Camanos 31 Owner's Handbook Manual - page 12
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put her right up to the dock. Put the wheel hard over to port and leave it there. You can then bring the
stern in toward the dock by moving the boat ahead. If you have little room to maneuver, take off
forward way and put the boat astern to regain your position. Putting on forward way again will bring
the stern even closer to the dock. If you keep going ahead and astern in this manner the boat will come
snugly up to the dock. The bow thruster, of course, is used judiciously to bring the bow alongside also.
Obviously, you would use the opposite procedure when doing a port side docking.
As is often the case, docking can involve variables that cause your eyes to widen. If a wind or current
is pushing you off the dock you will have to move the throttle to a setting somewhat higher, but no
more than 1000 RPM, in order to overcome the opposing forces. Be aware when doing this that
repeated shifting in and out of gear at engine speeds above 850 RPM puts the transmission under
considerable stress.
Useful Tip: The Camano is generally set up to dock on the starboard side. The starboard helm station
allows for good visibility, the shore power receptacle is easily accessible, and the left-hand prop tends
to draw the stern into the dock.
Leaving the dock is also greatly assisted by the bow thruster. If you have lots of room, put the rudder
amidships and use the bow thruster to bring the bow away from the dock and then put on forward way.
Take care when leaving a starboard docking that you do not have the rudder to port since this will
swing the stern (and the swim grid) into the dock. Obviously, the opposite is true if you had a port side
docking.
If you are moored on your starboard side with precious little room for maneuvering away from the
dock, you can do so by using the opposite of what you did to put it against the dock. Turn the wheel to
starboard and then use the power forward and reverse procedure along with the bow thruster. The boat
will move sideways to port. This is also useful when the wind or current is moving you toward the
dock.
Useful Tip: It takes six complete turns of the wheel to move the rudder from starboard stop to port
stop. To put the rudder amidships, simply rotate the wheel three complete turns from either hard-over
port or starboard.
In addition, to docking and undocking, the bow thruster is of enormous help when backing the boat
down a dock finger or into a berth. Simply put the wheel amidships, put the boat underway slowly
astern and use the bow thruster to steer. You can even steer the boat in a forward direction simply by
leaving the wheel amidships and using the bow thruster. Operate the bow thruster in short bursts - once
started, the bow coasts sideways.
Over and above its stability and sea worthiness, the Keelform Hull offers the ability to operate easily
and efficiently at any speed from dead slow to full plane. And that, in rough weather, makes boating a
lot safer and much more fun. As a general rule, when underway in rough weather, it is often most
comfortable to maintain a speed somewhere in the range of 10 to 12 knots. This speed lifts the bow and
improves stability considerably more than that experienced at 8 knots. Increasing the speed to more
than 12 knots will further improve stability but this can reduce comfort if you are pounding into head
seas. It is probably best to find your own level of comfort when traveling in head or beam seas but it