Your bad docking experiences (embarrassing is good too!)
08-08-2016, 10:28 AM
#41
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Last year, by myself in my single engine Baja 29 Outlaw. I pride myself on being able to dock this boat but the truth is, I'm usually smart enough to set my ego aside and know when it's just better to go somewhere else. Usually being the key word here.... This boat is tricky to nose in, very challenging to side walk and with a mere wafting of a sparrows wings, a real MFr' to back in.
I was alone because it was a Friday run. A little deal they call Support Our Troops was the event here at LOTO. I didn't participate but did spend the morning watching the big boys head for the first stop. I spent 20 minutes at 4 corners (bout' the 31MM) and as the big boys thinned out, I decided to head for a place with a view. Paradise.
As I round the wave break, I pick my spot. Not by the size of the slip nor the ease of getting in but more by the value of the boats next to the empty slip and whether a slip of the throttle will lead to an ass whooping or a 5 figure insurance claim. (Never take a chance on parking next to an older Fountain blaring trap music and 3 guys with bad tribal tats. Their skanks will serve up the ass whoopin'). But I digress....
I swing around, stern to the slip. A black Thunder on one side and the dock on the other. I start to get sideways. No.... Aw crap, now I AM sideways, across the nose of a BT, an empty slip and ya.... That Fountain. The breeze is pushing me into the boats which was part of my plan, I just didn't plan on being sideways. My plan was wind on the nose helping me to ease into the slip. I YELL (panic has set in, I never claimed to be cool under fire) Help! Kick me off the nose, kick me off the nose! The BT gal knows exactly what is happening and sits on her Black Thunder now with her legs out on my transom area and I yell to Fountain skank, "do like her, NOW !! The fourth boat that I was lined up to be in the side of was an Outerlimits. A ten penny nail couldn't have been beat in my ass with a 10 lb. sledge at this point.
I crank it hard right and apply reverse. This gets my ass end moving away from the BT but also now means my bow is coming back towards the BThunder at more of a port now to their port nose. The gal on the BT foot walks me off her boat and I am now backing away from exactly how I came in.
And at this point I realize, Paradise was a stop on the run and there are at least 180 people watching my fiasco.
I do not drink on the boat and Millers has breakfast so I went there, parked nose in and ordered 3 bloody Mary's and a Budweiser and told the girl, I am going to be here as long as it takes to drink all this, then anoth two hours to sober up.
Just for kicks, may put a bow thruster on this boat just say it's the only single 29'setup for LOTO dcking. Tbird
I was alone because it was a Friday run. A little deal they call Support Our Troops was the event here at LOTO. I didn't participate but did spend the morning watching the big boys head for the first stop. I spent 20 minutes at 4 corners (bout' the 31MM) and as the big boys thinned out, I decided to head for a place with a view. Paradise.
As I round the wave break, I pick my spot. Not by the size of the slip nor the ease of getting in but more by the value of the boats next to the empty slip and whether a slip of the throttle will lead to an ass whooping or a 5 figure insurance claim. (Never take a chance on parking next to an older Fountain blaring trap music and 3 guys with bad tribal tats. Their skanks will serve up the ass whoopin'). But I digress....
I swing around, stern to the slip. A black Thunder on one side and the dock on the other. I start to get sideways. No.... Aw crap, now I AM sideways, across the nose of a BT, an empty slip and ya.... That Fountain. The breeze is pushing me into the boats which was part of my plan, I just didn't plan on being sideways. My plan was wind on the nose helping me to ease into the slip. I YELL (panic has set in, I never claimed to be cool under fire) Help! Kick me off the nose, kick me off the nose! The BT gal knows exactly what is happening and sits on her Black Thunder now with her legs out on my transom area and I yell to Fountain skank, "do like her, NOW !! The fourth boat that I was lined up to be in the side of was an Outerlimits. A ten penny nail couldn't have been beat in my ass with a 10 lb. sledge at this point.
