[C320-list] Backing into slip

[Warren Updike]

No one seems to have mentioned this yet; but, here is a strategy that has saved my buns more than once.  When the wind or current make a bow or stern approach problematic, I bring the boat alongside the pilings at the entrance to the slip - hull perpendicular to the slip.  Best done heading into the wind.  Then, using one of the dock lines from the pile as a spring to a stern cleat, back the engine and you will rotate the stern into the slip.  Best done heading into the wind.  Once the bow is at a reasonable angle to the wind, let go the line and continue into the dock.  Once the beam is inside the pilings, you have it made.

Another trick with a safety line from the dock to the entrance piling is to have ready a piece of line with a loop on one end and a hook on the other.  Immediately after entering the slip, on the windward side, hook the line to the safety line and drop the loop over a cleat.  Now you can forget about that side and concentrate on the rest of the process.

With our first sailboat, I was nervous about looking like a lubber in our new marina.  That is, until I watched the circus around some of the "old salts" making their landing.  I found that no one criticizes a botched docking, and everyone applauds a good one.

Warren & Pattie Updike
C320, #62, 1994, "Warr De Mar"
Frog Mortar Creek, Middle River
Chesapeake Bay