Sailing Primer

[tenuki]

man, when I took sea trials prior to buying my current boat I had to watch/fend while the PO scraped along the boat next to his, cutting the dinghy line and dropping it into the water. It was still attached by the other line, so he just left it floating there and powered off. After watching him the number of cosmetic scratches on the hull at dock lvl became understandable. And this guy wasn't a nube by a long shot...

Now that I'm driving the thing around I can't believe how easy it is to maneuver compared to every other boat I've owned or driven. However, I can't give it more throttle than barely above idle or it takes off like a banshee.. heheh, light air performance has it's penalties..

Biggest mistake people make IMHO: too much power and speed.

[sailaway21]

Good observation, tenuki. I was down at the marina the other week and was actually surprised at the number of boats I saw with what was obviously damage incurred in docking. One of the best ways to learn boat-handling is on a under-powered boat, you never grow to depend on it. Engines that will not idle well are more of a manoeuvering problem than having an under-powered one. If one observes the average driver attempting to parallel park it is little wonder that ship handling is so poor.

[cardiacpaul]

I second the docking thing.
I have never seen a group of fat old balding men move so quickly as when one of them said:

"Oh look, here comes that new guy coming in to dock...nice boat, looks like he's coming in a little fast"