Agreed. Another thing to keep in mind is having the sails ready to raise.
Recently I read an article about thinking about your sails as a backup for
the motor - that keeping them ready to hoist on a moment's notice would go a
long way towards keeping you off the rocks. Having an anchor, even a little
lunch hook, ready to go would help too.
I've kinda thought about learning to rope rodeo-style with a lariat. It sure
would make getting to the dock cleats easier, and would look real cool too
if you could pull it off. :)
On kind of an opposite approach (using motor as backup for sailing): One
thing I practice a lot (almost every chance I get) is to sail into docks and
slips. After a few bungled attempts, I learned that for me the best way to
get the practice in is by having the motor down and idling and ready to pop
into gear, so if my close-quarters sailing isn't what I hope it is, the
motor is usually ready to go. What I find is that is the motor is idling, I
don't need it, but when I get cocky and try without the motor, thats when I
get into trouble.
I've also gotten in the habit of once I kill the motor, to return the key to
the running position, put the motor in neutral, and having the throttle
right where it needs to be for starting. This saves valuable seconds when
something goes wildly wrong (like the time my mainsheet block padeye
separated from the boom). Previously, in many instances I've gone to start
the motor, and nothing is set right, and you wind up pulling your arm out of
the socket trying to start a Tohatsu 5 in gear.