Help with parking

Bebe

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I have had a pontoon for 4 years no problems docking it or parking. Well we got a tritoon what a hard time putting it on the lift or even just parking some where what the heck are we doing wrong? it's terrible. Is a tritoon that much harder? What are we doing wrong? Practice isn't working anyone else have this problem. 22 ft
 
Kinda tough to tell without being there/seeing what's going on. Take it slow. Neutral is your friend.
 
Welcome to the forum Bebe! I think maybe you're thinking about it too much. Shouldn't be any different than a 2 toon boat. Just do what you used to do and you should be fine. You said practice hasn't helped. It has to. The more you do it the better you'll get and your confidence will grow. Take it slow. You got this!
 
Maybe it sits higher in the water, and catches more wind?

My guess is it just plain handles a little bit different than what you're used to and you have to give it more time. Keep at it.
 
A tri-toon sits higher in the water and is more affected by wind. Depending on wind direction when I approach my dock, determines whether I can leisurely come into the slip or do I have to approach it a bit more aggressively. There are post on this forum on tips for docking.
 
Ditto GWLK above. I find Tritoons more challenging in docking situations due to sitting higher and blowing around easier, in the water. 2 toons do seem to ”settle” in the water deeper and plow forward on a slightly straighter and more predictable line in my opinion.
 
A tri-toon sits higher in the water and is more affected by wind. Depending on wind direction when I approach my dock, determines whether I can leisurely come into the slip or do I have to approach it a bit more aggressively. There are post on this forum on tips for docking.
Aggressively di you mean go I. Faster? Because when I go slow it bounces more
 
Stow the Bimini and go slow like a pro. I've taught my self to walk the throttle between neutral 1 click FWD or 1 click REV. Slow Slow Slow
 
I am new to boating and I have found it to be a bit challenging to dock. The trick for me is to good very slow and to pulse the throttle. Meaning, short burst of power and then back to neutral. Allowing the craft to adjust and to not have continuous power applied. I am sure there are many other ways to approach this challenge, this just seems to work for me. Good luck.
 
I have a very narrow slip with a lift. I have found once I have the bow in the slip I usually bring the craft in with the lines. Less time with dependence on the engine. Once in the slip bring the boat fully forward and bing it up with the lift.
 
Aggressively di you mean go I. Faster? Because when I go slow it bounces more
Yes. I come in a little bit faster, so the wind doesn't blow me away from the dock.. Under normal conditions I dock the boat as M J Farr described above. When the wind is blowing into the slip, there isn't much maneuvering at all.
 
I had one instance last summer where we had a strong wind perpendicular to the pontoon coming into the lift...after three tries with the wind blowing the stern way out of alignment, I had to drop my wife on the dock, attach a line to a stern cleat and throw the line to her as I got close to the lift. I lined up the bow and she kept the stern lined up. Not ideal, but it worked...
 
I had one instance last summer where we had a strong wind perpendicular to the pontoon coming into the lift...after three tries with the wind blowing the stern way out of alignment, I had to drop my wife on the dock, attach a line to a stern cleat and throw the line to her as I got close to the lift. I lined up the bow and she kept the stern lined up. Not ideal, but it worked...
Our slip is only 10 feet wide. When it's windy my wife drops me off and I pull it in with a line. We even do it on good calm days. Make sure we don't hit anything..,.
 
My first Benny was a 22” bi-toon with a Merc 90... It was pretty simple to dock most of the time...

Second Benny was a 23” tri-toon with a Yamaha 200... I definitely noticed at docking speeds that it wasn’t as nimble, and it took some serious adjustments in my timing and thought process...

My current Benny is a 25” tri-toon with a Merc 350... This took even more adjustments in timing and thought process...

My belief is the longer and heavier the boat is the more it requires tighter skills at the dock...

For me, the key is to ignore people at the docks and marina and not let my pride get in the way...

If I miss my mark on the first pass, I simply back off and try again...

I have nothing to prove to anyone... Keeping my family safe and my boat undamaged is always priority No. 1...
 
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