4 Rules on How To Dock Your Boat Like A Pro

When you are just starting to learn, it can seem very daunting, but it’s easy to dock your boat like a pro if you follow four simple rules.

Ask any boater what the most nerve-wracking part of their day is and most – if not all – will say it comes when you dock your boat. A smooth return to the dock depends on getting multitude factors just right, like your speeds and approach angle. Add a gust of wind or a bit of current and the challenge becomes even greater, which is why so many boaters find docking the toughest part of a day on the water.

Fortunately docking is one of those skills that’s easily learned, especially if you follow simple rules that ensure you’ll have success every time out.

Rule 1 – The Slow Approach Wins

Forget about roaring up to the dock, kicking the wheel over and fishtailing your boat into place Miami Vice-style. When you dock your boat it requires a deliberate, straight-on approach.

Start by making sure you have all your gear in place while you’re still a good distance out from shore. Assuming you have some help aboard, tell your first mate which side of the boat will be coming to the dock, and have them put out the fenders and secure a rope (or dock line) to the front cleat on that side. The idea isn’t to parallel the dock, but to bring it in at a shallow angle, so it arrives nearly parallel and only a foot or so away. Don’t just aim for an arbitrary point on the dock, or the end of it, aim the front of the boat so it will contact the dock exactly where you want to tie it off, so the cleat on the boat matches the corresponding cleat on the dock.

Approach the dock gently at a slight angle, touching the throttle in and out of gear to maintain control while proceeding as slowly as possible.

They key is go slow, using a “touch-in, touch-out” technique that has the driver continually place the boat in and out of gear so it glides toward the dock in a steady, controlled path. It’s a technique that lets you maintain a slow speed without giving up control of the boat’s speed and direction. Do everything right and your first mate should be able to simply step onto the dock and tie up to the dock cleat. With the front of the boat secured, you can now crank the steering wheel all the way toward the dock, gently touch the boat into reverse gear, and swing the back end in smoothly and tie it off as well – just like a pro.

Aim the bow where you want to tie-off on the dock. Once you’re close enough, your first mate can step onto the dock and tie-off the bow.

It’s easy enough when you have some help to tie off the bow. But what if you’re out by yourself? Do everything exactly the same way, then when you’re very close, just slip the engine into neutral and dash to the bow so you can quickly tie the bow line to the dock cleat. Then return to the helm, crank the steering wheel toward the dock, and reverse to pull the boat’s stern up against the dock so you can tie that end off too.

Rule 2 – Work With The Wind

You can dock your boat easily with a bit of practice. But what about when the wind blows?

The trick to docking in the wind is using the breeze to your advantage. Forget about trying to fight it, because you’re going to lose every time.

That means always approaching the dock from a downwind position, since you have far more control when you approach the dock this way. Approach the dock with the wind behind you and chances are you’ll come in too fast, and you’re either going to slam right into the dock or miss it altogether. Approaching the dock from a downwind position has the opposite effect, slowing things to a crawl and giving you much more control.

Always dock with the wind, even if that means coming in from the opposite side that you would normally use.

The real challenge comes when the wind blows from directly behind you, and approaching from downwind simply isn’t an option. That’s when touching in and out of gear with the throttle really comes into play, except you will be engaging reverse, rather than forward gear. As the wind pushes you toward the dock, touching in and out of reverse has the same effect as hitting the brakes in a car, so you can slow your approach and maintain perfect control.

Rule 3 – Treat Current Like The Wind

Need to dock in a current? Treat it exactly as you would treat the wind, approaching into the flow so you maintain more control. Start off downstream of the dock and motor into the current, so you slow the process down.

Rule 4 – Grace Under Pressure

The more experience you gain when you cock your boat, the more confident you feel and the more successful you’ll be. It’s all about keeping your cool.

With practice docking becomes easy. And if you blow it, who cares? You’re out in the sun having fun in a boat. How bad is that?

That’s especially true when you screw it up. So then what?

If you blow it, take comfort in knowing that you’re in very good company, because there isn’t another boater on this planet who hasn’t also screwed it up at some point in their past. When it all goes wrong, you’re best to just back away from the dock and go around for another try. Go putt around for a few moments to clear your head, think about where things went off the rails, and give it another try. Afterward, you can have a chuckle about that gust of wind, or that bit of current, and remember that if looking a little awkward when you dock your boat is your worst problem, then you’re actually having a very good day.