My previous boat was a 24 Outlaw so most of the time I never needed to back into a dock space. Since I didn't need to I basically never did. Now I have a 35 ZR and need to learn this procedure. I know with twin engines you can put one in forward and one in reverse to turn the boat but I have only done this a couple times. Is there a tech. That works better for you I would love to hear people's descriptions of the process. Which engine in forward or reverse etc. Thanks

It depends on what direction you need to go while backing. Just grab a buddy that is use to twins and ask him/her to go with you while you practice.

I do plan to do that next spring but say I want to get closer to the dock on my left side as I'm backing up. What would be ideal way to use the engines? Just so I can play with the process in my head.

just go out and experiment in flat open water. Its one of those things that everyone can explain to you a dozen different ways and every boat handles just a bit different, but you just need to screw around for an hour or two to figure out what will do what.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...king-tips.html

Wind, current, speed, approach angle - all factor in to the answer. You can't learn from a couple posts - you need to just learn as you go. I agree that an experienced person next to you is the best way to learn.

Next to launching off waves, manuevering around the dock is my favorite thing to do. This summer, I gained a lot of single engine docking experience too after one died! (That's not as fun)

That's what I figured just thought I would check. Thanks

Thanks for the link I didn't see that. It gives me some ideas to practice next spring.

Simple tip that helped me. Hold both shifters with knuckles up and thumbs pointed toward each other. In reverse the stern will move in the direction your thumb points, in fwd the bow. Wind and current mess me up. The long bow wants to pivot easily.

My boat seems to crab crawl in reverse - took me a minute to figure that out. So if I need to go port and back, I use port engine in reverse, same with opposite. It's almost impossible to run straight back - and with both drives in reverse, it runs too fast around docks. You can get in trouble quickly in tight quarters.