New to the area

I have found a number of Flemmings teachings to be dangerous and overly complex for newcomers. Sorry but I'm not a big fan of his.
 
Ryan, stop by this weekend and I'll talk to you about it. I'm the second boat in on the right on "B" dock west. Boat name: HOGAN V
 
Actually Mike and Jonathan did give me some pointers at a raftup when I had my first twin engine boat. At first they called over instructions as I attempted to pull along side (stb fwd, port reverse, port fwd....etc, etc, etc). Then they gave me the once over and it was much appreciated. Mike was extremely familiar with the situation :)
 
Hi GUys - went out today - it was an amazing morning to learn how to dock.... Still working at it.... going out again next Tuesday morning if the weather is nice... Practice makes perfect!
 
Words of a True Boater...Keep it up...And ENJOY....
 
Is Captain Ray treating you right? Let me know if he's not and I'll kick his a$$. ;)
 
Hi Newsguy, I've not been around here much. Kinda busy. I have a Pennybridge Chap too..actually I'm still at PB right now. I dock with my engines only, it's all I know how to do. Butch is right though, it will not spin on it's axis without a little throttle help. I have to give it a little extra throttle in reverse to get it spinning. I have tried using the wheel & one engine a few times but it never fails, I always end up a mess. When I take my boat out of PB this year to go to my Haverstraw summer slip & am going to play with that a bit to see if I can figure it out. (warning issued to anyone near my practice area)I think it's probably good to know both ways but for me personally I am comfortable using the engines. I agree with what some others mentioned concerning Don Flemming. I think he is a bit to over the top for your basic recreational boater. And I too disagree with his belief that the engines are too close together on IO to dock with just engines alone..especially if you have DuoProps as I do. Just my humble opinion. It's too bad Jim at PB does not give lessons anymore. The year I bought my boat I had problems docking...once knocked out all the water lines on Green dock! I hired Jim for a two hour lesson and met him at Haverstaw on a night with 10-15 mph winds...I almost backed out. After 15 minutes he had taught me what I was doing wrong and we spent the next 1.45 hours tooling around & learning some other pretty cool stuff he knows how to do. It's really all about practice though. The more you do it the better you get and the less you do it the more confidence you lose. Just take your time...and have fun. You are in a great marina with people like Butch & Mike. They have a world of experience & are always ready to help.
 
Capitan Ray was great.... Thanks so much for sending him my way..... I would recomend him to anyone in a heart beat... very down to earth... someone i felt comfortable with.... I am going out with him again on Tuesday...Looking forward to it...
 
And I too disagree with his belief that the engines are too close together on IO to dock with just engines alone..especially if you have DuoProps as I do.

As most know, I bought HOGAN XXV (or something like that) which was a 28' boat, 10' beam, twin duo-props. I can tell you from three years of experience he is 100% wrong. I wonder why he thinks that. .
 
He's out of Haverstraw Judy. A very nice guy I meet while I was going to Captain's school several years back. He does the delivery's and new owner orientations for Surfside as well as private lessons. He keeps his boat on the north side. We had the slip next to him last year. I'm sure you have seen his boat, ValRay, a 44' Sea Ray sedan bridge. Val is an excellent Captain as well although she never went for her ticket. She offered to teach my wife to operate our boat but my wife keeps dragging her feet!

I don't want to use this forum to post his information but if anyone wants I can email it to them.
 
Thanks John. Yes, I have seen the boat. I don't know him though.
 
Going out again tomorrow morning to practice.... The weather is great... Has anyone ever pulled over to the launch dock at Penny Bridge and asked for help backing into a slip???? I have no shame.... How bad would that be?
 
I'm sure people will always be willing to help but they will also be willing to grab your lines as you attempt to back in to your slip. Remember we ALL were once in your shoes and ALL understand you are learning. Forget what people think and just keep trying. It really is the only way you will get better.

I've been doing this for a while and I still say the more people I see waiting to grab my lines the better I feel about the upcoming docking!
 
Yep, I had this discussion with a friend. I told everyone on my dock if you see me coming, please lend a hand. Or, if I see someone, I'll yell over and ask for help. He said he was too embarassed to do that. I said yeah but I have tons more hours on my boat as a result.
 
I'll never refuse an offer to take a line while docking even if I'm having no problems at all. Those folks are already on the dock/finger. It removes a small element of risk for your mate, or yourself if single handing, stepping from the boat to the finger. Remember, "Pride cometh before the fall."
 
If we're out on D Dock, many of us are. We've got ya.. Please make sure at all times that one end of your dock line that your tossing to a dock hand is attached to a cleat. Some forget that part....
 
The only time I would be concerned is if you know everyone on the dock has been partying. In that case, accidents are more possible so keep an eye on everyone involved. I realize looking for a "dry" marina on Earth is like looking for hen's teeth but still, remember that you are in control of the boat and you have a responsibility to those on the dock as well as those on the boat.
Even if they are hammered :D.

I'm not trying to scare you off, it's just that we've see a few things over the last 20 years or so.
 
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