Tips on leaving the dock

[tabbibus]

So yesterday I came in to the fuel dock like a boss. It’s a long dock, doesn’t have slips. You get a good current pushing you into the dock. I came in at an almost 90 degree angle approach and gave it a good push to starboard placing me parallel to the dock and just let the current push me in against it. Pretty slick.

Leaving was a mess. I pushed my bow and got in but the current kept pushing me back. I had to squirm in that god awful reverse to get my stern out to be able to then pivot out. But I had two big cruisers ahead and behind me. It was a close call with the one behind.

So tl;dr is I’m asking for tips leaving the a dock when current pushes you against it.

 

[Dean P]

I read/saw a long time ago, you should put it in reverse and turn the wheel hard so the back end goes out into the current and away from the dock. If space is limited you need to get creative. Assuming it's a floating dock, maybe try pushing the bow out hard by hand and using ropes to swing it around so the back/swim platform is against the dock. Once there put throttle in forward and drive away.

 

[2kwik4u]

So yesterday I came in to the fuel dock like a boss. It’s a long dock, doesn’t have slips. You get a good current pushing you into the dock. I came in at an almost 90 degree angle approach and gave it a good push to starboard placing me parallel to the dock and just let the current push me in against it. Pretty slick.

Leaving was a mess. I pushed my bow and got in but the current kept pushing me back. I had to squirm in that god awful reverse to get my stern out to be able to then pivot out. But I had two big cruisers ahead and behind me. It was a close call with the one behind.

So tl;dr is I’m asking for tips leaving the a dock when current pushes you against it.

Anytime I have that issue, I attempt to get just enough forward movement to swing the rear around and "drive out" of it. Since forward control is so much better, If you can get the nose pointed away from the dock, then you can just motor away. Easier said than done.

I have also done the "really slow backwards and away" move with some success. Just let the poor reverse barely pull you along until you're far enough away from the dock to do a 180 then drive away.

A few times I've had luck "crab walking" into the current (if it's not too strong), but doing fwd+right alternated with reverse+left. Do this over and over and you can somewhat "walk" the boat sideways. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, depends on current and wind and how strong those are.

I have a single, and little experience with twins, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Babin Farms]

Use the twin throttles, one R & one F to turn the boat. Once you get the bow pointed in a safe direction put both in F and cruise away. As crazy as it is with our boats, powering them up is your friend when maneuvering.

 

[2kwik4u]

powering them up is your friend when maneuvering.

100% agree with this. I leave mine in NoWakeMode setting 2 or 3 when docking. Sounds a little wierd, and the dock hands usually give me funny looks or ask questions, but that extra thrust with short bursts between forward/neutral/reverse really help to move the boat around. Keep in mind there is no transmission and sitting in neutral at high revs doesn't hurt a thing. Shift as often as you like, you won't hurt anything.

 

[Julian]

Ideally you want someone on the dock with some strength to push hard on the bow to get it out. Typically I don't have anyone with me like that. I end up using a boat hook from the drivers seat sometimes with some success, but if the current is strong or the wind is blowing hard it can be a challenge. Typically at a gas dock I will ask a dock hand to push out the bow hard (which is why I always tip them well...they are more likely to be helpful.

 

[haknslash]

A dock pole or dock hook can be useful in those situations as long as you have others onboard. Also worth mentioning to keep the fenders out until you've cleared the dock(s).

 

[tabbibus]

I should have used my boat hook to push now that I think about it. I think I panicked. My bow was a bit out already and when I tried to just drive out I felt my stern bump the dock. So I was worried that would push me back in and against the boat ahead of me.

Live and learn.

 

[StanM]

I used this successfully in a few situations Leaving the dock - Spring Lines assumes you have a another on the boat.

 

[TimW451]

 

[Dixie Highway]

EDIT:
This guy is a tug captain in NY Harbor, he's pretty good.

 

[Cambo]

Had the same thing just happen to me with wind pushing the boat into the dock at the boat launch dock .Some boater snuck in behind me I thought I could power up in reverse and swing the back end out that the lateral thrusters would give me the extra surge . Full throttle reverse and the wheel cut , as much as the e series allows the boat crept out and was reversing but not enough I ended up parallel to the boat behind me . We had people on the boat to hold it off his boat, his was old and junky and had a bunch of metal potential contact points with my nice scratch free hull. The two boats rocking had me nervous of someone getting pinched I would rather have the boat hull scratched then have an injury . But it was stressful for next time I will nicely request the boat owner to move his boat He pulled it around a corner by rope into the spot I needed to reverse out of as I parked the trailer but he left to get his trailer . My push pole is buried under 3 wake boards in the storage locker and is to difficult to grab maybe a shorter version would be good placed in eyesight you can’t duck down into a compartment when a potential contact is about to happen .

