We had originally planned to cruise around the Pensacola area for a few days to get familiar with our new boat. While we’ve been boating on some type of craft for more than 20 years, this was a whole new level of fun, but also complexity. It’s seemed like going from a bicycle to a motorcycle - the basic principles are the same, but that’s about it. We went from a boat that had a single battery to one that has five. We had a good trainer, though, and it was time to see what we had learned.
While there weren’t any marinas in Pensacola that were fully open, Carl recommended we go west toward Orange Beach, Alabama to stay at The Wharf marina. It’s a relatively short cruise - about 14 miles - but it involved all the skills we would need to know for the longer cruising we have planned. Navigation in unfamiliar waters, undocking/docking, marina communication, shore power connections, etc... We didn’t use the tracking app called Nebo on that first trip, but we did the next day - so here’s what that trip looked like on a map:
We left Perdido Key mid-morning on Friday, Nov 20. Lisa untied the lines and hopped on. I eased the throttle forward, mindful of the wind that would move the boat toward a piling if I wasn’t careful. We turned to port after pulling out of the marina and I activated the auto-pilot and we idled under the bridge and through the no wake zone. It was a quick little trip over to Alabama. There isn’t much that is better than being underway on the water, and we were having a great time. We arrived at The Wharf, radioed in to get our slip assignment, and navigated to our slip. It was time to dock. People were milling around the marina. A man walking his dog stopped to watch.
A bit about docking: Our prior boats had been jet boats. With all of our experience, we were really comfortable with docking and handling those boats in close quarters - it was effortless. Elvin Ray is a conventional, outboard-powered boat. Moving this boat in close quarters is different in two major ways: 1) steering in reverse is the opposite of what I was used to doing. Instead of steering to the left to move the back of the boat to the right in reverse, I now had to steer to the right to accomplish the same task. This change alone requires a LOT of focus until that muscle memory changes. 2) Her much taller profile means that wind has a MUCH bigger influence on handling. Understanding how the wind will influence her direction is critical. Managing these two differences correctly means the difference between backing into the slip without issue, and hitting the dock and potentially damaging the boat. Docking will test a couple’s relationship, which is why shirts like this are popular with boaters. Fortunately, Lisa and I handle it pretty well. More on how we handle docking responsibilities in a future post.
Our slip assignment had a starboard tie up as we backed in. As I positioned the boat, Lisa had the lines ready and fenders deployed. We managed to put her in the slip without incident, but not without some stress. Exhale. We connected to shore power, cranked up the air conditioning, and got squared away with the marina office. We had managed to get from Point A to Point B safely and without incident. It was a short trip, but an important one.
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