A Friend With a Dock is a Friend Indeed

“There are big ships and small ships.  But the best ship of all is friendship”.  ~Author Unknown

Boaters are a friendly crowd…and quite a social lot!  Any popular lake or sandbar is expectedly loaded with groups of anchored boaters having BBQs, swimming, and playing music on a sunny summer weekend.  But there is another kind of marine socialization, and it’s super fun…visiting friends by water!  I am not sure why it is, but arriving at someone’s home by waterway, or arriving at a restaurant’s dock instead of its parking lot, is SO much more fun! 

There can be many reasons for this.  You get to avoid traffic.  The scenery is superb.  Dolphins are nicer than motorists.  You are floating.  It is awesome.



Hi Dave, I'm here!



Traveling to visit friends on my Seadoo is a favorite past time.  And since PWC are small, they fit almost anywhere.  Thanks to the reverse function that most skis have nowadays, they are also highly maneuverable.  I have parked anywhere from alongside the dock, to upon a floating vessel platform, to tying the ski to two random available anchor points (including low hanging branches and partially submerged canal junk) in the vicinity, or even in between other docked boats.  I have been hoisted up on boat lifts.  But the end result is always the same; an enthusiastic smiling friend and the promise of an ice cold beer!  Unless you pull up at the wrong dock, in which case you are met with an angry, yelling homeowner and a Rottweiler!



Scratch-free docking using the corner method, at Shuckers Raw Bar .



I can offer a few suggestions for docking your ski in a new or unfamiliar location: those of you that ride and deal with docks know that the #1 place where most of the ski’s scratches and dings come from is the dock.  Skis are small and easily get washed underneath the dock and bumped into the concrete edges.  Because of their shape, they have a lot of painted surface area that is very vulnerable to impact with all kinds of things at docks.  And thanks to manufacturers’ recent obsession with dark colored hulls, scratches and chips are more devastating to the eye than they need to be. All it takes is a passing boat wake to rack your ski into an incriminating dock protrusion and leave you with a symbolic gash.  The key to successful damage-free docking is finding two points to tie the ski between, that are not parallel to the wall or dock itself.  Securing it caddy-corner is ideal.  I always look for corners with a 90 degree bend, and I tie it at a 45 degree angle between two anchor points.  This way if a wake comes by, the ski isn’t slammed right into the dock, as it would be if it were simply tied parallel to the dock.  Alternatively, you could find any way to secure it that holds it away from the wall.  One technique, if the environment is right, is to toss your anchor off the front of the ski and then have a rear line that gets secured to something on land.  This holds it away from the dock or shore and will also hopefully prevent it from bottoming out in shallow shoreline.

Hope you don't mind I brought a few friends home...

Make certain that you keep the tides in mind while you whittle away the hours with your waterfront buddies.  If the tide goes out while you are there, and you haven’t checked your ski, you may come back to find it hung up on your lines.  Or if the tide has come in, there may be too much line out and your ski is now freely bumping into things (and getting scratched!).  Try to remember to check on your trusty vessel sometime before your fifth margarita!

One last thing…anytime you are visiting by water, you are a guest in their waterway, whatever type it is.  Always approach docks at low speed, and travel at full idle when in canals where boats are docked.  Despite their small size, skis throw a lot of water, even at low speeds.  Get off the gas and be a good denizen to our sport, as well as a courteous boater.

I hope Debbie doesn't mind if I borrow the pool...

Now that you are satisfactorily docked…go onshore and be social!  Before all that’s left for you are two burnt hot dogs and a warm beer.