Comments on: How to Dock a Keelboat Into a Slip Under Power

on 9/1/2006 Many people think that slower is better when maneuvering a sailboat under power, into or out of a slip. This is just not the case. Of course you don't want to come screaming in at 75% power, but you need enough way that your boat will respond well to your helm. If your boat is so slow that while you can maneuver, you do not have enough way to turn your bow into a 5 or 8 knot breeze, you are destined to hit something.

Remedy: take your boat out to a buoy and practice upwind, crosswind and downwind approaches to a buoy stopping your bow at a specific spot. If you are nervous about hitting the buoy, pick a spot one boat length crosswind from the buoy and use the buoy as a reference. While making your approaches, note how you loose control at various speeds, and how quickly the wind will blow your bow down. Practice also stopping your boat with reverse, and then backing up.

How much power is necessary? Remember, if you carry speed into or out of a dock, you will need to be able to stop your boat. Practice shifting into forward and reverse and note how much prop walk is generated. You will be able to use this prop walk when maneuvering in close quarters.

Moral of the story:
Make sure you have enough steerage to control your boat. If you need to go slower than that, make sure you know where the wind will blow your boat, and at what angle, so you can anticipate that movement and use the wind to your advantage.

Have a backup plan. Think about what you will do if your plan A does not work. If you are coming out of a crosswind slip into a narrow fairway for example, planning on turning into the wind, what will you do if you do not have enough speed to get the bow into the wind? What is your plan B? Remember what you learned at the buoy, and how quickly the wind will blow your bow down?

A reasonable plan B might be to stop the boat in the middle of the fairway and let the wind blow your bow down. You will most likely have to shift back and forth from forward to reverse to keep station in the fairway, but as the bow blows down, soon you will be pointed stern to the wind, and you can just back out.

The key is to make these decisions before you head out of your slip, when you have all the time in the world to think about the potential problems, and what you will do. Once you head out, your decisions will need to be made quickly and correctly.

Know your boat, and its limitations. After all, as Dirty Harry said, "A man's got to know his limitations."