I've owned the boat for 12 years and just started backing in this year. It is so easy, sorry I didn't start sooner.
I enter my marina fairway in forward slowly so the throttle is set. I rig fenders on both sides to protect neighboring boats. I setup about four boat lengths from my slip, turn so the stern faces the slip and stop the boat with a short burst of reverse, and walk around to the front side of the helm so I am positioned best to steer backward, facing that direction. I use as little reverse thrust as possible but keep the boat moving backward, and shift into neutral for most of the maneuver. I leave the throttle alone and work only the shifter lever. The rudder steers very well with very small corrections of the wheel. The bow follows the keel. Once inside the outer piling, I shift into forward to slow and shift back to neutral and when the boat is well in, I shift to forward and throttle up, then shift to neutral, grab a spring line and shut it down. I keep guidelines rigged between dock and pilings on either side. I've had no bumps but a couple of close calls when crew pulled a line too hard and spun the boat. My crew acted to help and I blame myself that my instructions were inadequate. I now advise crew that the maneuver works best if the boat is kept centered in the slip and ask them to collect the bow lines from the piling as we enter but to keep them slack until we stop moving. I added colored tape to all my docklines so crew can cleat them when directed to the correct length. This seems better, but I'm always looking to improve. Chuck Resolute 1990 C&C 34R Broad Creek, Magothy River, Md ----- Original Message ----- From: "CNC boat owners, cnc-list" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> To: "Dennis C." <capt...@gmail.com>, "CNC boat owners, cnc-list" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2014 9:28:35 PM Subject: Re: Stus-List Now docking IMHO, the key to docking stern to is to have sufficiently sized 'cahunas' to get the boat moving in reverse relatively far from the slip. I almost always dock stern to and independent of wind, current, prop walk, blah, blah, blah...the key is to get going in reverse at least 10 boat lengths from your destination with whatever prop you use, whether it is offset, etc,. Once moving in reverse, the rudder takes over and the engine can be put in neutral (with occasional, and brief; drops into reverse to keep reasonable speed up so that the rudder maintains control). Facing aft with the wheel behind me, I can steer the boat like a car, since the rudder is like my front wheel underneath my feet, with occasional shifts into reverse to keep way on and the rudder steering working. Once into the slip as far as I need to be, a short burst of forward gear stops reverse motion and I and/or my crew can tie her up. QED. Charlie Nelson Water Phantom C&C 36 XL/kcb Sent from my iPad
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