Dannielle Hayes
Boats docked at the Lund marina on the Sunshine Coast.
by Perry Mack
You’ve mastered the basics of docking under ideal conditions using your ex-best friends’ boat with just minor bumps and scrapes (hopefully minor) and now it’s time to move on to Graduate School docking. Tough docking occurs when the wind, current and other boaters conspire against you, leaving you open to ridicule from the peanut gallery at the minimum, to watching your experience go viral on YouTube at the worst.
Start by having a good look at your docking area. With your Sherlock Holmes-like powers of observation, check the pilings or moorage buoys at the water line for tell tale signs of current direction, look at the direction of flags flying or blowing dust for wind direction, check the dock space to insure no one has left lines in the water to tangle your prop and naturally look out for the other boater who is not looking out for you.
Keep in mind that wind typically pushes the stern (larger surface area) more than the bow as does current as the aft section sits deeper in the water. Follow all the tips from High school docking and you’ll be ‘El Capitan of the North’.
Wind or Current blowing at the dock
The easy version is similar to docking under ideal conditions. The variation is that you’re going to shoot for a parallel position a meters away from the dock and let the wind push you in. If it’s really windy, it may be best to approach the dock straight on, get a bowline out while using reverse to prevent you from hitting the dock and then let the wind push your stern into position.
Wind or Current pushing You Away from the dock
For the directions in this example we’ll use a port side landing. Start by approaching at a steeper angle than normal so you’re less likely to be blown off-course and away from the dock. Once again you’ll turn the boat parallel to the dock but this time at the last minute then use reverse and hard left rudder to stop the boat and pull the stern into the dock. Your crew now plays a vital role as they have to secure the dock lines ashore before you get pushed away.
In dealing with crosswind and currents, it’s important to remember that, unlike cars boats steer from the rear. Which means your bowline is the most important. Once it’s secure you can ( depending on how much space you have in front of the bow) steer hard away from the dock with forward power to push the stern to the dock or steer toward the dock in reverse to achieve the same effect.