Docking queston - Maxum Boat Owners Club

Zookie · 06-28-2011, 08:44 PM

Hey everyone...just bought a 1992 maxum 2500scr. Would love some tips and input on the best way to dock the boat solo. Any techniques and tips would be greatly appreciated!!

seapuppy · 06-28-2011, 10:44 PM

welcome to the zoo....the Maxum 2500 is a nice pocket cruiser for 2...docking isn't hard but it all depends on weather, current, winds....and anything else you can throw into the mix to make docking about as white knuckled as one can imagine....
it can be a very humbling experience and although some people make it look easy....it can be quite dawnting for others..(like me)....

now let me preface this by saying I'm rappidly approaching 60..(next yr)....I've done amazing things...flown airplanes....driven reaaaaaaallly fast in cars and motorcycles....jumped out of perfectly good airplanes to rely on a sheet to get down safely......designed nuke subs....worked on big commercial jets.....but not one thing I've ever done prepared me for docking a boat in a current and wind.....so...with this next sentence...I am hoping you will understand...

"NEVER APPROACH THE DOCKS FASTER THAN YOUR WILLING TO CRASH INTO IT"

watch the winds..currents...set your fenders before entering the marina....have lines all preinstalled and ready for someone to reach....if someone is on the dock to catch you...THANK THEM AND OFFER THEM A BEER!!!.....cuz docking is the most....THE MOST....stressful thing you will do next to steaming thru a typhoon.....

SP

biggerseagar · 06-28-2011, 11:54 PM

I knew I heard that somewhere....:-)

Practice, practice, and practice. Use the wind and current to help you. Always try to head into the wind and the same with a current. Protect the fiberglass, get your fenders out and have a line attached that you can throw to a dockhand. Go slow, learn how to give short burst on the direction your going.

And most important.....do not freak out! Remain calm at all times, do not yell. If boating with a partner be nice cause they could shoot you if you are not nice!

Hope this helps

Roger

cunuck · 06-29-2011, 01:39 PM

fenders fenders and more fenders go slow and remember everyone has had a bad docking good luck stay cool.

Zookie · 06-29-2011, 01:50 PM

Thanks for all the advice!! Is it easiest to tie off midship, very off boat and then tie up bow and stern? There isn't a lot of room to walk around and access the bow quickly and easily.

seapuppy · 06-29-2011, 02:02 PM

what we've done over the yrs is to have the stern line ready to go...the midships line in the other hand....first tie the stern line down as quickly as you can....then the midships line is right there for you to control the boat during high winds and currents.....

SP

shrew · 06-29-2011, 02:18 PM

Hi Zookie. Are we talking about a slip in a marina, or a broadside dock? Is this a transient dock, or a slip that you're keeping your boat in? If this is a slip you'll be wet storing your boat, then you'll more than likely have the lines tied to the pilings with the lop ends towards the boat. This way you only need to tie the lines once. Then every time you come in, they are all already teh correct length and you just use the loop on the cleats. If this is a transient dock you're visiting, then the lines will be on the boat and the process may be a little trickier single-handed.

In either case, a spring on teh midship cleat can make things a bit easier for you. That is until you get out and take care of the bow and stern lines.

There is actually a really good article in the recent Boat US magazine that talks about docking with a midship springline specifically.

Here is a good resource:

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/gui...gation_35.html

ss3964spd · 06-29-2011, 02:46 PM

Against a dock or into a slip, as mentioned above have all your fenders and lines ready before you get there. If you are tieing up along side of a dock without assistance consider running one line from the bow or midship cleat to a stern cleat and leave a good amount of slack in the line. Pull along side the dock, bump into forward or reverse to halt the boat, grab line and step off.

Having the one line tied for and aft will allow you to control both ends of the boat without needing to get ahold of two lines. Using this method also allows you approach the dock bow or stern first (within reason) and still keep both ends under control.

On a 25' boat you'd need a 35' line to go bow to stern.

Dan

Nimh · 06-29-2011, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shrew

Here is a good resource:

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/gui...gation_35.html

That's a great resource in my mind. Required reading for anybody getting into boating. Nice.

shrew · 06-29-2011, 05:59 PM

Another good trick I've found for docking is to find a fixed point without any hazzards to navigation and preferably not in a busy channel. A buoy or a mooring ball, is good (provided there are few boats around the ball). Try to hold the bow to the fixed object. Try it both upwind, downwind and crosswind. Now try to hold the stern to the object in all directions. (don't foul the prop in mooring penants that are in the water. You can do this excercise 20 ft. from the object. The excercise is to get a feel fro holding the boat and controlling it at slow speeds). You will get a good feel for what the bow and stern do in forward and reverse both with and against wind and/or tide. Notice where your pivot point in the boat is in forward and reverse. This is very important when both approaching and leaving a dock. Unlike a car which moves with the front tires almost exactly where you want to go, a boat will pivot. Notice how the pivot point in forward is different than in reverse. Notice how both the bow and stern swing when pivoting.

In a slip, dock over and over again until you feel comfortable. Find a broadside transient dock that isn't busy. Waterside restaurants and other public docks durng non-busy hours. I have practiced at a restaurant dock early in the morning, hours before the restaurant is open. Practice on both sides with the wind pushing you toward and away from the dock. Don't worry about what people think. If they don't understand, then they're not boaters. If they are boaters they will understand exactly what you're doing. If they're boaters and still don't understand, then they're idiots and you shouldn't care what they think anyway.

dronthelake · 06-30-2011, 01:24 AM

The Admiral on my boat know instinctively what to do in about any situation. As said above, practice and more practice until it comes second nature.

If I am laying up next to a dock she steps of with the bow line and immediately wraps a cleat. She does not try to hole the boat herself. Our boat weights over 20,000 pounds and the least bit of wind on the beam would pull her off the dock. After she secures the bow I gently swing the stern to the dock then I step off with the stern line. If there happens to be a dock boy (or girl) she will not let the grab the stern line, she tells them to grab the bow line first. I don't have a bow thruster. If they grab the bow line I can use the engines to swing the stern to the dock. If they tie the stern first I can't do anything.

ss3964spd · 06-30-2011, 03:22 PM

Zackly how we do it David. Bow first if necessary, wrap a cleat, turn the wheel hard port or starboard, engage reverse and let the props pull the back of the boat in.

If I'm solo - which is rare, I use the single line bow to stern.

Benjamin62 · 08-25-2011, 02:20 PM

This was a good thread to read over and comment on! Great feedback from everyone! I've only had my 97 2800 SCR for 3 months now and I can tell you; docking has been the only real challenge for sure. I'm renting a 'side-tie' in a fairly nice marina near my home. There's a ton of space between the two main docks, which one would think should make docking easy but alas....

With a 28 foot boat (30' LOA), I only have between 34 and 36 most days to get in and out,, depending on whether the boats on either side of me have moved. Let me tell you; learning to shoehorn a 28' cruiser into a space that tight is a true challenge and has forced me to learn far more than just patience!!

For what it's worth: I've learned to approach the dock (on my port side) at 45 degrees, pretty much dead slow. When the bow is a foot or two from the dock, I crank the leg to the right as quickly as I can and engage the prop just long enough to pull the stern in. It's been close a few times, but it's worked!

And yes...I agree with anyone else who's commented about being patient! That is the key, especially when you have your wife or partner with you and you're relying on them to hop to the dock with your lines!! Good luck!