I crank it hard right and apply reverse. This gets my ass end moving away from the BT but also now means my bow is coming back towards the BThunder at more of a port now to their port nose. The gal on the BT foot walks me off her boat and I am now backing away from exactly how I came in.
And at this point I realize, Paradise was a stop on the run and there are at least 180 people watching my fiasco.
I do not drink on the boat and Millers has breakfast so I went there, parked nose in and ordered 3 bloody Mary's and a Budweiser and told the girl, I am going to be here as long as it takes to drink all this, then anoth two hours to sober up.
Just for kicks, may put a bow thruster on this boat just say it's the only single 29'setup for LOTO dcking. Tbird
08-08-2016, 10:30 AM
#42
Charter Member
not sure how i missed this thread back in 2013...maybe i just didn't want to share my embarrassment at the time...but here's mine 
back in 98 i took my 30' scarab up to WI to visit a buddy and his wife at the marina they kept their boat at. I've had the boat for about 3 yrs at this point and know all the in's/out's. So as i'm pulling up to the docks where he keeps his boat at, his dock buddies are all hanging around drinking and start wandering over to check out my boat....I'm backing into the slip as i've done numerous times before but for what ever reason i have a brain fart i guess under the pressure of an audience watching and i hit the throttles instead of going forward on the drives and the boat lunges backwards into the slip....i panic and try to shift the drives into forward to its too late....hit the dock at a good clip....6 people on the docks get rocked back/forth and the girl at the end goes into the drink! I pull my kill switches at this point and throw my arms up like i give up! We all had a good laugh but i still get ribbed about it when i see that one dude!
back in 98 i took my 30' scarab up to WI to visit a buddy and his wife at the marina they kept their boat at. I've had the boat for about 3 yrs at this point and know all the in's/out's. So as i'm pulling up to the docks where he keeps his boat at, his dock buddies are all hanging around drinking and start wandering over to check out my boat....I'm backing into the slip as i've done numerous times before but for what ever reason i have a brain fart i guess under the pressure of an audience watching and i hit the throttles instead of going forward on the drives and the boat lunges backwards into the slip....i panic and try to shift the drives into forward to its too late....hit the dock at a good clip....6 people on the docks get rocked back/forth and the girl at the end goes into the drink!
I pull my kill switches at this point and throw my arms up like i give up! We all had a good laugh but i still get ribbed about it when i see that one dude!
__________________
-Wally
Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy horsepower. And I've never seen a sad person hauling a$$!
-Wally
Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy horsepower. And I've never seen a sad person hauling a$$!
08-08-2016, 10:36 AM
#43
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Docking with the wife is always an adventure. needless to say a few years back, wind was a up there, came up to a dock, wife got off and took her time tying off, in the meantime wind caught the boat, pulled the rope out of her hands and got the rope in the prop. Boat dead. I had to jump out she had to jump in with clothes, and swim/walk it back to shore.
08-08-2016, 11:25 AM
#44
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iTrader: (6)
As others have said, it's usually wind or current related. I always try to look like a pro while docking at Brown's Bar but at the far end slips the current makes it near impossible. After a couple times looking like a total newby with everyone watching I've learned not to dock in that area.
08-08-2016, 01:18 PM
#45
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Here is my 1st story. The boat is a Formula 242 with a single EFI 350 mag. Reliable engine but with the cutout switch for the alpha, if you don't shift quickly the engine dies for sure. Was pulling along side my buddies 38 Scarab to raft up with him at the local restaurant and with a good headwind pushing us into the boat (my dad (80yo) and I). I nose the boat towards the side of the Scarab and I just could not get it close enough to pull along side for me to get the midship line tied to the Scarab. I jump out onto the bow to hand my buddy the bow line now on our second attempt with my dad at the helm, he gets us close but too fast, i tell him to shift to neutral so we dont slam into the side of the Scarab. he gently pulls the shifter back and stalls the engine but does not notice it. We start drifting back towards the boat docked behind the Scarab and I have my feet out trying to keep the nose of the Formula from dragging along side the hull of the boat behind the Scarab. I pushed us off far enough to beable to leap over the windshield. Get the boat started, slam in into reverse and back away under some good power. Finally got the boat close enough to the Scarab with my buddy on it ready to catch the line the second time. All i can say is sometimes Alpha's suck.
