Before a golfer hits the ball, a golf pro can predict the probable outcome quite efficiently. In the same way, a skating advantage can conjecture between the good and bad landing before the skater jumps. Similarly, a boat docking pro can also suppose between a good and lousy docking before the boaters enter the harbor. Well, whether or not your boat hooks docking will be entertaining will depend on the type of your boating hook.
Is Using A Boating Hook Safe For First Mates?
If you are a first mate, then, using a boating hook isn’t a safe option. On the contrary, it acts as a significant impediment and not an aid instead.
A Glance at the Genesis of Boating Hooks
The boat hooks that dockers use nowadays has evolved through several stages of development until their recent version’s emergence. A few decades ago, the usage of pike poles was quite popular. These were made of fiberglass, aluminum, or long metal-topped wood. Most of these products were predominantly used in construction, rescue recovery, and logging, to name just a few.
Prominent Features Of Pike Poles
These pike poles even had 10-12 inches long handles. What’s more, these products were made with sharp hooks and points. At that time, they were solely used for pushing and pulling. These objects cannot be used on pleasure boats at all. The mere reason is the sharp points which they have.
The Arrival of Boat Hooks
Boat hooks came much later, designed primarily for boaters. Initially, they served navigators as a reaching assisting tool. Boaters could pick up or retrieve things that would abruptly fall into the water. That apart, they could also place a loop over a piling with boat hooks. These items usually have circular ends and hooks. These two features won’t let you stick to boats or docks or scratch.
The Wrong Notion about Boat Hooks
The boat hooks continued being as a reaching assisting component for quite some time. Gradually, with time, some people started using them as a docking aid. To be precise, they started thinking otherwise that boats can get used for purposes like:
- Pulling the boat to the dock and
- Fending the ship off the dock
With time, the perspective of boat hooks amongst people changed utterly. At present, most of these people think that boat hooks are compatible docking-assistance tools. Conversely, the fact is something else.
Prominent Reasons for Which Boat Hooks Should Be Used A Reaching Assistance
There are several reasons for which boat hooks should be used as assistance instead of docking assistance. Some of these reasons below are for you to consider.
- Some first-mates use their hands and arms to fend off the boat. On the other end, it would be much better to utilize the power of their boat hooks’ motors.
- When it comes to telescoping boat hooks, they tend to collapse abruptly. It happens despite getting them tight when they get shortened or extended. One must avoid pulling or pushing them hard. If you sell or pull them quite hard, you will possibly end up pulling it apart or collapsing it. Moreover, this leads you to tumble on the dock’s overboard or floor.
- When some first-mates approach the foredeck, they often get the boat hook caught with the stanchions. It usually results in making them fall clumsily over these stanchions. What’s more, doing so often provides them with low manual labor to manage the boat hook and headfast. After that, they lay the boat hook down after using it. Meanwhile, they keep tossing the bowline and roll the boat hook off into the harbor.
- The crew mostly entangle the boat hook with all the bows which hold up the top. It prevents them from maneuvering from one position to another swiftly for fending the boat off. Then, the boat hook acts more an obstacle and less of an assisting tool.
To avoid such hassles, we mustn’t use boat hooks as docking assistance tools. Instead, it would be best if you always used them to reach.
The Best Way to Dock Your Boat
Many boaters tend to try out docking their boats with boat hooks voluntarily. The results are not as fruitful as they think and often lead to unprecedented errors. So, the best way to becoming a boat docking adept is by getting hands-on training about it. A boat docking pro will teach you each of these techniques painstakingly. That will give you a sound understanding of how to dock your boat by using boat hooks. This way, you ensure the most exceptional safety for your first mate as well.
Bottom-Line!
So, all the boaters out there upgrade your docking knowledge through professional training and dock boats with boat hooks impeccably.