backing the E29

[LPBlues]

same for me..

Nothing wrong with an old thread if it's still relevant. I have the same problem with my E29. I've tried all the same methods suggested. My wife usually walks us back as far as she can then jumps on but if her timing is off due to wind struggles or my mistakes at the helm we get pinned against a piling or don't rotate enough. We've also done a line from the stern to the end of the dock but then our bow pulpit nearly takes out the bimini on the boat beside us as we swing around. Maybe we need a longer line to get further away. One thing we've thought of is moving to another slip where the prop walk would actually be in the right direction but that seems like giving up . What was a real revelation for me was what Christian described earlier. I discovered this for myself last summer. Got into a narrow spot and was being slowing blown ashore and through a series of short bursts in forward and reverse with judicious use of the tiller I was able to spin around and get out. My next plan is to see if I can pull this off in the even more confined space at our marina with the wind against me etc.

 

[Christian Williams]

Just yesterday I had to turn the boat around to work on the transom. I was alone and it was blowing 10-15. I concluded I was too highly experienced, smart, and all-knowing to wait for my daughter, who was heading down to assist in the mechanical work.

Yeah, well, it took me 20 minutes and four attempts to get lined up well enough to back into the slip.

Just a bit of wind rendered my usual K-turn procedures inoperative, and called in the end for a long straight reverse swoop at a higher speed (1 knot) than usual. .

I was reminded again that conditions change, and that the key to success is patience and willingness to alter plans.

And perhaps most important, to immediately suspend any docking attempt that is putting you into a beam position off the bows of other boats located to leeward.

That's the hopeless position in these maneuvers--blown sideways onto obstructions. Same as a lee shore. Without bow thrusters, you're trapped.

Knowing that's all I had to avoid, I was able to relax and try whatever it took for success.

My daughter was right when she said, "What, you couldn't wait ten more minutes for me to help out?"

And we don't even have current.