Leaving the slip I got a little catawwampus and slid along the rubber bumper attached to the corner of the pier. It is there for just such an occurrence; however, because it was dirty from not being touched for months our gleaming hull rubbed the dirt off.
De Anne took the blame since she said she knew the prop walk was to port (when boat is put into reverse the initial turns of the prop push the boat to the left a bit - a common feature of inboard engines). She chided herself for not being ready with the boat hook.
De Anne buffing out the skid mark. Note the newly cleaned bumper on the corner of the dock:
The real excitement came upon our return to the marina. Just as I was close to the concrete piers at the entrance to the marina I put the engine in neutral to coast through the marina and into our slip. As soon as I went into neutral the boat drifted sideways. With a few mild oaths I engaged reverse with a couple feet between our bow and the concrete wall, circling around for a second attempt.
On the second try I once again shifted to neutral - but this time just inside the marina, then engaged reverse to slow us down. At this point the boat reminded me she liked to swing the stern to port when put into reverse. I was suddenly north-south in an east-west marina. Thank goodness for a bow thruster! I did not fight the boat, I used the bow thruster to complete the inadvertent 180 degree turn.
I left the marina again looping the channel marker and headed in a third time. My only terse comment to De Anne was "we are going in hot". Our next door neighbor, Ron (an experienced boater) was attracted by the excitement and was waiting on the dock to help handle lines. He was urgently signalling to slow down as I powered into the slip and hit reverse only after the bow was inside the slip. De Anne quickly got a stern line on and we were safe - with no "bad touches".
Sitting on the patio in the warm setting sun with liquid refreshments we pondered the events of the day as we admired our beautiful, skittish thoroughbred of a boat. We came to the conclusion that the mystery of this 15 year old boat being almost unused has been discovered. The first time each new owner used it was scary experience. It has a flat bottom so when the prop stops turning the boat starts sliding around.
I spoke with my Navy officer son the next day and as I was relating our experience he laughed half way through the dissertation and said "I know where this is going". One of his former ships had a flat bottom and got hard to handle at low speed.
I now know the secret and will work with the boat - not against it.
