"Capt. Mooron" wrote:

Do you think you could maneuver as handily in a full keeled sailboat with no
engine in an area like that or are you addressing this to dual screws and
bow thrusters??

A boat with twin screws doesn't need bow thrusters, unless it's bigger than 60
or 70 feet, or has too much windage.



Until you can competently maneuver a boat under sail in tight areas....
making a claim of ability based on power driven propulsion falls short of
having any bearing on the subject at hand.

Agreed.

I've had the helm on some fairly
large motor boats in my life and none proved to be very difficult to
maneuver or place to a dock in any conditions.

Depends on what you mean by "any conditions." With a cross wind or current, a
single screw boat can be a handful. There are times when we put our tugboat at
the T head rather than attempt the slip. Other times we have warped the boat
around the corner and so on. Of course, at some point in the hopefully
not-too-distant future, we'll have a bow thurster and that will expand the
envelope.


[ Okay so maybe 90 ft boats
and ferries with a barge attached aren't that big to you.... they're big to
me! ;-)...]

They can also count on other boats keeping well clear, which is not true of
smaller fry.

BTW when discussing maneuvering full-keel boats, bear in mind that some are more
maneuverable than others. Yours has a cutaway forefoot and should be pretty
handy. Some full keelers are almost as maneuverable as a brick barn.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King