Quote:
Originally Posted by sailak
A fellow a few slips over is docked port side to/bow in as I am. He single-hands his cutter frequently. I noticed he was about to leave so the wife and I watched to gain from his experience. He was able to back out and get the stern a bit to the right. Once as far back as he could go he shifted to forward and applied a considerable amount of power. I'm guessing his cutter is a full keel boat as it just didn't turn very well even with the good amount of speed he had. He missed the bow platform on the first powerboat but got the teak platform of the next boat tearing it away. We've scratched his method off the list.
What we did was ask the owner of the powerboat next to us to walk the bow out (he was motivated to assist since it was his boat in jeopardy. Worked well.
Thanks
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If the other sailboat was as you described, you probably would have learned about as much from watching him leave as from watching your dock mates powerboat go out! Totally different animal than your boat, especially under power. 36' is a large starter boat IMO. If you are really that unsure of yourself (good to admit it!), contact your owners association in your area and see if one of them will spend an hour working with you at the dock. Or, find a similar boat in the marina (NOT a full keel cruiser!) and ask the owner if he will work with you (most I know would be happy to do it). The yacht club might also be a good source. You might also want to find an empty slip that points down wind and practice. You may come back to your slip one day to find the wind has shifted 180 degrees, then what?
Your dock mate might not be around
