The beginner’s guide to how to dock a small boat

It’s a learned skill that tends to improve over time. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right on your first attempt – but follow these simple guidelines and you’ll hopefully minimise the hurt to both your boat and your confidence.

Start preparations for docking early. Once the jetty is in sight, it’s time to fix your docking lines to the cleats, add fenders that stop the boat from hitting the side of the jetty, and talk with other people on the boat about what you expect them to do when you come alongside.

Use a docking line on the bow that is short enough that it doesn’t extend all the way to the back of the boat. The reason for this is that if someone drops the line in the water, it could run back under the boat and foul your propeller, stalling the engine and leaving you at the mercy of the elements.

Run the lines under rails so there is less chance of them flicking off unexpectedly.

Don’t use thin lines, either; invest in thick ones. Lines that are too thin will jam tight in any gaps in the jetty, particularly if it’s a timber one. If you’re trying to run the line out as you come in, a severely jammed line can ruin everything. 

Bring all your fishing rods inside the boat – if the jetty has tall bollards and you’re skimming alongside it, any rocking motion turns vertical objects into potential snags for anything that hangs over the side.

One of the most important pieces of advice I’ve ever been given when it comes to boating is to never approach something at a speed that’s higher than you feel comfortable should something go pear-shaped and you collide with it.

That means slowing down as much as possible the closer you get to the jetty. 

Use this time to assess conditions. Is there current, and which way is it pushing you? What about the wind?

Stopping short of the jetty will give you time to assess all these factors.

How slow should you go? Be ready to knock the engine in and out of gear so that you’re moving at a speed that’s less than a slow walk.

Whenever you can, come to the lee side of the jetty. The lee side is the one in the shadow of the wind, not the one receiving its full force.

The main reason for this is that should anything go wrong, the wind will push your boat safely away from the jetty, allowing you to circle around and try again.

The danger with having your boat upwind is that you could easily snag on the jetty, especially the outboard engine as you turn away to have another crack at coming alongside.

Add the motion of waves or the wake of a passing vessel, and in a worst-case scenario you could even catch the boat underneath part of the jetty.

Being on the lee side will also help the boat to stand off the jetty to avoid scrapes and bumps.

In tidal areas, there is also likely to be current affecting the boat. Current is much stronger than wind, so use it first.

As much as possible, have the boat facing into the wind or current so that it pushes the bow, and not the stern, around.

Deep-keeled sailboats tend to follow their bow when they turn, making them relatively easy to move around in tight spaces.

Outboard-engined boats, however, tend to steer from the back if you’re using their power to manoeuvre. This means you have to think the same way when approaching anything on the water.

When you come alongside the jetty, head in on a slight angle. When you get close, knock the outboard engine out of gear – never switch it off until you’re all tied up – and use the boat’s forward momentum to carry you in. In neutral the engine is like a big tiller allowing you to steer, so the stern will follow the bow.

This is where your earlier observations will help. By this point either current or wind will be starting to round up your boat and bring it to a right angle to the jetty.

Want a master class in how to get a boat alongside a jetty like a pro? Watch a ski boat operator as they “walk” the boat sideways, bumping the throttle between forward and reverse and turning the wheel from lock to lock to direct the thrust.

Okay, you’re alongside and a short reach away from the jetty, but the boat is still moving. How do you bring it to a stop?

Use the back of the boat to slow your momentum. If the jetty has bollards, grab one and let the front of the boat swing in towards it.

If the jetty just has cleats, drop the rear mooring line over a cleat and use it to bring the boat to a complete stop.

Be ready to jump onshore and take control of the boat. That means you either grab the front mooring line as quickly as possible once onshore, or grab the side of the boat as close to the middle as you can to balance it. Never drop the mooring line, as the boat’s momentum could carry it into the water.

Boat poles add a lot of reach to an arm, and can be very handy under pressure to either pull or push a boat. Clever boaties can even use them to drop a mooring line over a cleat.

Look at that, you’ve docked like a pro. All that is left is to tie the boat up. Easy, take one mooring line forward and the other one rearwards

To snub onto a cleat, wrap one loop of the mooring line around it. Then form a loop that crosses over itself, hook it over the end of the cleat and it should lock itself in tight. Repeat at the other end, and keep adding crossed-over loops until you’re confident the line won’t come loose.

If you’re tying up to a bollard, tie a simple clove hitch.

If you’ve read the conditions right, wind or current should be keeping the mooring lines tight and off the jetty. However, sometimes the angle of the wind or current will be pushing only the front, or the back of the boat away from the jetty.

In this instance, you may need to run a third line from the end of the boat that is being pushed off the jetty, and pull it back to the end of the boat that’s touching the jetty. 

In boating terms, that extra bit of mooring line is known as a spring. 

If you’re in a tidal area and plan on leaving the boat tied up to a fixed structure – such as a jetty – for a few hours, it pays to be aware of how far the water is likely to rise or fall, and factor that into how tightly you tie your boat in.

If the jetty is a floating pontoon that rises and falls with the water level, you can safely err on the side of tight.

Flake out any line on the jetty left over after tying off by looping it back on itself, and then move it close to the jetty’s edge to minimise the risk of creating a trip hazard.