the OTHER forward!!!

[goat]

As the old saying goes, "approach the dock at the speed you wish to hit the dock".

[danielamartindm]

The captain who taught me docking had me first learn to stop the vessel by backing it up toward another boat. When I asked him why a boat, and not pilings or a sea wall, he replied "Don't ask me why, but people are much more intimidated about crashing into another boat than they about crashing into a concrete seawall." I broke out laughing because it was so obviously true, and he'd taught enough students to know to use it.

[MarkSF]

Reminds me of the time, a few years ago, we were practicing docking as part of ASA 104. We approached the slip quite quickly, and I selected reverse, and grabbed the throttle lever to throttle up, only to have the throttle lever break off. At this point I'm holding the broken off throttle lever in my hand, and we're entering the slip much too fast.

Fortunately we had also been practicing stopping the boat with a snubber from amidships, and this was already set up, so quick work with that on behalf of our instructor (and the engine in reverse but at idle) stopped the boat.

I learned three things :

Have a snubber set up with someone ready to use it in case of engine failure.

Approach the dock at a speed at which you don't mind hitting it.

There's a fine line between genius and looking like a fool.