www.iFourWinns.com

And, from the Beavis & Butthead department.... "sucks him in"... Heh, heh, heh...

Well it does work. I am sorry to say that we/I can not express your selves as good as you Bill. For that I am sorry for!!

Rich - I know I am unable to see the logistics of your dock, but have you tried coming stern in first? I almost venture to think you will learn that it is easier with twins.

_________________
Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

Oh, how I wish I had twins.

Next boat ... twins and bow thrusters. The winds this year have convinced me.

Craig C.

_________________

2003 Vista 248, VP 5.0 GXi-C, DP

Are you twin engine or just one? (i maybe dense but didnt seem to get from earlier posts)

Twin Inboards: If you have twins you should not be using steering wheel at all. Put steering wheel(rudder) at neutral and just use both engines in Fwd/Rev to turn and steer boat. You bassically use them like you would driving a tank or bulldozer. with one side in fwd and the other in rev you will spin about some axis, learn where that axis is. When you are at the anle you want you must reverse the position with a little burst to counteract your spinning momentum. learn this and you will be able to stop the boat on a dime and get it to do anything you want. You should come down the finger and execute a 90deg turn into your slip. Do it a tad early and by time you are straight with slip you will be on the hole.

Only prob for you is wind from direction pusing you away from dock. In this case go past your hole, execute the 90deg but go alittle farther like 120deg. and drive into your slipe bow first. tie off bow and then spiun the boat using the technique you have learned above. the stern will magically come into dock!!!!!


Single screw: Use the technique as in the case of wind but obviously you have to use the steering wheel..

Again this technique works on the Merrimack river in Massachusetts with sometimes 10 knot currents. (obviously one must counteract current with throttles as well, bit trickier)

If you have twin screws learn this technique and you will be amazed how easy and also how impressed others are at your ability to bring in the boat so gently and precisely.

_________________
2006 348 Vista
"Cruisin Home"
Hampton NH

bow thrusters are awesome

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Thanks everyone for all of your words of advice. I wish I were at the boat now and able to try some of this out, but it'll have to wait until Saturday.

I will try going beyond my slip and turning the boat around to see how well I do with that. The fairway isn't very wide, so I'm a little hesitant, but I will give that a try if the winds are soft so I can practice a little. I did watch a guy in a 25' cruiser do that once. He had about 9 people aboard and it was listing way too far to one side. The way the boat was rocking, I could have sworn it was going to topple over. I thought he was in trouble and went over to help, but he was just turning around for a better approach into the wind, and brought it in perfectly.

As for sterning in, no one else does it at our marina. It's mostly older, wiser, experienced fishermen who come rumbling into their slips, crack a beer, and done. Besides, we have a metal railing going out our dock that would prevent us from getting on or off from the stern. I wouldn't want to slide down the rocks either!

I should mention that their isn't anyone docked beside me (port side) this year. That may change, so I'm working on not cheating too much by going into his side and trying to learn to docking well. A few times, my friends have their waverunner docked beside me and I'd hate to crush that thing with 6 tons.

I am starting to visualize what Paul is saying about the PVC pole and a looped line on the hook. I currently have a pole at the end of my dock and could easily attached a hook and line to it. Then, if I'm understanding you correctly, I can pull up close to that while my wife reaches out with a telescoping boat hook and grabs the spliced end of a dock line. Then she can hook that to the midship cleat and I can move into the slip. I'm actually kind of pumped to try this out! Thanks for all the input you all.

@ Cruisin Home: She's a twin engine, i/o with 5.0's.
So, after I do the tank maneuver and the boat is spinning slightly to starboard, you're saying if I then kick them in reverse real quick it should stop me at that point? Then just forward into the slip
Does anyone on the board take their cruiser out and dock upon returning by themselves?

_________________

2000 Four Winns - 298 Vista

I have with our 268 Vista, and I have with our 282. Back in to the slip with both boats. Sometimes the wife does not feel like going for a boat ride when I do. So I just take off and go. You have to have lines ready, bumpers out and plan ahead, since once you jump off the boat to secure the lines, there is knowone on the boat to help. You asked.......

