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Cruising World presents Docking Made Easy.
An ASA Educational Series in association with Beneteau America.
Docking a larger sailboat under power can be challenging. Practice makes perfect.
This episode features great open water drills to reveal characteristics of your boat that will
help you learn to maneuver in tight quarters with control and confidence.
Master them and docking your boat will be a lot less intimidating.
All docking maneuvers should be performed at low speeds. A slow walk.
This allows you to stop the boat safely without relying on the crew and docklines.
However, at too slow a speed the rudder steering control will be limited.
Like a car the boat has to be moving or it can't be steered.
Let's head out to open water with your ASA instructor.
Without being constrained by tight surroundings
you can practice some drills that address controlling the boat with the engine
and other turning forces - like the wind, prop walk, and prop wash.
Before we get to our drills a word about using the engine.
Know that every gear shift should be done slowly and gently with finesse.
Wait until the engine is fully in gear before increasing throttle.
With that in mind, let's get into some low speed tips and our drills.
Prop walk is the turning force on the boat caused by the rotation of the propeller.
It's different on every boat, but is most noticeable at low speeds when going in reverse.
Prop wash is the accentuated turning effect of the rudder when the prop is spinning in forward
pushing more water at the rudder.
With the bow pointed directly towards the wind,
observe how or if the boat turns by prop walk.
With the boat stopped, head to wind, rudder held center,
shift gently into reverse and give a short burst of throttle and then back to neutral.
Observe how the prop walk turns the boat even before it moves backwards.
Most boats will tend to rotate clockwise - stern to port - quite dramatically.
Avoid going fast in reverse. The rudder is not designed to work backwards.
When moving briskly in reverse the forces on the rudder are extreme.
And a tiller or wheel can become an object of destruction.
Be prepared and hold the helm extra tightly.
At slow speed the force of the wind can have a powerful turning effect.
While moving forward at a slow walking speed,
Turn the boat at a 15 degree angle to the wind.
Now while holding the rudder at center, shift into neutral and coast to dead stop.
Take notice of how the wind pushes the bow away from the wind direction
as the rudder loses it's effectiveness.
The stronger the wind, the more dramatic the wind effect.
The goal of a safe docking is to stop the boat with the engine,
not by relying on the heroics of the crew and their docklines.
With these drills it's helpful to have a buoy or other object nearby for reference.
While moving forward slowly, directly towards the wind, helm at center,
shift into reverse and give the throttle a short burst.
Then shift to neutral.
Repeat these actions until the boat is stopped dead in the water.
This will highlight the boats stopping characteristics which will help your judgement when docking.
Now try this stopping drill while moving slowly in reverse.
With short bursts of the engine in forward gear to stop it.
Most boats can be rotated clockwise 180 degrees within just a boat length at very very slow speed
by using a combination of forward and reverse engine bursts
harnessing the effects of prop wash and prop walk.
This is invaluable for maneuvering in tight quarters and is best practiced in open water.
Start from a dead stop, and see how small a radius you can turn the boat clockwise, 180 degrees.
With the rudder hard over to starboard, give a short burst in forward,
then back to neutral for a beat, and then a short burst of engine in reverse.
Then back to neutral.
You are employing prop walk to turn the boat while in reverse,
and prop wash (with starboard rudder hard over) when in forward gear.
Repeat your alternating engine bursts until the boat has turned 180 degrees.
Now try the same drill turning counter-clockwise - the radius will likely be much bigger.
Sailboats like clockwise rotation so try to avoid left turns when docking.
Master these drills and you'll find docking and maneuvering in tight quarters
will soon become second nature.