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We had a great first sail last weekend with our 26S. Light winds (3knts), but it was a nice shakedown run with our new boat.

Docking didn't go as I expected. At the ramp we use, we are forced to take the pier on the starboard side. My plan was to come in at a shallow angle at minimum speed, and as the bow approached the pier I would put the rudder hard right and give a little reverse prop to suck the stern in. But with the outboard mounted on the port side, and prop walk pulling us to port, the stern moved away from the pier instead of toward it.

Is there another method I should try? We had no breeze pushing us toward or away, so under similar conditions I think I can go DIW right at the pier. But what if there is wind pushing us away from the pier and I need to have a little headway and be able to stop the boat with reverse?

Thoughts from the more experienced are needed

--john

Might want to check that your outboard is sitting vertical. Prop walk effect is mainly due to the angle of attack being different on the down swinging side of the prop, as opposed to the up swinging side. When the prop is vertical, the only effect comes from the swirling, or spiral wash, which is minimal on a small outboard.

~Rich

Don't limit yourself to forward approaches only. Sometimes coming up to a dock in reverse can be an option too.

Two good points. I'll check the mounting. It is bothering me a bit anyway because under sail I can only raise the prop about 1/3 out of the water. Which is to say, it is 2/3 in the water, and it rotates along creating drag and general embarassment for having a motor in the water.

Docking in reverse is a good idea. I have to end up Bow-in for getting off the ramp, but under adverse conditions that would let us land and get some lines on the pier. After that, we could walk it around easily enough.

Thanks.

--john

Interim wrote:Is there another method I should try?

I've seen it called 'two-fisted docking', where you turn the engine as well as the rudder. This is automatic on the Mac powersailors, like the X and M, where the OB turns with the rudders, but with a small OB on an offset mount, you have to turn the OB to redirect the thrust. If the boat is not moving, or moving very slowly, the rudder won't do anything. And the prop wash doesn't even pass over the rudder like a keelboat, so even that puny contribution is absent.

At very low speed, like creeping into the dock and especially when in reverse to pull the stern in, just leave the rudder straight (or aimed where you want the boat to go), and steer the OB to push or pull the stern where you want it to go. With a little practice, you can turn the rudder and OB in the same direction while you work the gear shift and throttle.

And to get really fancy, you could add a link between them. I believe Sumner even did this at one time.

Oh, and leave at least a little centerboard down, so the boat has some lateral resistance, and something to pivot around in tight quarters.

My outboard (yamaha 9.9, if that matters) has a little locking tab to hold it straight, but judging by the pressure on the tiller I think it is off-line anyway. I'll break that tab to gain the control you mentioned.

I did not have the centerboard down at all, because I don't know the depth of the water at the ramp. I'll drop the lead-line over next time to test. I suppose not having the centerboard down was a bigger issue than I was originally thinking. Thanks for bringing it up.

Thanks for the ideas.

--john

FWIW, out of curiosity I've tried maneuvering with the CB up all the way, and/or with no rudders in the water, and found it almost uncontrollable. At high speeds (which the X and M are capable of), they have to be up, but at low speeds like docking, and just motoring at less than hull speed, you really need some CB, and one rudder (of two, for the X). I put the CB down by about a foot of line, which makes for a long skiff keel with that swing CB. I would think your S is similar, and I believe it doesn't even retract all the way to start with, so just a little bit of line payed out should give you a nice, long-but-shallow CB to help you steer. The further down it is, the tighter you should be able to steer, but just having a little down at all makes a huge difference, at least in my experience.

Oh, and the OB probably has a brake or other type of adjustable turn resistance, so it's not flopping around when not locked straight ahead. In fact, page 20 of the manual shows a steering friction adjuster, though I don't know if this is the same vintage as your OB (2006 and later). http://yamahaoutboards.com/owner-resour ... rs-manuals

Between directing the prop thrust and having a little centerboard, this can only get easier.

My engine is a 98, but I have the manual and can look into tensioning the tiller resistance.

--john

Leave the center board out some about 6 inches on the line. This will give you a couple of feet of center board and will help a lot. Even if it is shalow and you bump somthing it wont hurt the centerboard. In tight docking put the rudder up and only use the engine. In high winds I always dock with the engine to the wind. (wind blowing away from the docks back in, wind blowing to the docks nose in) In high winds I even leave the center board down a foot or so when putting the boat on the trailer trust me this will help a lot and will not hurt anything.

Grady--

Any reason not to leave the centerboard all the way down, then? Or are we trying to move the pivot point aft by only going down a foot?

--john

Interim wrote:Grady--

Any reason not to leave the centerboard all the way down, then? Or are we trying to move the pivot point aft by only going down a foot?

--john

If you know you have enough depth leave it all the way down. It is no problem when you are going fwd but when you back up you can get stuck if it is all the way down.

You're moving it aft affecting weatherhelm

WHRoeder wrote:You're moving it aft affecting weatherhelm

??

This is docking, sails are down weather helm non existent.

Do any of you raise the rudder when docking? (I am on a 94 26s).

it just seems that at low speeds the rudder doesn't do much because we don't have flow over it. In my case, when I reverse thrust and have the outboard turned to port, the prop wash is pushing pretty hard against the rudder and not contributing to anything. Why not just raise it when you get to docking speed and use directed thrust to steer?

--john

You want to dock at a high enough speed where rudders work but low enough that you can kill momentum with one short reverse throttle burst. On my 2 mph/ knots is about right.