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One of the goals for this year was to find something to help the wife learn how to back up the boat a lot better, but I don't think the wireless camera would do anything to help her with those walls you've got there. I've shown her some of my more difficult docks I've had to back into, but I'd bet she would say those rocks would terrify her even more than some of the dropoffs she's seen me maneuver!
Did the landscaper throw in some gelcoat patch with his quote?
I am a truck driver with close to 4 million miles, if I could offer some tips in backing up(which I told my wife repeatedly and now she's a champ at the ramp) is to 1st get the truck and trailer as close to straight as possible and be aware of what was behind you before attempting. Then put it in reverse and go very very slow (trust your mirrors) and make small movements on the steering wheel. Don't stop, that's why I say slow with constant steering wheel movement. It's when you stop the truck and try to THINK which way you think you need to turn is what messes newbies up. Never ever be afraid to pull forward a bit to straighten back up and then continue backing.
I am a truck driver with close to 4 million miles, if I could offer some tips in backing up(which I told my wife repeatedly and now she's a champ at the ramp) is to 1st get the truck and trailer as close to straight as possible and be aware of what was behind you before attempting. Then put it in reverse and go very very slow (trust your mirrors) and make small movements on the steering wheel. Don't stop, that's why I say slow with constant steering wheel movement. It's when you stop the truck and try to THINK which way you think you need to turn is what messes newbies up. Never ever be afraid to pull forward a bit to straighten back up and then continue backing.
You're talking to a fellow trucker - close with mileage, and before that, multiple years in landscaping, and equipment rental before that. Backing a trailer at this point, for you and I, is ridiculously easy, but I know it's not for everyone. My two favorite phrases at my last job where we would have to share docks, and an outside carrier would be cockeyed and making it difficult for everyone else were: Did you leave your seeing eye dog at home today? and "You know we don't charge extra to pull forward and straighten out, right?"
I'm hoping the camera helps her. I truly believe some spouses won't be able to teach the other one, for whatever reason. My neighbors are the same way - I was able to teach her, while nothing he could do or say would help her in the least. He's been able to get my wife to understand the concepts, but she's never been the best driver to begin with, and adding the trailer, even for the few hundred feet I need her to do, isn't easy for her to handle.
If she would learn to pilot the boat, it would be way easier, but she absolutely won't take it off the trailer. Her reasoning is that if something happens, then she's in the boat all alone, already having made a mistake, and she'd be screwed.
