[C320-list] Backing into slip

[David J Gleason]

Randy:

Welcome to the C320 list.  This is the greatest thing on earth, second
only to the 320 itself.

When backing, I have found the boat to be less maneuverable as the flow
of water over the rudder is much less.

Depending on what prop you have, there may be some difference in
handling.  My previous boat had a two blade folding prop and in reverse
wasn't worth a damn.  My three blade will stop the boat in less than its
length.

I do not back in, but can give you some of my thoughts.  Our slip faces
South with the cat walk on the starboard side.  We approach the slip from
the East, so our turn is to port.

I try to maintain about two knots speed when approaching my dock.  I turn
hard when the bow is about even with the first stern post, my slip is 14'
wide.  This kills some of the speed, but leaves me with about 1 knot to
maneuver into the slip.  Depending on wind direction, I may hit reverse
in idle when half way in the slip.  This allows my wife to catch the
stern line on the port post.  I shift into neutral until she has the bow
lines.  I can adjust boat position with the forward and reverse as
needed.  If I have another capable crew, they will grab the starboard
stern line.  With both stern lines attached, I can apply forward power as
needed to adjust the position of the bow.

A couple of things that help are:

I have permanent eyes spliced in all four dock lines.  It is only
necessary to drop them over the cleats and the boat is in its final
position.  No adjusting necessary.

The two bow lines are attached together with light line and a small float
between them.  There is a light line that extends back to the cat walk. 
This keeps the float in a position that is easy to grab with the boat
hook.  They never sink or drift away.

I have the starboard fenders in place as we approach.  If there is a
strong cross wind, we catch the starboard stern line and attach it over
the sheet winch.  I can then apply forward power which pulls us up
against the catwalk so we do not drift down on our dock partner.  We then
attach the bow lines and can still reach the port stern line by standing
on the stern scoop with an adjustable boat hook.  Our dock is 40' in
length.

Every boat owner seems to have their own way of doing things.  I have
found that the permanent eyes in the lines works for me.  The idea of
tying the bow lines together was something I picked up from another
boater.  

Dave Gleason
Proud Mary, #150

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:42:12 -0700 "Randy Averill" <randy at averillnet.com>
writes:
> 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)
> 
>