Dock Loading Tips For Beginners

Imagine spending a gorgeous day with your family and friends on the lake with your own boat. Many Canadians enjoy spending time on the water, do you?

If you want to join the many people who love boating, you’ll need a boat for yourself. However, you should also consider dock loading tips.

Then, you can help get your new boat from the dealer to the water safely.

 

Dock Loading Tips

Whether you just bought your first boat or your fifth, you need to get it safely to the water. However, you can encounter some roadblocks.

The good news is that there are a few dock loading tips you can follow. While the process may not be easy, you can make it easier.

Knowing how to dock load will help you at each step. The more you get a feel for dock loading, the easier it will be.

But most people don’t have the money to buy a ton of boats to practice. You can use these dock loading tips to bypass any practice that you could do.

 

Choose the Right Vehicle

Once you get your boat from a dealership, you’ll need a way to transport it. You need to use the right vehicle to get the boat off the lot.

Consider your new boat’s size and weight when selecting the right automobile. You’ll need a vehicle that can tow the boat from the dealership to the water.

• Look at how much power your car has
• Make sure the tire pressure is good
• Consider the wire connections and their setup
• Ensure the trailer ball is the right size

If your vehicle doesn’t meet these requirements, consider renting a vehicle. When you know what boat you’ll get, you can look for a vehicle that can tow the boat.

Of course, you can also ask friends or family if they have a suitable vehicle. However, you want to use a vehicle that’s strong and powerful enough to handle your new boat.

You should also consider the distance that you’ll need to drive the vehicle. If the dealer is close to the dock, you might not need a ton of power.

On the other hand, a farther drive will necessitate more power, tire pressure, and the right trailer ball.

 

When to Drive

Once you have the best vehicle for towing your new boat, you’ll need to figure out when to drive it. Towing anything can make handling a vehicle more difficult.

Depending on the size of your boat, you may need to rethink how to drive. You should consider any turns you’ll need to make (especially sharp turns).

• Avoid driving in the city at busy times
• Determine the best route with the least amount of traffic
• Stop earlier than you would without towing
• Figure out how to back up when you have the boat

If you bought your first boat, you probably don’t have experience towing it to the water. A lack of experience doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to tow it.

However, you might consider asking or hiring someone to drive for you. Someone with experience will know how to make turns and stop carefully.

Then, you won’t have to worry about how and when to drive when towing a large boat.

 

Watch the Weather

While driving your boat from the dealer to the water, consider the weather. Of course, bad weather can make it hard to drive any vehicle.

However, you should avoid dock loading when the weather is bad.

Whether it’s raining, windy, or otherwise not clear, you should consider docking another time. If the weather isn’t great, it can be harder to get your boat into the water.

Especially if it’s windy, you may risk bumping your boat. In that case, consider storing the boat for a day or two until the water passes.

While you probably won’t get the boat when the weather’s bad, the weather can change quickly. So make sure you have a place to put the boat until everything clears up.

 

Get Some Help

Once you get the boat from the dealership and you have nice weather, it’s time to put your boat in the water. However, you shouldn’t do it yourself.

As a beginner, you probably don’t have any experience lowering a boat. Because of that, you need to have some help.

You can ask a friend with experience, or you can find a professional. Either way, the other person can help you watch the boat.

While one of you backs the boat into the water, the other can watch it. Then, you can make sure the boat doesn’t hit anything.

 

Take It Slow

As you lower the boat, do it slowly. While you might be excited to put your boat in the water and then get on it, hold off.

Especially with a larger, heavier boat, you want to be careful. If you go too fast, you can accidentally hit the dock next to the boat.

You might also hit the water faster than necessary. Boats can be expensive, and the last thing you want to do is damage your boat before you can use it.

The slower you can lower the boat, the less likely you will encounter issues. Think of a boat as a large piece of furniture.

You don’t want to drop a couch when you move it. You’ll need to lower it slowly to the floor, and the same is true for a boat.

 

Watch the Boat

Do you need another reason to have someone help you with the boat? One of you can watch the boat go into the water.

If you back the boat up to the dock, your friend or the professional can watch it. Watching the boat can ensure that it goes into the water smoothly and easily.

When lowering the boat into a popular dock, it’s especially important to watch it.

Not only should you avoid hitting the dock, but you also want to avoid hitting other boats nearby.

As one of you watches the boat, maintain contact with the driver in case there are issues. Then, the driver will be able to fix the issue more quickly.

 

Float On

Getting a boat is exciting, but getting it to the water is another story. Luckily, there are a few dock loading tips that you can use.

The tips will make the process of moving the boat easier and less stressful. You can also use them to lower your risk of damaging the boat.

Want to buy your first boat? Contact us to learn more about our inventory!

Learn more great tips on our blogs like how to winterize your boat.