Capt. Mooron wrote:
Actually ... backing in is much more difficult with a sailboat than backing
out.


I dunno, it depends on conditions and on how picky you are. If there's a
heavy cross-wind one time, and calm the next, obviously that's going to
make more difference than whether you're going in or out.


Well it is with a Crab Crusher like mine anyway......

I don't personally like being stern to a dock on the finger pier. Rubber
neckers and all plus there is no advantage.

With a double ender, it's probably not easier to get on or off by the stern.

... If you can sail out by backing
in then okay... but if you motor out after backing in ... what's the point?
It's 40 feet of distance max! Most likely it's only 20 feet of reverse. You
can man handle even a 40 footer that distance by yourself. If the dock
requires motoring out I load everyone and everything prior to slipping the
dock lines.... then I shove her to the end of the slip.... line her up...
step aboard... and put it in gear.


If the boat moves when you push it, it's not a crab crusher. Maybe you
mean a sustained shove? I can move our tugboat by hand, but it takes a
bit of grunt & some patience.

Full keel boats are a bit harder to maneuver.

Good Grief... it's not rocket science! This isn't the QE2... it's a 30 ft
sailboat... they have dinghies that big.


True.

Another good point you mentioned earlier was warping. Not rocket
science, in fact to me it seems quite obvious... although some
precautions are in order. And people get awfully funny about stringing
lines across fairways inside the marina. I thought of training our old
dog to take a spring line in his teeth, swim it out & put a wrap on a
piling, then bring it back when the boat was clear. Don't know if my
wife would have agreed to let her baby do that, though.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King