Docking Practice

Tiger123245

Cadet
Joined
Sep 4, 2005
Messages
22
Re: Docking Practice

All I have to say is Thank God nobody was around to watch me trailering my boat the first time out. I was by myself. Bought my boat in August, only had it out about 5-6 times. But... the Lake Gods smiled on me the last time out for the season. 23' pontoon, sun glaring off the water into my eyes so I couldn't hardly see the trailer I was trying to guide it onto. Again, by myself.... well kinda, there was a guy floating in the lake watching me. Slid right on perfectly the 1st try. Hopefully the Lake Gods will be so kind this coming season. Of course perhaps they were taking pity on me because I hit the dock the time before. Put a nice little hole in the pontoon. Thank goodness for JB Weld!!! I still think the best thing is to plan on getting out of the water 1-2 hours before everyone else and taking your time. That way no one gets pissed if you have to reverse and try againt 3-4-5-6 times while they're behind you.
 

swist

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 1, 2004
Messages
678
Re: Docking Practice

Docking in reverse can be a real crap shoot - although highly dependent on your particular setup. A lot of boats just don't track very accurately in reverse, and backing into something like a finger pier setup where you have things to crash into on 3 of the 4 sides can really be tough. <br /><br />When I had a mooring in a marina like that I always went in forward. Backing out is much easier when you are starting from rest already docked.
 
Top