"Jeff" wrote in message
. ..
* Capt. JG wrote, On 7/23/2007 2:03 PM:
wrote in message
oups.com...

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it depends on the dock, the freeboard of your boat, whether docking
bow-to, or stern-to, etc.

What I do is to enter the slip at dead slow (engine idling in forward)
about 1/2 knot of boat speed. then I set a stern spring and power
against it. if the spring is set in the right place,and you set the
rudder hard over to the other side from the spring, most boats will
sit parallel to the dock indefinitely, You wll need to experiment with
the location for your spring, about 1/3 forward from the stern works
well with my boat. This works well for me in most conditions, the only
time if fails is when I have a strongish wind (20kts) from the bow of
the boat.

Hope that helps.

That's what I do also, depending on whether or not I'm docking bow-first.
Mine seems to work best at about the mid-point of the boat.

With the cat I'm almost always at a face dock, sometimes with boats in
from and back. Although I can spin on a dime, move the boat sideways is
difficult, so I found I had to figure springs, especially when the wind is
off the dock.

My first line attached is a spring from the bow to a dock cleat about
amidship. To simplify this, I fed about 6 feet of flexible cable into the
center of a singlebraid dockline, forming an open loop. All I (or any
crew or bystander) has to do is loop it over the cleat, as it is already
secured on the boat at the proper length. Once done, I can hold the boat
against the dock even if the wind is blowing off at up to 12 kts. Over
that I can still get the boat close enough to snag another cleat and haul
it in. The biggest problem is convincing "helpful" bystanders that all
they have to do is loop the cleat; it seems too simple!


Have you tried walking the cat to the dock? It's pretty easy to do with twin
engines, and wind off the dock unless quite strong shouldn't present any
problems. This involves using the outboard engine and inboard engine
alternatively without moving the helm (rudder to dock).

An alternative to walking if you have enough room (you don't need much) is
to dock stern to, put someone off, and have them walk the stern back
initially on what will be the dock side of the cat while you use the
outboard engine to power forward slightly. As soon as their able, cleat the
line, then help the cat back as you ease off on the outboard engine. You
might need to give the inboard engine something to help.

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