We had another great couple hours of boat-handling lessons aboard Cap'n Jack's Ranger 21 today. I'm finally starting to know at a gut level that the prop walk will pull the stern to port in reverse, that the rudder really does turn exactly the same way as the wheel, and the boat really does pivot about a point amidships. It's a very different thing to have read about it and be able to figure it out on paper than to just know it viscerally.
After a full Sunday aboard we know two things now without doubt: we must back Lark into her slip if the dog and kids are ever going to be able board at anything but the very lowest tides; and to attempt this project tied up at a dock at ambient August temperatures in Florida is sheer foolishness. At least for this family at this point in time.