_________________
One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

I knew some of you would and I envy that! I'd love to get enough confidence (and a calm day) to be able to go fuel up without needing my wife or a friend aboard.

Cap'n, you were already on my short list as someone who would!

_________________

2000 Four Winns - 298 Vista

I will admit, if I go out solo, it's not on a windy day.

_________________
One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

I haven't taken it out by myself, but I have the confidence level to do it now. 6 weeks ago....nope, but I've had my share of practice getting in and out since then.

_________________
Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

I've been out solo on the 358 a bunch of times. The only thing I do different is fenders. When I have my wife, I only use fenders on windy days, when alone I always use them.

I have to back into my slip, the dock is too short to reach the stern if I go in forward. The dock is on my port and I only have 18 inches between me and the boat on the starboard side. I use fenders on that side, because sometimes the bow will drift over before I get out and grab it. I never use fenders on the dock side because it forces me to keep the boat away from the dock or they can get hung up on the way in.

Be brave, keep a reasonable speed, even if you scratch the boat, it won't cost much to fix it.

_________________
2008 V358 Two-tone Blue V/P Dual Prop 320 HP
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

I have a few times but there wasn't a lot of wind. I sure like having someone else on board if it's windy. I had rollers made for both fingers of my slip and I can lay the boat against the roller and rotate it in. I haven't had to use that technique much but I like to know they're available if I need them.

When I first got into my 278 someone mentioned practicing maneuvering the boat by pulling up to a buoy and seeing how the boat handled. I did that a few times and it really helped me to understand how my boat behaved. You can't scratch as much up backing up beside the buoy.

Firecadet and I got some serious practice in coming off lake Michigan a couple of weeks ago. Some pretty stiff wind and not a lot of room to work with either.

_________________

2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

I go out all the time by myself. I usually have my 6 yr old son with me and obviously I don't have him do anything. If it's to windy and he is with me, I won't put him in a bad situation. But I've gone out in 20-30 mph winds by myself. I would say that I am fortunate that when I back into my slip (during summertime), I am usually going against the wind and not fighting that much of a crosswind. If that was not the case, my confidence may change a bit.

_________________

2001 328 Vista

Previous Boats:
2004 Sea Ray 220 Select

Not sure I'd use the amidships cleat. On the 2005 and later 348's that cleat isn't in the clearest of foot paths. It's just back from the curve of the windshield but not far enough back that you can reach if from the helm. I've seen some boats with that cleat within reach of the captain and it's handy (granted, they're usually smaller boats, without walk-around decks). My caution comes from the fact that it's a little tricky to be walking there and dealing with a line while things are moving. Yes, it can be done. But I'd be cautious about it. I'd opt for the bow cleat instead. It'd give you better pivoting leverage anyway. And with the railing right there and lots of deck it's easier for someone to be moving about.

Remember, by tying down the bow you're preventing the bow from pivoting around. So if you tie down the starboard side bow and then pivot the boat using the engines you'll effectively force the stern back in toward the starboard side. The boat wants to pivot but can't due to the restrained starboard bow. That constrained point more less causes the pivot to move further forward. So the whole the boat shifts over around a point way ahead of the bow instead. I was positively delighted the first time I tried the maneuver and it WORKED!

Giving a line cleated amidships to a savvy deckhand is definitely useful... when they know what they're doing. I just don't run into enough of them to trust it to chance.

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Wind bothers me a lot less than it once did. The key is observing what the wind is doing and not mucking about with a slow docking. Pick your line and get the boat IN. This came after several seasons of practice (usually without a lot of wind). And that's mainly due to paying close attention to the weather. I like to get things wrapped up well before weather kicks up.

The real challenge is getting in through our seawall if there's a lot of chop. It can be like a washing machine out at the entrance. I have to practically SURF the boat into the opening and then back it down HARD. Gut-wrenching about describes it. The sunglasses help hide my wide-eyed look of terror. This keeps the passengers from panicking, for all they know I planned it that way... Now, someone go below and get me a BEER!

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista