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Recently I was getting underway under power from a straight dock (not a slip or finger pier) with about 15 knots abeam on the outboard side. Pic applies even though not a great pic for this purpose. Normally I do all my maneuvering at a dock with all three blades in the water. Due to uncertainty about water depth at the dock, I had pulled the centerboard up part way before docking. Failing to redeploy the centerboard fully, I initially attempted to get underway going forward to turn into the wind, but the boat just could not overcome the force of the wind. Hit the "brake" before I piled into the boat ahead and began a backward turn to windward. The boat responded beautifully, swinging the bow around to leeward, but was more than 26 feet from the dock by then. No problem. Kept backing until I could lower centerboard and do a 180 to start forward toward the channel. Got me to wondering if I should have just done the backward start from the beginning even if the centerboard had been fully deployed. Any thoughts?

With that much wind pressing you up against the dock backing into the wind was probably your best bet. The outboard can pull you away from the dock in those conditions but in order to turn away going forward you would (as you discovered) have to travel quite a distance parallel to the dock before you had enough steerage to be able to turn away from it.

Another option (if you could not back away) would be to leave your bow line attached and motor forward against it while turning toward the dock. The boat will pivot against the line (and dock) and move your stern away and into the wind. Throw off the bow line and reverse away until you can safely move forward.

I would not recommend reversing with the centerboard down if you are not sure there is enough depth for it. Going forward it will lift up but going backward you may snap it off or break the hanger.

Is that Blue Springs?

Absolutely agree with backing off under those conditions. Board up or down. Backing is the Magic when dealing with low-speed, cross-wind conditions. Although this is a 26X thread, the 26M behaves very much the same. The dagger board should be down slightly, but only as far as you're sure the depth will accommodate. Personally, I don't back in tight conditions, shallow or questionable depth, with rudders down. Steerage in reverse, using motor thrust only, will do the job. I'm pretty nervous about breaking a rudder.

Springing off the dock in reverse is a great tip (as would be expected, considering the source). It might prevent dragging the bow all over the dock as you try to reverse off with an on-dock wind.

I've been known to back from the ramp, out of the marina, and well into the river before transitioning to forward - if it's blowing pretty good. After they've seen a sailboat planing, almost nothing else surprises them. Besides a calm, controlled, departure in reverse looks a lot better than a panicky, wheel-sawing, dock banging departure with the bow going first.

Springing off the dock in reverse is a great tip (as would be expected, considering the source). It might prevent dragging the bow all over the dock as you try to reverse off with an on-dock wind.

Yes, using a spring line to get the stern off the dock, and then backing on out did not occur to me. I've got to stop and analyze these situations more carefully. I know better; just getting lackadaisical about planning. Great tip. Thanks.

Don't beat yourself up. It's easy to analyze a problem in hindsight with all of the facts laid out beforehand. It's harder to consistently do the right thing in a new situation while the events are still unfolding.

My boat and I both have the scars to attest to the fact that I don't always do things right the first time.

Hi Herschel!

So we’re not the only ones to discover the ‘joys’ of getting off a long dock or long pier with the wind blowing ya onto it!

We’ve entertained several onlookers in our local SC environment trying to clear ourselves.
By happenstance we watched a larger sailboat back away from the pier while we waited patiently for the wind to die down.
Initially I thought they must have had a stern thruster but then thought again realizing that they had a bow spring line, were actually driving their boat forward and deflecting their propwash with the actual rudder turned toward the dock which caused them to swing their aft out and away from the pier. Once the stern was well clear they swung their rudder away to the opposite side and reversed the prop to pull themselves away as they gradually released the bow line. They also had a long solid shaft gaff (boat hook) to ensure that the bow stayed clear of the pier. They were well practiced making the whole thing look like a piece of cake .

Since then we’ve been adapting their technique to our Mac26X (albeit without the practiced aplomb of our example) when the opportunity presents itself … like at our local fuel pier on the Beaufort River… much to the disappointment of our local onlookers.

Great photo by the way!

Best Regards,
Over Easy