First big boat
03-02-2017, 01:18 PM
#41
Registered
Best advice to anyone with regards to close quarters maneuvering, especially with boats that have a lot of sail area (flat hull sides that catch the wind).
1) Never fight mother nature. Study your surroundings, wind and current, before you launch or before returning to the ramp. Use wind and current to your advantage when possible by letting it move you toward your target location.
2) Never go faster than you are willing to pay the damage for. In other words patience is a virtue. You can see inexperienced operators goosing their engines at high rpms to force their way out of situations and more often than not they exacerbate the situation rapidly. Wrong. Use minimal amount of rpms necessary to get bare steerageway. If you get out of shape you can easily slip a fender over the side as you nudge another boat or dock. No harm no foul. Also never put any body part in between the boat and another object. 10,000lbs of boat beats 180lbs of man everyday.
3) Do your wheel work in neutral. Another common mistake is wanting to change rudder (drive) angle but keeping the drives in gear. This can get you out of shape quickly. Shift your trans into neutral, do your wheel work, then reengage the trans. Side by side you can split the engines without even using wheel input. Staggered, usually requires some wheel input but I've used one engine on staggered layouts. It also helps to know which way your props turn to get the most out of side thrust from the prop.
I've retrieved many boats in the 42' range by myself. My suggestion is tie the boat up. Get the trailer in and pull the boat up with a line and the bow eye winch.
Good luck and have fun with the new purchase.
1) Never fight mother nature. Study your surroundings, wind and current, before you launch or before returning to the ramp. Use wind and current to your advantage when possible by letting it move you toward your target location.
2) Never go faster than you are willing to pay the damage for. In other words patience is a virtue. You can see inexperienced operators goosing their engines at high rpms to force their way out of situations and more often than not they exacerbate the situation rapidly. Wrong. Use minimal amount of rpms necessary to get bare steerageway. If you get out of shape you can easily slip a fender over the side as you nudge another boat or dock. No harm no foul. Also never put any body part in between the boat and another object. 10,000lbs of boat beats 180lbs of man everyday.
3) Do your wheel work in neutral. Another common mistake is wanting to change rudder (drive) angle but keeping the drives in gear. This can get you out of shape quickly. Shift your trans into neutral, do your wheel work, then reengage the trans. Side by side you can split the engines without even using wheel input. Staggered, usually requires some wheel input but I've used one engine on staggered layouts. It also helps to know which way your props turn to get the most out of side thrust from the prop.
I've retrieved many boats in the 42' range by myself. My suggestion is tie the boat up. Get the trailer in and pull the boat up with a line and the bow eye winch.
Good luck and have fun with the new purchase.
