View Single Post
  #5   Report Post  
posted to rec.boats
otnmbrd otnmbrd is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 238
Default turning and tabs

First off.....what works for one person may not work for another, so a
different point of view.........

More practice. Start with the basis- anything more than idle in gear (ahead
or astern) when maneuvering, means you've screwed up the approach/undocking.
Is this an absolute? Of course not. It's an ideal you strive for.
With that in mind, you need to become totally familiar with the abilities of
your particular propulsion system, be it inboard, I/O, outboard, single or
twin, right/left hand prop, inbd/otbd turning, rudder power, and affects of
wind and current.
Never treat prop walk, wind or current as your enemy....make them your
friend, working for you, not against you........ i.e., attitude adjustment.
Waddahey, for all I know you're all ready making as tight a turn as possible
with your particular boat (hard to tell without being there,doing that) but
one thought..... if you need a tighter turn while backing out of a slip,
while you still have sternway, put you wheel hard over and go ahead at
minimum power. Make the turn part of your braking maneuver......may or may
not help for your boat.

"Bill Kearney" wkearney-99@hot-mail-com wrote in message
...
I'm trying to find a way to get my 240 Sundancer to turn sharper when
leaving the slip. Would lowering one trim tab have any affect on
turning while moving at slow speeds?


No, they won't do anything to help rate of turn at slow speeds.

Any other suggestions for making
it manuever better at docking speeds?


More practice. Combinations of more power and better use of reverse would
probably help. Going so slow you don't have enough control is a problem.
Going faster and being ready to apply reverse generally helps more. When
you go "too slow" you run afoul of currents, prevailing winds and the
general lack of keel (compared to a sailboat). Those combine to push you
around in ways that generally don't help what you're trying to accomplish.
Power, under control, is your friend.