Ep 188 Sad Season Cut Short

• October 01, 2026 by Sailing Talisman |
• Language: EN
• Play Time: 00:15:10
• SAILING YOUTUBERS

Death seemed to stalk us this year. Besides my own battle with tongue cancer, Wendy’s father passed away, leaving us scrambling to haul the boat and fly home. It was a rough year on so many fronts. As you’ll see, we were visibly worn out and operating at reduced patience and proficiency.

In the episode, I mentioned that I would do a more detailed and extensive review of our poor docking performance in Jolly Harbour. So here goes:

The “Dockmaster” was working hard against us, and I made some statements that due to the brevity required by on-screen notes, require elaboration.

First, as a skipper or captain, you are in command of the boat at all times and dockmasters, no matter how skilled, never counteract the boat skipper. This is an ironclad rule, and you are practically required to stand your ground. It rarely goes to the level you see here, but it does happen.

Know first and foremost, that absent working as a Moorings or Dream Yacht Charter paid captain, and docking their boats, there is no way a guy driving a marina dinghy, or even fishing boat, would ever get the chance to take over physical docking of a boat like ours. Owners will rarely, if ever, allow another person to dock their boat. I would be reluctant to have a professional instructor dock our boat, and would want to be on hand myself to supervise if I did.

So, let’s talk about why I was so adamant that this guy knew nothing. And also, why these guys are wrong to think there’s a one-size-fits-all approach to how a boat gets docked.

1) First, I’ll address something that I said that was confusing. I noted that you have to get the stern lines secured first. This is not technically correct. Viewers who have watched me dock Talisman over the years have seen me go along with this “bow lines first” method of docking within a “pen” (the term for a box bounded by the dock and two pilings) for a long time. They will have observed that in this situation I use “rudder kick” to control the location of the stern.

2) Rudder kick is when you run the wheel hard over to one side and goose the throttle in forward to vector the prop-wash off the rudder, thus kicking the stern of the boat in the opposite direction. This is a cool trick, but scares the dockhands and other boaters. There’s an accompanying increase in throttle, and the stern can kick rather aggressively if you’re not careful.

3) And rudder kick is not applicable to all boats. It is unnecessary on Catamarans since they have two engines, and will be ineffective for monohulls with Saildrive systems (not direct drive) or twin rudders. This follows from the Saildrive (picture an outboard engine lower unit protruding from the hull just aft of the keel) being so far forward of the rudder that prop wash dissipates before getting to the rudder and because with twin rudders the prop wash goes right between them without hitting either rudder. In fact, larger twin-rudder monohulls often (usually) have stern thrusters for this reason.

4) But there’s a second option for controlling the boat during docking stern-to. And that’s what I had in mind to demonstrate here, and would have without an alpha-male imbecile fighting me.

5) If you back in to a dock and secure a single windward stern line, you can spring off it with a bit of forward throttle (in drive, obviously). In fact, it’s surprising how much side-wind you can counteract. It will require a well-set dock cleat and a bit of windward rudder, but it is the most versatile of the docking techniques. You can adjust both the side-to-side location of the stern and the angle of the boat relative to the dock using just the throttle and rudder angle. Thus, you can move the unsecured bow to either side without the use of a bow thruster.

6) Securing a second stern line creates a trapezoidal load path to the dock. With boat in drive (forward against the lines) the bow can no longer be swung from side-to-side, but the rudder can be used to shift the entire boat in parallel side-to-side. Loosening one or the other of these lines will adjust boat angle, and of course you’ll need cross-springs to the dock if you want to prevent the stern from wandering side-to-side after you’re done.

7) In short, boats with direct drive props and single rudders can use rudder kick to keep stern in place without stern lines secured, but Saildrive and twin rudder designs cannot. Dockhands cannot see or know this in advance, nor are likely to understand anything about it.





















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Sailing Talisman

RYA Yachtmasters Kevin and Wendy Kelley have transitioned from their Oyster 485 to a new Nordic 40, 'Lulu'. Explore their 2026 vessel transition and technical journey.

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• Joined: December 25, 2015
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• Latest Video: October 01, 2026
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• Language: EN

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Ep 188 Sad Season Cut Short Location

• Antigua and Barbuda (17.060816,-61.796428)