 

[Dixie Highway]

Always have your boat hook accessible, never know when you’ll need it!

 

[grywlfbg]

EDIT:
This guy is a tug captain in NY Harbor, he's pretty good.

Thanks for sharing this! Coming from an I/O, I have just been putting my boat in single lever mode (e series has a button to sync the engines and run both on the left throttle lever). Looks like I need to learn how to use both engines to help me steer.

 

[Nauti-Nurse]

Despite the national coin shortage lol, here's my 2 cents.
I've been boating my entire life as the son of a sea captain is born into, but all my boats have been outboards or jet skis. My 2018 AR190 is my first jet boat. Within the first few weeks of owning it I could see what a learning curve jet propulsion was for tight maneuvering. The Articulating keel yamaha added to their boats helps minimally but still needs momentum in the water to work. So in the first month of owning it I added the Lateral Thrust Vectors from @JetBoatPilot. That is an amazing product with hands down superior function! Sadly they are only for 2018 and older but I highly recommend them. Without forward or reverse momentum I can completely maneuver the boat with ease! Check out the videos on JBP's website. If I had to remove EVERY mod i've ever done to my boat except one... without a doubt or question the Lateral Thrust Vectors would be the one to stay!
Mine is a single engine, i can only imagine how effective they could be with a twin with one engine forward and one in reverse! Someone with a twin and LTV's would be able to comment further on that.

 

[Robconn]

Despite the national coin shortage lol, here's my 2 cents.
I've been boating my entire life as the son of a sea captain is born into, but all my boats have been outboards or jet skis. My 2018 AR190 is my first jet boat. Within the first few weeks of owning it I could see what a learning curve jet propulsion was for tight maneuvering. The Articulating keel yamaha added to their boats helps minimally but still needs momentum in the water to work. So in the first month of owning it I added the Lateral Thrust Vectors from @JetBoatPilot. That is an amazing product with hands down superior function! Sadly they are only for 2018 and older but I highly recommend them. Without forward or reverse momentum I can completely maneuver the boat with ease! Check out the videos on JBP's website. If I had to remove EVERY mod i've ever done to my boat except one... without a doubt or question the Lateral Thrust Vectors would be the one to stay!
Mine is a single engine, i can only imagine how effective they could be with a twin with one engine forward and one in reverse! Someone with a twin and LTV's would be able to comment further on that.

100% agreed, and install went well, No drilling required. it’s an essential upgrade for maneuverability.

 

[Robconn]

So yesterday I came in to the fuel dock like a boss. It’s a long dock, doesn’t have slips. You get a good current pushing you into the dock. I came in at an almost 90 degree angle approach and gave it a good push to starboard placing me parallel to the dock and just let the current push me in against it. Pretty slick.

Leaving was a mess. I pushed my bow and got in but the current kept pushing me back. I had to squirm in that god awful reverse to get my stern out to be able to then pivot out. But I had two big cruisers ahead and behind me. It was a close call with the one behind.

So tl;dr is I’m asking for tips leaving the a dock when current pushes you against it.

Since there is two sides of dock to choose from. (At PR), You can gage current and wind conditions to see what side to dock is favorable. Learned that the hard way and got good advice from fellow boater at dock who questioned my choice vs. wind and current, and some chop that day. He made good sense.

 

[Canuckjetboater]

So tl;dr is I’m asking for tips leaving the a dock when current pushes you against it.

@tabbibus ...... without twin throttles what you describe is a bit harder. As related you can "crab walk" away. that works great if wind current isn't too strong and I do it 90% of the time. I also have a extendable dock hook that the Admiral (aka my wife) uses midship if it looks like I may be getting too close. there is another method bigger boats use called various things but "warping a line" or using a mooring line to leave a docks is another option. It works well too. You could google that. I use the first two 99% of the time but I have "warped the line" a few times to get off a dock in very close quarters or with big wind/currents.

 

[tabbibus]

Yeah. LTs installed today. I played around for a bit and man! What a change!

 

[Robconn]

docking competition. How fast can you dock?