Roger Long wrote:
Would have worked great too except that I let the RPM's drop too far
while distracted trying to explain to the bow line handler that you
only have to untie one end of the doubled line to slip it (previously
explained but it didn't stick) and the engine quit. (I'm coming to
hate the shutdown with throttle arrangement. An eighth of an inch of
travel is the difference between idle and quitting. The engine should
remain on line until you explicitly want it to stop.) By the time I
got to the starter button and back to the wheel, the wind had us and
the anchor on the roller had gone through the phantom window of the
imaginary powerboat next door.

It probably would have worked fine if I'd been alone. I'd have cast
off the boat and then given my full attention to the rest. This
business of teaching line handling while learning docking is tough.
Nothing like, "You mean this line?", as the kid puts his hand on the
roller jib sheet, to kind of freeze your mental processes at a
critical moment.

It seems to be impossible to predict how line handlers will react.
Worst of all are the well meaning passers-by that think that any line
they can reach must be pulled in and snubbed as tight as possible.
After a dozen years I've finally convinced my wife that she has the
authority to "wave off" anyone that won't listen to her instructions.

I've resorted to color coding all the dock lines, so I can tell people
"the blue line leads aft." And I've wrapped yellow tape on the dock
cleat that gets the first spring line. My final step was to feed a
lifeline cable inside some single braid line so that the loop stays
open and the last 5 feet are stiff enough so that my wife can snag the
cleat as we pass by. The line is set up to snub us just as we
approach the boat in front. If the wind is off the dock I can power
against it to bring the stern in. Today, of course, the helpful
dockhand thought this must be a mistake and tried to remove it just
before it snubbed up!

The other trick I liked on my old boat is a line running from bow to
stern with about 8 feet of slack. Someone that steps to the dock with
this line can control both the bow and the stern. If there is a cleat
in the middle of the slip it can serve as both bow and stern springs.