American Tug in Baltimore

[@BellavistaPEI]

Obviously a very seasoned Skipper...Excellent job backing in there, BUT.....seasoned or not, preparation is not as costly as repairs to a gel coat or paint job! Fenders out and lines ready BEFORE even attempting maneuvers in a crowded marina. Personal opinion and probably shared by many others.

[@AskCaptainChris]

Tom Lester agreed. Simple steps to prevent scratches. If the mate isn’t ready then the helmsman isn’t ready to dock.

[@expresscruiserlife]

Quite the stern thruster...had a fog horn tone to it :-) Nice and smooth docking....thanks for sharing!

[@jrcrawford4]

4:07 it IS a single engine. I think a 380 Cummins is standard. [CORRECTION: Looks like a 43' American Tug, which means it probably has a 500 Cummins.]

[@alabamasmokeywilson6818]

Great Videos I have been there in a semi I remember the Dominos Sugar sign on top of the buildings at the start of the video cool! Thanx Smokeywilson

[@panacea407]

Beautiful boat, thanks for sharing.

[@maddogmorgan1]

Thrusters have more hours than the main

[@AskCaptainChris]

Possibly, operators need to learn how to use the wind to their advantage instead of correcting with thrusters.

[@nashguy207]

IN my opinion they where not prepared to dock with the dock lines not being tied to the boat and no fenders out I would always get fenders deployed and dock lines ready as soon as we got in the no wake area of the marina.

[@AskCaptainChris]

nashguy207 agreed. Particularly in a floating dock situation where deployed fenders are important BEFORE docking. Maybe he didn’t have any aboard since it was a new boat displayed for the show? And if your deckhand/mate isn’t ready then the Captain/helmsman isn’t ready.

[@Timmermon63]

For all comments pointing out wrong things to do, I did learn a lot from your comments.

[@AskCaptainChris]

Great. That’s our objective. We try to open your eyes to possibilities and things to consider when aboard your own boat. Thanks for watching 👍🏼

[@patrickbartosz599]

Is there a collective effort to never deploy fenders by any of these boats?

[@AskCaptainChris]

Patrick Bartosz the best I can come up with is these are boats for sale, coming into TrawlerFest for the show. Often when used boats are for sale they are emptied of clutter to look roomier, cleaner and neat. Sometimes the old equipment gets left behind and the brokers show up later with new lines, fenders etc. Back when we first started our business we did a lot of offloads- new boats coming off a ship from where they were built to a port in Florida where we picked up the boat. We learned quickly to bring lines, fenders, throwables, flares etc along. Even on used boats we actually have used coiled lines as fenders when none were available. You get creative.

[@ririshow]

Pretty laborious manoeuvre i would say! Distinct lack of preparation. Very surprising coming from a professional.

[@AskCaptainChris]

Never know who will deliver a boat for a show. Seems the helmsman had some technical Skill. But maybe the crew had less experience. Not always paid professionals.