Chart

Welcome to the club. You'll like it here.

Twins are a snap! They are easy to dock, and with a little practace you will be so good at it that people will think you're better than you really are.

There are different schools of thought, but I like to use the props and not the steering wheel for docking and backing. Props turning out work better for this. Your boat is big enough that waves won't move it around like they can a smaller boat. Therefore, you can go slow. Engage a drive briefly, then neutral and wait to see what happens to the boat. You'll sledom need any throttle at all. Keep in mind that the props work better in forward than reverse.

People really good at this can litterally (sp?) make their boat move sideways by engaging the props in opposit directions and turning the drives.

birdog

And when you can do that my friend>>>>You know you are cool

blown formula

I learned to dock with my 252SS in that manner. People would look at me like I was crazy pulling up to a gas dock at right angles, until I would swing the boat sideways & between two other boats tied up at the dock! It's really a cool feeling to be able to do that, and having the patience to learn how is important. Parking is always limited at on the water restaurants here, so it's almost mandantory to learn. However, there are a lot of "crash & bashers" still around. Their boats show it too!. Learning to drive, dock, operate & maintain your boat is part of the overall boating experience. Not enough people (owners) bother to learn these things. It' a shame.

birdog

I saw a 21 ft boat at a show this year with BOW THRUSTERS on it!!!!! No lie! Im standing there wiping the tears from my eyes from laughfing so hard and the salesman comes up telling me how great it is,Said..all those years of scratching his boat docking and now with this he can dock!!!!!My mother would be proud.....I just walked away Haaaa !!!!!

C_Spray

I have to admit that it is a really cool feeling to be able to get the boat to do what you want, even in a crosswind or bad current. Once I got the hang of it, my 38 got easier to dock than my 28 single, although the technique with DPX's is a little different from Bravos. Formula even replaced the "Thinderchicken" emblem that I destroyed against the dock while I was learning at no charge - great guys.

Anyway - Another good method is to get really l-o-n-g dock lines, get the boat somewhere close, and yell at someone on shore: "Hey - CATCH!!!"...

PhantomChaos

Good one Chuck!

blown formula

Sorry, I've been away a couple of days. It seems there was a storm down at the lake & my hydro-hoist tore loose (or loosened) 3 of 4 hinge pin bolts on my level-lift hoist & the lift sank! Luckily, the 2 safety chains were intact so it was easy to recover. No damage other than the missing 3 bolts! Now, it is chained to the dock, so it cannot sink. I was warned by a friend to put safety chains on it to keep it up, but did I listen? Of course not!
I'm just glad I did not have a boat on it, but then it probably would never of happened due to the load factors involved.
Live & learn!