Seriously can't thank you enough. I've been so afraid of not knowing how to control my boat when the wind and current change the position of my bow. Now I feel more confident after this video.

It's one thing to do what comes naturally from years of experience but entirely another thing to teach it. Well done 👍🏼

I am a Freedom Club member. I found your video to be very helpful especially your pointing out bump & go. I feel more comfortable in knowing how to position my boat when approaching a dock . Thank you

Excellent video, great job explaining all the phases of docking and maneuvering.

Great video. You should create a complete video series for all FBC locations. Thanks.

Good vid. My tip to newbies... 100% neutral is your friend. Steer in direction needed then a short burst neutral. Steer in direction needed then a short burst neutral. Repeat as many times as needed until docked. Thank me later.

Nicely done. We just joined FBC here in Southport NC and completed the required onboard training yesterday. I am 74 and bought my first sailboat when I was 20. I have minimal experience with power boats. A point our instructor made yesterday was to obtain the tightest turning radius you should FIRST fully re-position the outboard motor before PUTTING IT IN GEAR. You follow that in practice but I suggest pointing it out. I also agree untying the stern lines first.

First time boat owner here, thx great video. Slow is the way to go.

Great job explaining it all. Thanks for putting this together.

Great video. Tried to do this for the first time today without any advice and you can properly figer out how that went. Thanks for the video I'm sure after watching this I'll stand a better chance next time

Awesome video. Worth the membership to do things right!

very very good tutorial! just bought a new (old) boat and of course im a novice so this was incredibly informative.... appreciate the overhead and clear concise instruction!!

Great video, wish you had shown creating a spring line

Nice to watch a skilled operator. Good work young man and thanks for the enlightenment. ;-)

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing.

Great video awesome tips

Great job all around

great video. Learned a lot, thanks

excellent video, well explained, very helpful. Thank you!

Outstanding

Very solid video. Great pace.

Damnnn...so smooth.

What a great video!

👍Terrific info & video. Very very helpful. 🙏💝

Your video was well explained, very helpful to new boaters I'm sure. Please continue to teach future boaters and ignore the posse below :) :) :)

Really informative... Thankyou 👍

Thanks

Well done

Look easy but I’m have new experience in driving me boat is hard to control it but this video show me is better I’m trying

Good video but should typically untie transom or stern first

Great video

thanks young captain

Alex, good job BUT, you could have stated in the beginning that the technique for strong winds is different as you only said to consider winds etc. It would have been good to show how to lasso the dock cleat and it is always much stronger and less load on the top of the cleat when you start with a full 360 degree wrap. That will put the force on the strongest part of the cleat at the base. The hitch is unnecessary if you add another cross, then you can finish with a full wrap. That way there is no tension on the crosses and it can be quickly undone even from the boat to the dock. You can tie up that way also from the boat. This method is more secure with the modern lines and will save your boat from being pulled off the dock in a strong wind. Your method works fine with the old fibre ropes as there is more friction on them. I asked other boating companies why they promote your method and they said they use a 100 year old book on knots as their bible. Test the strength of your cleating and you will be surprised at its performance compared to the OXXO method. André

Very good training overall. At the end he talks about “flat docking” which is a great technique. After he ties his first line he did not state that he turned his motor hard to port and put it in reverse which pulls the stern of the boat to the dock.

Very nicely done. After 23 years as a coxswain in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, there are some things I would do differently that I think are safer. Rather than attach a bow line as a first line, I always attach a stern line first and then go forward on that line to bring the boat in. If the bow line gets pulled in too tight -- which often happens if you hand the line to someone on the dock -- it may be impossible to bring the boat parallel to the dock, and on most boats it requires that someone lean out over the water, reach down, and grab a cleat as he did. The bow on most boats is much higher than the stern. If you bring the stern in first, particularly in a wind blowing you off the dock, you can reach the cleat easily, then just put the boat in forward at clutch speed and wait for the bow to come around. Then you can put a breast line (midship line) on. On most boats, you can just drop the stern line over the cleat. The helm is normally closer to the stern than the bow and is quicker to get there if operating alone. I would also use a locking hitch on a cleat only if my line is too short to use the Coast Guard required method of cleating a line: Go under each horn once, two figure eights, around the base twice, no locking hitch ever. That way your hands and fingers never get near the cleat, and you can remove the line from the boat with a little lasso work. You can also attach it from the boat without leaning over the side.

Very good but it's better with fenders for the last docking, isn't it?

Excellent video. A suggestion for a minor modification....consider us Jet boaters....we can't look to stern to see what way our motor is turned ;')

When freeing your dock lines, start at the stern and do your spring line last. You always want to start at the transom because if a gust of wind or something unexpected occurs, you will be able to use your motor to regain control. If the stern is tied up you lose the ability to motor.

With your example, it looked like very calm conditions.

Great boat

Good video, but I wish the drone shots were from a bit higher up to get a better picture of the overall setting.

It would be great to see a video with a single engine cabin boat (no walkaround), that does not allow for safe access to bow lines when operating alone.

Hey there, I'm a new boater. I am wondering if there isn't a mistake here at 2:20. He says he is turning to the port side, but isn't he turning starboard? I'm confused.

Probably better to advise people to put a forward spring on as the first line in case they are carrying some pace. A Spring astern first does not make much sense

nice calm day lol

Seems nice and easy when not a hint of a breeze. 😂

Last part of the video you should of had your fenders out at least 2 of them.

Yesterday I tried docking my boat on the starboard side with a breeze coming off the dock. In other words pushing the boat away from the dock. My first mate wife always goes to the stern when I dock so she can jump off and grab the boat. There was no way I could get the stern in close enough for her to jump off before the bow swung out. I'm thinking that maybe in that case she should of jumped off the boat to the dock from the bow and held the boat there so I could then swing in the stern. Does that make sense?

Hey bro, whats this boat's model ?

What kind of boat 🛥 is this?

It's easy when it's calm , what if it's very windy , and rough

Pretty sure it's a piling, not a pylon.

You are approaching the docks "too fast" for the average weekend boater. I woud like to see you use neutral more, as well not just forward and reverse all the time. Most marinas are much more congested than your location so boaters do not have the room you have to manuver with so much slip/fairway width. Additionally, you should always show the lines going out to the dock for tying up. I never see ropes on a dock. Otherwide, good video.

That gel coat is a mess.

Look at the hull of that boat. Pretty beat up.

Easiest way to dock; exactly how you did it. Best and easiest? Your method, and NOBODY watching.

Where are the fenders, my friend? Please attach your fenders before you start docking, use common sense.

Those seats are ulgy. That diamond pattern crap!

Where is your life jacket????