New Member Hello

[sweetwater]

Hello All, Just purchased a 2005 28TE after reading every post on this site about 5 times. I can only hope I love this boat as much as the 25 Parker it replaces. I am sure I will have a host of questions as I get used to this new set-up. (Parker was an IO) Look foward to dealing with the people on this forum, it looks like a great group of people. Now I just need to get my Burgee in the mail and I will feel at home!

[DougSea]

Welcome aboard!

I'm sure you'll end up loving the 28 even more than the 25 Parker. After all, there's more of her to love!

Fire away with your questions, and post some pictures of your new ride!

[RobS]

Welcome aboard, see you on the GSB.

[sweetwater]

Thanks for the welcome. I purchased a boat from one of your members, the Jill Susan....The one with the teak entry door, chairs and deck. Just have to get it to the south shore from the north shore and bounce off some pilings trying to figure out how to dock her. I know the thruster helps, but I hear they are not the most reliable things and want to know how to operate without it. Do you guys count on the thruster for a little help or no?

[RobS]

Consider the thruster a convenience and not a necessity this way when it is not there for you one day you can survive without it. The stern walk is the more reliable tool.

Enjoy this reading: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3015

[Jack]

Welcome! The 28 should feel like a much bigger boat and should be more fuel efficient at the same time. The bowthruster works better in the early part of the season before the growth gets into the channel. It's worth having a skin diver clean the bottom including the raw water intake and the thruster, maybe around late August.
I find the Albin to back like a sailboat, which is not a compliment. I would practice backing to see which way she wants to go. With a single screw straight shaft, it can be better to back away from a dock than to think you can beat the wind.
It's a great boat with lots of room down below. Have fun
Jack

[crowra]

Welcome aboard! Piggy-backing off Rob S.' 'recommended reading':

Bluey,

I know I am a tad late in posting and maybe you have gotten the docking part down by now. I too am a new boat owner (36' Albin, single diesel) and docking was a great source of stress to me and especially my first mate. I discovered this web site created by Bryant Vann, who shall be ever referred to as "Saint Bryant". Here's the URL: http://www.his.com/~vann/KrgStuff/Krognidx.htm scroll down about 3/4 of the site to 'section 9'. Article 9.5 really helped me (along with the other docking articles). You will learn about 'goosing' and a 'magic stick' amongst other really helpful techniques.

Just something else to consider is that boats turn from the stern (actually their center of gravity where the engine is mounted). That was a hard concept for me to get initially since it is opposite from driving a car. I had a crusty old charter boat captain yell at me (several times in that 'mentoring tone') about how a boat turns from the stern AND to always use reverse when leaving a pier where you are 'parallel parked'.

Good luck,
Rob

[sweetwater]

Great article Crowra, Looks similar to the one in this forum "how to dock" except in this article it is advised to put the rudder to starboard while backing in, and I believe the Albin thread advises to put it hard to port and "leave it there". I think i just felt a palpitation.

[RobS]

You want the rudder opposite your stern walk so that any forward bursts continues the boat rotating in the same direction. This way you can spin the boat around its own axis much like a twin screw just with fwd and rev movements of the shifter. Since the 28 has a reversing Tranny she turns a LH prop, hence a starboard walk in reverse.

[jleonard]

Where you leave the rudder depends on the direction you want the stern to go in forward gear.
Basically you want to not move the rudder when backing, and you want to add forward gear (and perhaps some throttle) while the boat is still moving aft. That will move the stern BEFORE you start to gain forward way.
Same when going in reverse IF your intent is to move the stern by way of it's "stern walk" (be it port for a RH prop or starboard for a LH prop).
Obviously you need to "dwell" in Neutral between FWD and REV. I generally use a full 2 or 3 count in N between shifting. (Sometimes longer if I need the wind to move the boat, sometimes less if I'm in a panic)

The bottom line is practise.

[Russell]

A couple of tips I found to be useful: First be going very slowly before you start your turn. I select neutral several slips back so that I am going dead slow and close to the slips on the starboard side. Second, you do not want to back very far so stay close to your side of the channel. At the slip before my own I turn the wheel hard to port and shift into forward without giving additional fuel. The boat starts to spin and after a quarter turn or so I select reverse and the stern swings to starboard, accelerating the spin. When I almost touch the boat in the adjacent slip I select forward again. Before going a few feet forward I select reverse and continue to spin and back till I almost touch my port piling. So basically I spin the boat as close to my slip so as soon as it is lined up I stay in reverse and pull in. A final bit of forward swings the stern to the finger pier and stops the boat. Always be aware of the wind direction and velocity and any current to adjust where you start your turn but the closer you are to the entrance to your slip the less they will influence your trajectory. With a little practice you will find it is not difficult.