For those of you who read and responded to my docking angst:

It’s a great feeling when it starts coming together. We returned late
yesterday afternoon tired and burnt from our first overnight and
headwinds all the way back. The docking scenario was the usual for our
slip, strong quartering tailwind blowing the boat off the dock which
is on the side the reverse sternwalk swings away from. The ebb tide
also runs across these slips in about the same direction as the wind
so everything is resisting stopping the boat and pushing it away from
the finger dock.

We didn’t have the tide to cope with last night but the same method
has worked well on days that it did with the same shore breeze. This
docking began with the discovery that someone had docked a damaged
boat with the mast on deck sticking about ten feet out into our
already tight turning area. My wife has finally learned that yelling,
"You’re too close to that boat!" isn’t a necessary part of the docking
procedure and my kids interestedly inspected the masthead as it went
by about eight inches away.

As we swung into the slip, a neighboring transient boat owner ran over
and then just stood there as the lines went ashore and the boat
stopped. He said, "I was going to help but the young men seem to have
it completely under control. They really know what they are doing."
That made everybody feel pretty good.

Here’s what’s working for us if anyone else is still struggling with
this:

Bow and stern lines laid out along the rail amidships to the boarding
gate. Aft spring only coiled and ready to go. One kid takes each line
and jumps as soon as the end of the dock reaches midships. Their
instructions are simple, pull the slack out the line, get two round
turns on the cleat as quickly as they can, hold. Don’t wait for any
instructions.

With the stern line on, I can back as hard as necessary to stop and
hold the boat. I can get the boat so the linehandlers step off across
just a few inches of water but the boat still ends up about six feet
out by the time the lines are on. I then pull and release the stern
line as my son holds and takes up the slack to pull the stern in.
Intermittent applications of reverse keep us in position. When the
boat is close enough for the sternson to reach the spring line, he
cleats it and sets the spring. Then it’s engines off and pull the bow
in. Forward spring is set at leisure.

I’ve done this with just one line handler and it works just as well as
long as the stern line goes on first with a couple of additional
diagonal turns. We’re at the point now where we can do the whole
evolution without a word being spoken so we’re going to start looking
very smooth to the loungers on the other boats.

Here’s our undocking procedu

Cast off lines.

Brief application of reverse until boat starts to move and then
neutral as I learned from this newsgroup.

Son tending dinghy drops painter which he forgot to secure as ordered
(or maybe it slipped off the cleat).

Other son yells.

Stop boat which starts to swing into piling.

Son reaches down and grabs dinghy painter.

Resume backing out.

Snap hook (now replaced) twists in such a way as strain come on
painter that it pops off. Son yells. Helmsman gets that deer in the
headlights look.

Other son has presence of mind to grab boathook, snare dinghy thwart,
and hold on.

Continue reverse towing dinghy with boathook.

Watch bow swing and anchor miss piling by quarter inch.

Get clear, stop, and secure dinghy.

Motor sedately away as if it was all planned.

Yes, it’s great when it all starts coming together.


--

Roger Long