There already have been some good comments to your situation, but one more
thing I would like to add:

Remember that you don't have to KEEP your boat in reverse to travel
backwards. It is not like a car. Once momentum has been achieved, put the
tranny in neutral, thereby minimizing the effect of prop walk (assuming that
prop walk is working against you). I know that is a simple point, but it
may help.

L

--
Enjoy my new sailing web site
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"John Lechmanik" wrote in message
...
Although I'm a little experienced at sailing, I'm still learning a lot of
the little incidental things. Such as pulling out of a dock. We have a
Hunter 310 (a little "beamy" and our slip is narrow) that is moored in the
SF Bay area. We have less than 2 feet of total clearance between the boat
and the dock at the widest point. Our slip is about 1/2 way down the
berths with slips on both sides of the passageway. The passageway is
probably 40 - 50 feet wide. We have an "upwind berth" which faces to the
south (normal summer wind direction).

The Marina is surrounded by homes and the wind is usually blocked pretty
well by the wind from the south by other rows of sailboats. However the
wind from the east, west, and north are not that blocked. To make things
more interesting our exit from the slip is to the east, which means I have
to back out of the slip to the right. The boat pulls to port when in
reverse.

Here is the fun part. During this time of the year, the wind comes from a
variety of directions. When the wind comes from the east (port side of
the boat when in the slip) it's a challenge getting out of the slip. The
first time I backed out under these conditions I was just out of the slip,
and turning the boat to starboard when the wind pushed the bow back
around. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the boat turned into the
wind and was being pushed by the wind down the marina. I finally spotted
an open slip and pulled in. We ran a line off the bow and I backed out
again, but this time had the bow held to the dock. I managed to get the
boat turned into the wind, picked up my partner (2 man crew that day) and
sailed off.

A few days ago, we had the east winds again, but this time with a little
bit of north. After reading up, I tried to run a line off the starboard
stern to pull the stern around as I backed out. This SEEMED to be working
until I tried to pull next to the slip to pick up my partner, and the
north effect of the wind started pushing my starboard into the parked
boats. We managed to finally get some forward momentum and move foward
while fending off the boats. I couldn't pick up my partner and had to
pull around to the downwind side of the berths and pick her up there. The
wind was only about 3 - 4 kts.

I know it's been a long explaination, but now I'm wondering how to pull
out under these conditions and pick up my crew before leaving.

Any suggestions???


--
John Lechmanik

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