In a message dated 4/28/2000 8:56:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ague@iex.net writes: > The thumb represents the direction of the boat, the fingers indicate the > rotation of the engine and the direction the fingers point indicate the > sternwalking direction when the boat moves in the direction of the thumb. > If I curl my fingers into a "semi-fist", the fingers point to the heel of my hand. i don't follow this. Paula Corman FendelV Marblehead, MA

PFCOR@aol.com writes: >> The thumb represents the direction of the boat, the fingers >indicate the >> rotation of the engine and the direction the fingers point >indicate the >> sternwalking direction when the boat moves in the direction of >the thumb. >> >If I curl my fingers into a "semi-fist", the fingers point to the >heel of my >hand. i don't follow this. Paula: some mneonics are harder to follow than the ten commandments. I don't get it either.... However the quote i published earlier on backing a single screw works well for me and astounds my neighbours: "I routinely backed my single screw Victory tug with little problems after a tugboat Captain told me how. Here it is again" "for a right hand screw (my tug was a left hand screw), ; turn the rudder full left. Then back a little, and as your stern starts to move to the left, kick it ahead a little (with the rudder over hard, you will move the stern back to the right smartly without moving ahead. Then back some more. With practice you can almost back in a.straight line. Before you start the backing, take into consideration the wind and current and you will have little problem after awhile." Ciao - George