wind in an emergency. 2 people on board is minimum. The helm is just too far away from the side decks to rely on the helmsman handling the first line.



As far as which line goes first, on a face dock, it's an aft spring unless I have to back onto it, then it's a forward spring. In our home slip, it's the bow line (hung from a hook on a piling), as the outer end of the slip is the narrowest part and the bow is the end I have the least sideways control over. Once the bow is constrained, I can place the rest of the boat where it needs to be to put the other lines on easily. If the bow is unconstrained, keeping it off the center piling is a challenge.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Without easy access to the outside, it seems to me to mean that a crew is a necessity.

Or power boaters are just more sociable so they have no problem finding people to go out with them and they never think of it as an issue. (sorry couldn't resist)

Actually, it's not uncommon for flybridge boats to have a set of controls in the rear cockpit which would make line handling fairly easy.

[MicHughV]

a while back someone at my marina was selling an Ocean Alexander Trawler. I think it was a 44 footer. I had an interest in it, but discovered that exiting the pilot station from inside, could only be done from the port side. If docking starboard side to a dock, you had to have a crew, or run around the boat yourself, so I passed on this opportunity.
While the boat did have a flybridge, with another set of controls, the same problem existing, ie, one would have to run down the flybridge steps to manage dock line control. Sadly, my running around days have passed.

I feel quite more comfortable docking a sailboat, as I have years of experience, but docking a power boat remains outside my comfort zone. I see power boat captains that can reverse a big trawler into a slip with their eyes closed, but this is a skill I do not have.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Or power boaters are just more sociable so they have no problem finding people to go out with them and they never think of it as an issue. (sorry couldn't resist)

Actually, it's not uncommon for flybridge boats to have a set of controls in the rear cockpit which would make line handling fairly easy.

I understand the resist part. In my case, my lovely wife who loves to boat is unfortunately tethered to the home because she is the primary care-giver to her 99 year old father. She only wishes she could come with me, and so do I.


The controls in the rear cockpit make a lot of sense, surprised it isn't a feature for all boats, but...reality gets in the way sometimes, huh?

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

I understand the resist part. In my case, my lovely wife who loves to boat is unfortunately tethered to the home because she is the primary care-giver to her 99 year old father. She only wishes she could come with me, and so do I.


The controls in the rear cockpit make a lot of sense, surprised it isn't a feature for all boats, but...reality gets in the way sometimes, huh?

It was just a joke but yeah, life gets in the way some times.

The cockpit controls seem to be most common in charter fishing boats. It allows the captain to help out in the cockpit if you get multiple fish on.

If you you don't need the wheel, it wouldn't be too hard to retrofit.