Rick,

As John C said in his post, practice is what does it. But, if you don't want
to be the gawked, practice coming up to a mooring buoy or some other
floating object from the same direction and the same manner as how you would
dock your boat in the slip. There's really no difference, and it'll build
the confidence you'll need. When I'm teaching students aboard our Yamaha 30,
I force them to dock under sail (with the engine in neutral as a safety
precaution) into the wind (the preferred direction) and with the wind (to
give them a real-life example of the difference in the characteristics).
Previous to this part of the lesson, we've done a bunch of practicing
stopping at a mooring ball and anchoring also without the benefit of engine
(not even in neutral).

You sort of mentioned it, but I'll make it clearer... don't listen to the
"helpful" advice from the people at the dock, and don't toss someone a line
unless you know the person knows what they're doing. Many dock mavens don't
know anything about how to really do it. As an example, when I dock for
lunch at Angel Island during the summer months, I typically have a 30-45
foot boat. Also, I typically back into the slip (for practice and for fun).
I know the area... current, wind eccentricities well... so I don't need
help, but I'll invariably get someone yokel who just stepped off a
stinkpotter giving me advice. I usually just say thanks anyway, but one time
I really got a good laugh. As I was backing in, he came out to the end of
the dock, beer in hand, and told me to "gun it and I'll grab the line."

Jonathan

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Rick" wrote in message
news
Would those of you who single handedly sail your boat give a new
sailor some tips on bringing the boat into the slip without attracting
a crowd of gawkers? The dock angels I don't mind, but the sauced vocal
contributions only add to the already high tension level. I don't mind
being the local entertainment occasionally, but it would be nice to
know how to do this better.

I realize practice makes perfect, but a few tips can speed up the
learning curve significantly.

Thanks!