I had spent the past few days trying to figure out how I was going to get our boat out of the slip. The dock master told me that many captains just back the boat all the way out, others turned it around in the small open space just outside the slip, then went out bow first. Neither seemed appealing to me. I had never tried backing for more than the length of a slip, let alone 150 yards, and there were boats lined up all along the channel that I needed to traverse. On the other hand, trying to turn the boat around in such a small space, without hitting other boats, seemed just as bad. I am sure that an experienced captain would have laughed at my predicament but it was nerve racking for me.
Eventually, I decided to just back the boat straight out and hope for the best. And … it was easy as pie. Turns out backing a boat up is even easier than going forward. Who knew! With the steering now in front, I was able to control the boat perfectly, and took her right out in a matter of minutes. I pulled back up to the fuel dock to top of the tanks and we were on our way home!