08-08-2016, 02:04 PM
#46
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I know of a certain boat owner who went out on his sea-trial for his brand new boat with the owner of the company...
...and the steering AND the gear shift were both set up backwards inadvertently. The boat owner never noticed until the company owner told him when they were back at the dock. (Boat's owner didn't drive the boat that day.)
...and the steering AND the gear shift were both set up backwards inadvertently. The boat owner never noticed until the company owner told him when they were back at the dock. (Boat's owner didn't drive the boat that day.)
08-08-2016, 05:48 PM
#47
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My first one that comes to mind is when my wife took us to a local watering hole and decided to back in, having never done it before, but knowing that it is way cooler to back in. Her boat, she's the driver, let 'er rip! I hadn't driven a boat much at this point, but I did realize that backing in took extra skill. She swung the nose too far, so to avoid smashing into the boat beside us, I jumped from the back seat onto the bow and go to catch us. I waxed the bow that morning. I did manage to keep us from hitting the other boat, but got very wet in the process. So I walked up to the bar while drip drying. I think the guys at the bar heard the splash and the panic from my wife, but I got over it.
Second instance, this year, same boat. I back the boat in the water with my wife at the wheel, after unhooking the boat at the top of the ramp. I know this is a no-no, but I've never had any sort of trouble doing it. I usually back her half in, wait til the boat starts, then give it a good dunk. Well, this year for our anniversary, my wife wanted to go to a new dockside restaurant. I go to back her halfway in, and the ramp we put in at was a little steeper than our normal ramp, so the boat goes to floating a little bit. It is windy, so to keep the back of the boat from drifting over the side of the trailer, I give it a little more of a nudge to push her into the water a little bit. The boat has never not started in the 5 years that I have been taking her to the lake, until that day. So off comes the shoes, empty my pockets and swim out to go get her. This was also about the first time that I ever have gone to the lake wearing something other than swim trunks. Swim the boat back to the trailer, climb on board to start doing the usual checks. Showing low voltage, so I get cables out... No luck. Turned out the neutral switch was failing. Wife is begging me to go home and in tears because she had her heart set on going to eat from the boat. Get the boat cranked, haul balls to the restaurant, tie up, scarf our food down. The AC worked great in the restaurant as I'm wearing wet shorts and boxers. Run out to the boat, haul balls to the ramp and show up as it turned pretty dark on us.
Second instance, this year, same boat. I back the boat in the water with my wife at the wheel, after unhooking the boat at the top of the ramp. I know this is a no-no, but I've never had any sort of trouble doing it. I usually back her half in, wait til the boat starts, then give it a good dunk. Well, this year for our anniversary, my wife wanted to go to a new dockside restaurant. I go to back her halfway in, and the ramp we put in at was a little steeper than our normal ramp, so the boat goes to floating a little bit. It is windy, so to keep the back of the boat from drifting over the side of the trailer, I give it a little more of a nudge to push her into the water a little bit. The boat has never not started in the 5 years that I have been taking her to the lake, until that day. So off comes the shoes, empty my pockets and swim out to go get her. This was also about the first time that I ever have gone to the lake wearing something other than swim trunks. Swim the boat back to the trailer, climb on board to start doing the usual checks. Showing low voltage, so I get cables out... No luck. Turned out the neutral switch was failing. Wife is begging me to go home and in tears because she had her heart set on going to eat from the boat. Get the boat cranked, haul balls to the restaurant, tie up, scarf our food down. The AC worked great in the restaurant as I'm wearing wet shorts and boxers. Run out to the boat, haul balls to the ramp and show up as it turned pretty dark on us.
