280DA with Alpha Ones Docking ??

SAshton

SAshton

Member
Nov 30, 2007
416
somerset, mass
Boat Info
2004 280 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 4.3 w/A1 drives
Backing into slip with dock to my port. Whats the best line to hookup from my dock 1st?
 
SAshton said:
Backing into slip with dock to my port. Whats the best line to hookup from my dock 1st?
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Genrally the first line to go on is always the spring line (mid cleat). Once on it can keep the boat in place and prevent surging back and into the main dock. You can also hold a drive in gear (reverse) and keep the vessel sucked into the dock until the rest of the lines are in place.
 
Do you back in with 1 drive at a time or both once into position. When swinging the bow obviously using both drives.
 
SAshton said:
Do you back in with 1 drive at a time or both once into position. When swinging the bow obviously using both drives.
Click to expand...

When backing down the boat will naturally wander with both drives in reverese. This is especially true with Alpha drives that have prop torque characteristics in reverese. When moving in reverese I am constantly fluctuating both drives from forward to neutral to reverse. Every time I dock there is something different- wind direction and speed, current, etc. It's not a consistent predictable manuever for me.

I habe Bravo 3 drives so my experiences will be a little different. Just keep in mind the vessel has minimal steerage in reverse. Steering with prop direction is imperative and in general you shouldn't be touching the wheel in a twin engine boat.
 
we have a similar size boat to you also with alphas, and our finger is to port. I pull nearly perpendicular to our finger and start the pivot, stbd in reverse/port forward. I usually give stbd a couple shots of throttle to get the transom moving. Thrust is reduced by quite a bit in reverse on the alphas. Wind is generally out of the west for us so it pushes the boat against the finger, making things a bit easier.

We have a spring line that we attach to the rear mid cleat that goes on first. Most important for me is not smashing the swim platform into the dock behind us, so the spring will stop that. We use a line that goes from rear starboard across the platform to a dock cleat on the port side, that is second. At that point the boat is stabilized and the motors go off.

Generally speaking I agree with Madifonzo and usually do not touch the wheel. I will say though, once you're comfortable with the twins and the way the boat behaves having the advantage of directional thrust can help in hairy conditions. When I'm pulled up to a wall I find it especially useful to pull out of a tight spot. Master on thing at a time though.
 
Hi guys , don't mean to hijack the post but I have a 2005 280,4.3 I know everyone says that I don't have to use the wheel when docking but I find it a lot easier just to put one motor in neutral and one in reverse and use the wheel to back in. Must say I've only had this boat for two years, and grew up on single drive boats. I find the spacing between the alphas really doesn't give me the bow movement and working the wheel is a lot easier than working the throttles. Is it just me or am I doing something wrong. Either way I hope everyone has a good rest of winter and hope to see you in the spring. Tony
 
tonytav said:
Hi guys , don't mean to hijack the post but I have a 2005 280,4.3 I know everyone says that I don't have to use the wheel when docking but I find it a lot easier just to put one motor in neutral and one in reverse and use the wheel to back in. Must say I've only had this boat for two years, and grew up on single drive boats. I find the spacing between the alphas really doesn't give me the bow movement and working the wheel is a lot easier than working the throttles. Is it just me or am I doing something wrong. Either way I hope everyone has a good rest of winter and hope to see you in the spring. Tony
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I wouldn't say any way is wrong as long as it gets you into the slip. I generally don't use the wheel, but like you find the spacing on the alphas requires me to use more throttle in reverse for an effective pivot.

A friend of ours had a 305 bayliner with Bravo I's and the spacing was much greater. Combined with the big bravo props that boat really moved well in tight spaces. Of course the trade off was that he couldn't even see his outboard riser/manifolds, much less change them.
 
tonytav said:
Hi guys , don't mean to hijack the post but I have a 2005 280,4.3 I know everyone says that I don't have to use the wheel when docking but I find it a lot easier just to put one motor in neutral and one in reverse and use the wheel to back in. Must say I've only had this boat for two years, and grew up on single drive boats. I find the spacing between the alphas really doesn't give me the bow movement and working the wheel is a lot easier than working the throttles. Is it just me or am I doing something wrong. Either way I hope everyone has a good rest of winter and hope to see you in the spring. Tony
Click to expand...

Strecker25 said:
I wouldn't say any way is wrong as long as it gets you into the slip.
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Agreed. If you dock safely, you've found one of several "right" ways to do it, especially if you can adjust smoothly for wind and other variables.

It never hurts to know more than one way to do things, though, so practicing throttles-only maneuvers of any kind will builds your skills.
 
Can someone explain the difference between the Alpha 1, Bravo 1 and Bravo 2? It sounds like Bravo 1 is better than Alpha 1.
 
I believe alpha1 and bravo1 use the same props - the bravo is just a heaver duty unit with cone instead of dog clutches - the bravo 2 is designed for aplications that need more thrust as the prop can be a much larger diameter - the bravo 3 uses 2 counter rotating props on each drive - this gives more bite and much better response in reverse too
 
Backing into my slip:
current speed and direction
wind speed and direction
boat speed
Lots of practice swinging to port using bouys and swinging starboard using both in same gear and opposite gear
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
 
Ididntdoit said:
I believe alpha1 and bravo1 use the same props - the bravo is just a heaver duty unit with cone instead of dog clutches - the bravo 2 is designed for aplications that need more thrust as the prop can be a much larger diameter - the bravo 3 uses 2 counter rotating props on each drive - this gives more bite and much better response in reverse too
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I meant to say bravoII in my post about the bayliner 305. They really are big compared to the alpha, I was surprised to see them on that boat.
 
I had a BRavo 2 on my last boat, a single engine 25 ft. Now that boat would prop walk a side step in reverse. It was great if you needed to crab sideways and back that direction, but awful if you needed to go the other way.
 
I have twin alphas and my dock (a bulkhead) is on my port side. Once I get next to the dock the first line I secure is a springline to the midship cleat because it gives me control. That way neither the bow, nor the stern, will get blown in to the middle of the canal while I get the rest of my lines.
On a side note. With the counter rotating alpha drives, I find it much easier to back in to slips, pull in straight, or pull alongside a bulkhead by not using the steering wheel. Things were different back when both drives turned the same way, but since I converted to counter rotating, centering the wheel and then just using the motors/shifters to move around the dock is much easier. Still not as easy as twin inboards, but child's play compared to how it used to be with two standard rotation props.
 
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