When I first bought and commissioned the Navigator I was a little
nervous about my boat handling skills, especially since I had gone
from a 28 footer to a 52 footer. To make matters worse the slip I had
in Scituate was right behind a floating fuel dock and I had to back
the boat about 150 feet from where I made the initial turn, passing
within 10-15 feet of the fuel dock (which often had other boats tied up
to it) and into the slip that only had 6 inches of clearance on each side.

Fortunately I hired a very experienced tug boat captain to go out with
me a couple of times and give me some lessons and tips on close quarter
maneuvering. The Navigator was equipped with thrusters but he refused
to let me use them. He's the one who really emphasized the "neutral is
your friend" concept and taught me to back the boat towards the slip in
a series of reverse, neutral, reverse, neutral steps, adjusting as
necessary with the shifters (not the throttles) to keep lined up with
the slip. It was well worth the short money he charged for these lessons.