It just occurred to me that I’ve also used a Sentinel when docked.
We summered in the Ft. Lauderdale canals, where we had short (6-8'') finger docks projecting out from a face wall (seawall, or bulkhead).
I’d use a Sentinel weight (about 20#) centered on the forward bow
line, opposite the finger. This kept the boat away from the finger under normal circumstances, but allowed us to pull her over for easy boarding.
The sentinel exerted enough force that Maggie (at about 105# soaking wet) had to put her back into it.
FWIW,
Gord