" wrote:

Generally, whenever this discussion arises we all tend to discuss or
think of our own boat and/or situation rather than talking about it in
a "generic" sense.
Forgetting wind and current for the moment. All propellor driven boats
will have prop walk to some degree, from hardly noticeable to "wowser"
and that difference will include two of the same type being totally
different due to how they are loaded with gear, fuel, people, etc..
If you have wind and current to consider, learn your boats "walking"
characteristics without wind and current first, then learn it with wind
and current, as sometimes one factor will totally negate the other.
Take, for instance, a single screw right hand prop docking stbd side
too (probably the toughest maneuver for this boat). No wind or
current.... use your prop walk to STOP your stern swinging into the
dock.
Now, same setup but port side too..... use your propwalk to START or
make your stern swing into the dock.
Since most boats will want to back into a wind or current you will have
to learn at what point of wind speed or current velocity and from what
directions will your boat be under the control of one factor (propwalk,
wind, current) or combination.
Obviously, no two conditions are the same and no one answer fits all.
I'd hate to tell you how many times I've started backing down expecting
my stern to go to port, only to find out that today it would rather go
to stbd.... and then after the fact, tried to figure out why.

The rule of thumb will be - if your boat usually backs to starboard,
and you want it to go to starboard, it will go to port.


There have been a couple of instances where we wanted to dock to port
(because that is the side the fuel fill is on), and just had to give
up on it and string the fuel hose all the way across the boat because
the engine could not overcome the wind and current (propwalk or no
propwalk).

In some cases the shore people were requiring a port docking, and we
could tell that it wasn't going to be possible. If they still
insisted, we would tell them that they would have to pull the boat in
to the dock by hand. Sometimes they could, and sometimes they could
not. It takes two of us to push the boat out from the dock against
any significant wind or current. (like in the Cooper River or in
Fernandina Beach). It is a heavy boat.

And sometimes they would tell us to do something - not being aware
that we have a modified full keel and not a fin keel - and without
telling us that there was a very swift current - this can result in
some scary situations when the current carries us sideways down the
fairway.

Bob will sometimes ask them to secure a bow line tight on something
and will run the boat forward into it - if there isn't too much wind
against us, that can get the boat swung around into the dock.

In two instances the shore person indicated a space on the face dock,
and Bob lined up the boat even with the space, and the boat was blown
sideways all the way across the channel and into the spot without us
using any engine at all.

grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id1.html