[C320-list] Backing into slip

[Allan Field]

OK, I'll bite with my long past horror story of bad stern-in-docking.  The
first 5-6 times trying to dock my first boat stern-in with crew were a
disaster - highly entertaining for everyone around except those on either
side of me, and very embarrassing for my daughters and me.  Finally, one day
I nailed that sucker perfectly, backing in without even grazing a piling.
About the time I was ready to start congratulating myself, my daughter said,
"Dad, I don't think these look like our dock lines."  Sure enough, I nailed
the wrong slip.  So out we came and back to the same old routine - numerous
tries until we finally were able to manhandle the thing into the slip.  Fast
forward 20 years and it's a piece of cake.  Experience and Wisdom - That
which is left over after all the mistakes have been made.

Allan S. Field
Sea Shadow - #808
Columbia, MD

-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Greg Battersby
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 6:51 PM
To: c320-list at catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] Backing into slip

Randy,

 

Sadly, you are not the only person who has trouble docking.  When I first
got my
32 (a step up from the 30), I figured that backing into the slip made a
whole
lot of sense because the way it was configured, I could literally step off
the
boat onto the dock.  I had been sailing for about 25 years so this wasn't my
first rodeo.

 

The first time I tried it, it was a piece of cake.  Also the second.  THEN
the
wind picked up and the guy with whom I shared the slip decided to get a
bigger
boat-big enough that there is now only about 18" between us.  On top of
that,
it's a power boat with an anchor pulpit that projects into the channel and
every
time I swung past him it looked like a big spear that was sure to pierce a
hole
in my hull if I didn't do it just right.  It then became a Chinese fire
drill
every time I tried to dock.  

 

One time I put my wife into the water as she tried to jump down from the
boat
onto the slip (not a small jump because the 320 has a high freeboard).
Since
she really never liked sailing anyway, I just lost my first mate..forever.


 

Last Father's Day I took my entire family out on the boat.  We had a great
time
and then it came time to dock it-6 tries later and with the help of a couple
of
bystanders on the dock, we managed to park it-not dock it, but park it.
While
happily no one went into the water and there was no damage to the boat (I
had
put a bunch of extra rubber on the side of dock and a wheel at the corner),
but
the old ego was mortally damaged when my younger son said, "Dad, that was
really
embarrassing."  No comeback was possible because I agreed with him.  The
only
difference was that I was the guy who was embarrassed, not him.  His only
fault
was being the son of the guy who couldn't dock her.

 

I popped up a similar post on this website after the incident and someone
responded with advice that I'll never forget-docking is nothing more than a
controlled crash.  Boy, he got that right.  Since then, I've searched far
and
wide for advice and I have read everything I could find on the subject.
There's
even a computer docking simulator on the web.  Candidly, I thought the post
either late yesterday or earlier today was one of the best I read.

 

Since then, I unsuccessfully tried backing in a couple more times, then gave
up..literally and figuratively.  I went back to approaching it bow first and
was
able to get in a lot easier although it gets dicy backing out because there
isn't a whole lot of water behind me.  This year, I just finally gave up and
decided to sell the boat.  Bluntly, it was an admission of failure on my
part-I
came to realize that there was no way I could single handedly dock this
puppy
without an awful lot of practice which I just didn't have the time for.
The
reason why we're talking about single handed docking is simple-- no one
really
wanted to sail with me anymore because every time we got close to returning
to
the dock, I became a basket case.  As such, if I wanted to go sailing, it
was me
and me alone.  

 

The whole experience has, unfortunately, damaged (no, shattered) my ego, but
I'm
a realist.  My golf clubs are looking better and better because parking the
old
golf cart isn't that difficult.

 

Hope your story has a better ending than mine.   I suspect, however, that if
you
take the time you'll get it down.  It's like the old story, "Who do you get
to
Carnegie Hall?  Practice, practice, practice."

 

Good luck.

 

Greg

Westport, CT