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If you now or previously owned one how long did it take you to learn to
maneuver it properly at low speeds, most especially in reverse and in wind? *************** You never stop learning. Each situation is different, and not all are possible to specifically rehearse in advance. One needs to put the boat into the slip *mentally* and develop a game plan (taking wind, current, and known characteristics of an individual boat into account) before ever getting into a tight spot. The most important consideration, IMO, is understanding how the boat will walk in reverse. Depending on LH or RH prop, the boat will back to port or starboard. Proper boat handling acknowledges, rather than ignores, this "ism" and uses the phenomenon to control the stern when docking as well as when reversing in general. It would be interesting to understand what you define as "walking" a single screw to the dock. If you mean moving the bow and stern simultaneously to approach the dock beam-to from several feet away that's a manuever not usually accomplished without a thruster. The more common practice is to place the bow near where it needs to go and then bring the stern around the pivot point to the dock. One needs to allow for some forward movement of the bow when pivoting, but it is no trick at all to put a 36' single screw into 40 or so feet of float space with vessels moored fore and aft- with some practice. One excellent concept to appreciate is that you want to dock to the outside, rather than the inside of a circle. That can make a huge difference. You see guys turn into a slip from the "wrong" direction all the time, where they are being forced against a neighboring boat rather than against the float. It's often better to pick a slip that allows you to make an outside turn, or proceed down the fairway, do a U-turn, and come back (that will change the dynamics of the docking circle).. I have found this is important with any boat, but more particularly with a single screw than some other configurations. Steering in reverse is a challenge. Some boats do better than others. Mine does rather well, but backing up over a great distance and with any accuracy means paying constant attention to the effects of prop and rudder. Example: My boat backs to starboard. To back up in a straight line, I turn the wheel to port. At very low rpm, the boat tends to follow its big rudder rather than the prop walk, and the boat will back to port. With a little more engine speed, the rudder and the prop walk eventually achieve a sort of "balance" and the boat will back relatively straight. At a higher engine speed, the prop walk overwhelms the rudder and the boat backs to starboard. Even so, there's no shame in using a bit of forward thrust to "straighten out" partway through a long backing, particularl in a ross wind or current. |
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