Nice article about docking

Posted By: Carl, Horizon Cat/Picnic Cat, Central Texas
Date: 6/25/08 9:53a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Steering (link) (Tom Ray)

My comments below about prop walk were before reading your docking piece. Just to clarify, I wasn't trying to counter anything you said about prop walk. In fact, when docking our Horizon Cat I keep it in mind. That boat walks some, so if I see I'm fast or have the wind at my back and I'm going to count on reverse, I'll approach angled in for a dock to port, close but maybe even starting to steer away, at least at the moment I hit reverse, for a dock to starboard. That way when reverse sets my stern to port and my bow to starboard I hopefully keep the gelcoat shiny! Also helps to remember power to port, drift to starboard when manuvering in a tight fairway. If I need to scoot 'right now' and turn to port without much room, that's when those extra buttonholes show up in the cockpit cushions. I don't find the backing particularly annoying, but I would understand anyone thinking the boat doesn't back well. It's just part of the game. Last week at the Texas 80 I had to do a little emergency backing at Indianola to compensate for a little poor planning on another boater's part. Ok, ok, and mine, too, I was counting on this guy not pulling in front of me, but he was ready to go. Anyway, the wind was over my port quarter, so the boat weathervaned from windage and moved that way as well from prop walk. As the bow swung starboard it came close to pilings. Made me really nervous. Moving forward, pulses of thrust and slow speed reduce the effect of prop walk, but I didn't have the chance to do that. I just needed to start making sternway upwind, and walking to port wasn't the best. Not that I had much of a choice... Sailing is a chess game, backing an inboard is just another aspect of that. Makes me look stupid(er) sometimes, but that's just life.