[C320-list] Backing into slip

[Stephane Rousseau]

Hi Randy,

I'm not an expert at docking but I always put the throttle at idle and
use the forward and the reverse only to approach the dock. This way I
never put to much throttle.

Regards,

Stephan

On 10/29/07, Randy Averill <randy at averillnet.com> wrote:
> Another new owner question.
>
> I've had my 320 for less than a month and my biggest problem right now is
> parking.  My previous boat was much smaller and lighter, and I learned to
> maneuver it into the slip rather easily with its outboard motor and tiller.
> Now I would greatly appreciate the voice of experience helping me out.
>
> I approached my first couple times into the new slip with the 320 with great
> caution.  This boat can coast a long way and I can't afford to overshoot my
> slip (I'm at the end of the runway) so I slowed to a crawl.  I used a "Y"
> approach in that I came forward down the runway to my slip, turned hard to
> port (away from the slip), and then backed in after completing a 90 degree
> turn to port.  I actually parked fairly well, but it took forever because I
> was going so slowly.
>
> Last time out was my first problem because there was some wind blowing me
> into the dock.  I think if I came in faster the wind would have less effect
> (i.e., it would have less time to blow me around), but I don't know how fast
> is too fast.  Does anybody have a rule of thumb you could offer?  If you're
> coming in a idle, how early do you put your transmission in neutral?  How
> much time to stop the boat with reverse?  Any good way to get a better feel
> for this on open water?  I'm not sure I trust my ability to transfer the
> open water experience to the marina because it's so tight.  Any good stories
> to make me laugh and relax?
>
>
> Randy Averill
> Tesoro (#29)
>