[C320-list] Backing into slip

[RUTHE SMALL]

Welcome Randy to this group.

We have had our 320 #74 since January.  It lives in Marina del Rey, CA.  My spouse Sam backs the boat our when we leave, making sure he is facing rear as he backs out (otherwise it is sometimes disorienting).

We also had an outboard motor on our old boat and a tiller.  Learning to shift, apply gas, shift into reverse, neutral, and know that I can gun the motor to make it respond is all new to me.

I bring the boat into the slip.  The secret for me is to stay to the far side of our finger, and to come in slowly  I achieve this by shifting from 1st to neutral to reverse and back again.  The objective is to maintain steerage.  I start my turn into the slip about 4 feet from the dock, and turn the wheel hard.  The boat turns in its own length.  There are two things I have learned.  The first is if I am going too fast, I put it in reverse and gun the motor, then shift right back into neutral.

The second thing I am learning is not to kill the motor until we are all set, otherwise my spouse is wrestling with a lot of boat

The first time we brought the boat in, all our neighbors gathered (some to help and some to defend their boats).  They advised us that the previous boat in our slip took several months to learn how to dock it.
We also asked experienced friends to accompany us the first couple of time.  We've had only one minor mistake, which caused a smudge on the gelcoat which we were able to  fix ourselves.

There are many aids you can use as well.  You can mount a fender at the front of your slip, they make wheels you can mount on the corner of your dock.  And whatever you do, you may be embarrassed, but you won't die.

Good luck!!

Sam and Ruthie Wagner
RUTHSM #74

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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)