Understanding rudders usage is an important skill.

My first wife was a fantastic cook and one of her specialties was a tasty leg of lamb she made every Easter. On our second Easter together, I noticed that she was cutting the bottom of the leg off right at the knee. ?"What the heck are you doing," I asked. "Why are you cutting one of the best pieces of the lamb off?"

"It's what my momma always did," she replied. "Let's call her. I want to know why," I insisted. So we gave her a call to get to the bottom of the shredding of the lamb. "Well dear, I always cut off the small portion of the leg because back in those days our ovens were not big enough to hold the whole leg." It was a prime example of monkey see, monkey do.

This symptom often carries over to boating and can perpetuate bad habits for novice and seasoned boaters alike. This is often illustrated while docking with a twin screw vessel. Remarkably, many skippers keep their rudders straight while docking, instead of using them to aid in the maneuvering of the boat. Many boaters are often taught not to fool with the rudders and just concentrate on working the transmissions and throttles.

Well, I never heard it because I had to learn twin screw operation by default. It was the fault of the captain that came to work drunk one morning and the owner of the boat asked if I could run a day charter. I was so excited that I neglected to mention to the owner that I had never run a twin screw. What the heck, how hard could it be?

I benefited from my youthful experience operating track machinery, gained from county road projects in rural Alabama. In track machinery operation, you brake or reverse the side to which you want to turn while leaving the opposing side in forward motion. The same principle applies when paddling a canoe. Let's say you and a buddy are in the back of a canoe, sitting side by side, and you want to make a quick left turn.To do so, you would back paddle on the left side while paddling in a forward motion on the right side. This is a similar principle to reversing the port engine and putting the starboard engine in forward on a twin screw boat, which would give you a left turn.

Obviously this works on right hand turns as well by reversing the setup. Now let's put the rudders into the equation. Let's say you needed to make a sharper turn to port, perhaps around a pier or bulkhead. To make this sharper turn, spin the rudder to port, while reversing the port engine and placing the starboard engine in forward. This will shorten the turn, not drastically, but it will definitely be noticeable. The less time it takes to make the turn, the better. It avoids the risk of being set by current or wind to the outside of the turn. If your rudders were straight, and you only applied the throttles to make the turn, it would not be as drastic.

However, be sure not to over steer, and familiarize yourself with how your boat responds, especially at idle speeds. For example, certain boats take more turns at the helm to respond, especially if the hull has a lot of surface underwater.

So what happens when you setup to make a port turn and you turn the rudders to starboard, or the opposite direction of the turn? Well, the motion will first slide the boat to port, not to starboard. This is a great maneuver for tight docking situations, especially if you are trying to lie alongside a T-dock or bulkhead. By carefully controlling the forward and backward motion of the vessel with thoughtful gear operation, you can actually crab the boat sideways with more precision than you could by keeping the rudders straight.

Hull configuration also determines how responsive your particular boat is to these maneuvers. A full keel vessel pushes a lot of water as it moves sideways, and you can envision the resistance. In this case you will actually be seesawing the boat and additional rudder maneuvers may be necessary in order to put the boat where you want it to go. Remember that practice will perfect your technique.

When instructing a client how to make these type of maneuvers, I go to open water and have them practice around a buoy or marker, using it as a reference point. Practice in open water will also help you feel wind and current conditions. This is a vital skill that is most useful while negotiating tight marinas. How often have we all seen the wind or current take charge of a perfect approach and spoil the day for an otherwise happy boater? A boat crashing into another boat is not a pleasant sound. Thank heavens I was always on the dock when I heard it!

Now let's practice the slide! Let's say you are approaching a narrow opening between piers and gawking pulpits that like to reach out and grab an approaching vessel. There is a prevailing strong starboard wind. Our setup on the approach will be to our starboard side allowing us to utilize as much waterway as we possibly can to port and compensating for the wind. As the wind blows the vessel to port, moving it to center of the usable waterway, you will want to start making corrections. Envision the wind to your starboard side as a stationary object such as a bulkhead. Maintain steady forward momentum while making slight adjustments with the starboard gear and rudders, keeping the vessel comfortably in the waterway. Perfecting this maneuver could save some embarrassing moments and make you look like a pro.

Remember, your granddad might have had a reason for keeping the rudders straight, but never told your dad and he just did what pops always did?Įmonkey see monkey do! The oven is plenty big these days. If you learn to properly use your rudders, you will be amazed at how proficient you will become as an operator when you master these simple techniques.