Exuma BeerRun: Unforseen Detour in our Sailing Journey | PDG Adventures | S02E21 

You're so very welcome! Unfortunately we couldn't present the "entire" docking event. Suffice to say it was edited for time and we are so glad that it was an empty marina...

Any landing you can walk away from right?! It was so weird how long it took to get it right, but made it safe and sound in the end.

Thank you! We are really hard on ourselves because we have high expectations of our own performance. These things come with time and experience. Docking is NOT one of our favorite past times. 😜 Much more prefer dropping an anchor.

@@pdgadventures I think there is a bit of a chasm in the learning curve of docking. If you watch a good professional (there are bad ones even though they do it daily and professionally) you notice they use sharp hard bursts of throttle. Obviously that is a recipe for disaster if a beginner tries that. So if you want to hit peak docking skill you need to leap that chasm at the appropriate time in your learning. But I don’t advocate that. I think it’s ok to do it all slowly and low thrust never going faster than you are willing to crash. Having seen a zillion docking attempts I’m pretty sure the worst thing you can do is use hard bursts in panic. I’ve done that myself on my small powerboat. The biggest problem is variable wind. Anything steady is much easier. Two hulls and two props lets you lock rudder and adjust for any wind angle. Until it drops or lifts. 😁 I think the thing to do is aim for is a couple of feet parallel to the dock and be ready to throw a loop over the dock cleat and adjust everything after capture. You did it slow and steady and that’s the best way in my armchair admiral opinion. Using mooring balls in a roomy anchorage and imaginary docks at the ball position lets you play and hone your skills. If it’s bothering you it’s probably worth practicing a bit now and again. In any case go easy on yourselves and thanks for sharing your adventures.

@@tonyfromaus7855 great advice! The most recent docking (done a couple days ago) was in some unanticipated swirly current and ended up putting the corner of the dock onto our side... Crunching sounds while docking is never a good thing. We think the damage was minimal, but it definitely needs a gel coat repair. 😬

Thank you, we are glad you enjoyed it! Norman's was great but oof, it put a dent in our cruising budget, that's for sure! Great people, lovely restaurants, and pristine landscaping.

Cheers!!! Thank you!

Howdy there!!! Indeed we are and hope all is well back at the club!

Ouch! We think docking is the most stressful thing about sailing and we are thinking we should take a docking course just to be better. The docking we did a couple days ago was pretty rough. Crunching on the hull is never a good thing. 😬

@@pdgadventures we haven’t docked since. We rented a ball for a few months now we getting good at anchoring. I hope you guys got the poop chute fixed with the pump out

Hello! That was the price per night at the dock (plus any electric or water used). This particular place didn't have mooring balls but most mooring balls charge a fee, usually around $20-30. If interested, you can join our Patreon for free to get travel updates about where we are right now. Patreon.com/pdgadventures

That's a great question! We originally learned to tie the fenders vertically, one side attached with a fender line to the stanchion and the other side hanging free. After docking to a few "fixed" docks (those that don't float with the rising and falling tide) experience taught us that the horizontal strategy is much more efficient for these circumstances. On a floating dock, the part of the dock that protrudes towards your boat is the horizontal dock itself, which makes a vertical tie the logical choice. On the fixed dock, it is often the pillars that the dock is attached to that are more likely to rub your vessel. The horizontal tie makes for better protection against the vertical pillars.

@@pdgadventures oh so many words here to describe the very situation where you put your fender board to use - you do have a fender board, don't you?

@@ianb4801 lol, we didn't know about fender boards until we got back! So, no... We don't have a fender board but will fashion one before going to the Bahamas next season.

So you've been to MacDuff's? 😂😂😂

@@pdgadventures In a way yes, Sailingdoodles dropped a video earlier today for the exact same marina and restaurant. We have a running joke in our house, "Hey, Bobbys been there!" But keep up the good work, we enjoy your channel to and hope it grows! We want to get a boat of our own someday....

Well whaddya know?! It's a pretty small world out there I suppose. Thank you for your support!

@@jcp7620good luck on your boat. I was in your shoes 6 months ago.