BIG oops....

[Lvjayhawk15]

So yesterday was our first time with the AR out, ran smooth, etc. But.....docking....oh man. I pulled parallel to the dock, fenders out then wifey didn't jump off to catch me, so I reversed and it turned to sharp. Port side hit the corner of the dock ?. Heard that lovely crunch sound, no visible punctures though.
Got home and honestly, I'm not sure what 'hair line' cracks were or weren't there before we hit (previous owner, etc).
So....I took some pictures for you all to help me look (one is from far away so you can see how close I had to get to see these lil cracks)...but what's the rule here? No hole, it's ok? Should I take it somewhere?

Any advice would be great! And yes, I'll be watching more YouTube vids on the best ways to dock etc before our 2nd time out.... certainly doesn't turn like my old outboard!
Hoping I didn't learn the hard way....

 

[Beachbummer]

Any chance these are scratches? It's well above the water line...I would call it cosmetic personally and handle as you wish. They might even buff out, hard to tell from the picture.

 

[Dean P]

Boats are typically very strong in this area and are meant to take a "hit".

May want to consider Thrust Vectors or Cobra Fins. These work great at low speeds (saved me several times!!!). They provide you a lot more control steering at low speeds. Do a search and you'll find tons of information on them. They're well worth the money.

 

[Rumbo]

No advice on the spider cracks or scratches, sorry.

As for control and docking, no these boats don’t handle like an outboard. The best way I’ve found to control our boats is to use the 2nd or 3rd setting in no wake mode. Just let your boat coast in neutral and only bump it into forward or reverse with quick little bursts for steering. Turn your wheel in the direction you need to turn before bumping into forward or reverse. Keep your speed down, especially when approaching a dock or your trailer. Reverse on our boats works nothing like a prop for steering or stopping.

I was given this advice from my dealer when I bought our boat. My maiden voyage was in 30 mph gusting winds and it worked like a charm. Had complete control the whole time.

Good luck and enjoy your new boat!

 

[Lvjayhawk15]

-Yeah, hard to tell but those are 2 separate areas....the small 'black' ones could be scratches I didn't see from previous owner. The 'whiter' ones I thought were new .....

-mine is an 04 and I don't see a No Wake switch....I didn't think it had this mode, does it?

-we've read about the 'fins' and weren't sure....this may have just sold us LOL

 

[AJack]

Yes, keep no wake RPMs up. I left it on the lowest setting, which didn't provide enough thrust, especially in reverse, to maneuver. After learning about bumping the RPMs up in no wake mode, docking is more controlled.

No advice on the spider cracks or scratches, sorry.

As for control and docking, no these boats don’t handle like an outboard. The best way I’ve found to control our boats is to use the 2nd or 3rd setting in no wake mode. Just let your boat coast in neutral and only bump it into forward or reverse with quick little bursts for steering. Turn your wheel in the direction you need to turn before bumping into forward or reverse. Keep your speed down, especially when approaching a dock or your trailer. Reverse on our boats works nothing like a prop for steering or stopping.

I was given this advice from my dealer when I bought our boat. My maiden voyage was in 30 mph gusting winds and it worked like a charm. Had complete control the whole time.

Good luck and enjoy your new boat!

 

[merlinjet]

Hard to see much in the pics....but maybe that's a good thing : ) Anyway, I'd get some fine sand paper, 3M compound and polish and a buffer, and see what happens. You may be pleasantly surprised. That part of the boat is fairly solid as mentioned above, so I don't think there is serious damage.