Docking Mistakes You Can—and Should—Avoid
As I approach the dock, fuel attendants, dockhands, and the dockmaster begin drifting down the planks toward our boat. This is usually when I forget my ports and starboards—and then my lefts and rights. This is when docking mistakes can occur. As the dock comes into focus, my mind narrows. When it finally comes to a head, the anxiety blows through like a gust of wind. I find myself performing on pure instinct.
Docking a 21-foot-wide catamaran with a 4-knot current and 20-knot winds requires nothing less than one’s full attention. It is a full-body experience and demands every ounce of focus. Like it or not, this is the moment to shine. Or go out like a supernova. There’s no escaping the silent judgements of every bystander at the dock.
Becoming a viral sensation on the internet is just a click away. Let’s discuss some common docking mistakes you can avoid to keep your reputation intact and your insurance company happy.
Going too Fast
This is probably the biggest and simplest mistake. How fast should you be going when you’re approaching the dock? I will make this simple so you can remember: Go the speed of the dock.
It can be easy to forget that boats don’t have brakes. If you have a powerful engine, you can hit the reverse throttle pretty hard. But you can also kill your transmission this way.
Go slow. Very slow. I know, I know. People are usually waiting at the fuel dock to grab your lines and pull you in. Let them wait. They aren’t going anywhere.
Don’t over compensate. Just don’t. Stay relaxed and make deliberate, slow, throttle changes. It will save your transmission and your landing.
Panicking Causes Docking Mistakes
My tendency to forget everything under pressure had me avoiding docking entirely. Avoiding the task is probably the easiest, and worst, way to deal with the problem. The longer I avoided docking the boat, the bigger and scarier the ordeal became in my mind. Yes, I avoided making docking mistakes, but I wasn’t very helpful.
Eventually, my husband threw me into the deep end. He had me pull into every one of our marina stops on the Intracoastal Waterway from Washington, D.C., to Florida. Each day I got a little more practice, and a little more confidence. The repetitive motions made the endeavor feel natural and, soon enough, second nature.
It’s not something you can learn in a book. Too many forces are at work simultaneously. You simply have to do it again and again—and again—until it makes sense.
Underestimating the Current
The wind is an easy force to measure intuitively. We feel it on our faces and see its footprints on the water. But what about the forces under our keel? How does current affect our approach to the dock? Well, to put it simply, current is key to avoiding docking mistakes.
You have to know what the current is doing before you approach the dock. You may be cruising along on a body of water with the current pushing you at 3 knots. Then you pull into a small tributary approaching the marina and suddenly the current is doing the opposite. Predicting the changes in the forces under your boat can be tricky, especially where various bodies of water intersect.
Make sure you match your prediction with a tangible source. I like to use channel markers to confirm or challenge my assumptions about the current. Water reveals its direction and power as it moves around partially submerged objects. Watch how it wraps around a marker or a piling. Note where it accelerates and smooths out, and where it stakes up. The buildup can reveal not only direction, but strength.
If nothing else, remember this: Dock the boat with your nose pointed into the current and wind. If current and wind are opposing, point your nose into the strongest of the two forces. This is the only way to increase your control.
Not Asking For Help Causes Docking Mistakes
If I am approaching a marina for the first time, I always hail the dockmaster on the VHF radio and ask for any pertinent current or docking information.
How wide should my approach be?
Where should my approach be?
What is the tide doing?
They are usually happy to offer any information and instruction. They don’t want to see boaters make docking mistakes anymore than boaters want to make them. Some marinas are a confusing maze with boating congestion and little maneuvering space. Depending on the layout, you may not know any of this until you turn in to park your boat.
Local cruising and boating guides also provide tips for how to approach any given marina. If you have access to information about the marina, take a look before you pull in.
Going All in Without an Escape Route
You’re moving along at a perfect angle. The dock is getting closer and closer when, suddenly, something doesn’t feel right. You don’t know why but you know it isn’t right.
Don’t fight it! Get out while you still can and avoid any docking mistakes.
Trust your gut. It knows best. Now is the time to turn around and get out to reassess. But you can only do this if you have an escape plan. Some docks are easy, and you can turn off into a nice wide circle. But those marinas are the minority, not the majority. Most marinas are a maze of tiny waterways and overcongestion. Before we finalize any plan to approach the dock, my husband and I go over an escape plan.
An important part of that escape plan is to expect wind gusts. I can’t tell you how many times we have approached the dock on a seemingly calm and windless day only to get hit by a 15-knot gust right at the moment of contact. It feels like an overplayed joke by Mother Nature. Seriously, it’s not funny anymore. We have learned to expect it. And so should you.
Tip for Monohulls and Single-Engine Boaters
If you can, familiarize yourself with prop walk. This only applies to monohulls or single-engine vessels. Catamarans don’t suffer this mysterious side-stepping that can occur when docking a monohull.
What is prop walk? Otherwise known as propeller walking, this can occur when a turning propeller pushes a boat’s stern sideways. If you have repeatedly docked your boat with proper timing and precise calculations and still had poor results, this might be the cause. Each boat has its own particular direction of prop walk. Know which direction your propeller is inclined to walk to minimize your docking mistakes.
Docking Mistakes We’d Like to Forget
Every experienced boater has a docking story they would like to forget. If you are lucky, you and your boat will come out unscathed, and without a viral appearance on social media. Avoiding these docking mistakes altogether isn’t terribly likely. You will have a story to tell eventually. But don’t let it scare you from sailing. The key to perfecting this maneuver is simply to get out there and do it. Again and again and again.
Olivia de Soria