Failing at docking for our first time

Day two of our maiden voyage was definitely the worst of our entire trip. After getting hardly any sleep yesterday during our first attempt anchoring, we decided that we needed to recover at a marina and get caught up on some sleep.

We left Lake George and decided to stop at the closest marina, in Astor Florida at Astor Bridge Marina. Overall the marina was a fantastic place to stop, the marina host was very hospitable, the amenities were clean, and the crowd was kind – however there was one issue. The length of the docks were very short; it only came up about mid-ship on pivot.

Probably for most captains this wouldn’t be too much of an issue, but for us it was very challenging. Considering we have only practiced in San Mateo, where there is no current, wind, or traffic, this was completely different. As we approached nice and slowly, the current slowly took pivot out of the intended path. It was hard figuring out what to do in order to get pivot back in the slip that we ended up smacking a few pilings. After only a few hours of sleep the night prior, it was pretty nerve wracking to say the least.

It was a rough day, and unfortunately the day after we ran across the same fate. This second try was even more demoralizing as we had come up with a plan and thought it would be different. However, we took it in stride and took it as an opportunity to really learn how to dock. We are happy to say it has been much better since then!