There is no harder place in the world to dock a boat than at the Sea Line Marina during the Miami International Boat show. That was the perfect venue for Volvo Penta to introduce its new joystick docking system for its stern-drive engines. In 2004, Volvo Penta pioneered joystick docking in the groundbreaking IPS diesel/pod drive engine systems. Now, it's incorporated much of the same technology — electronic throttle and shift, and fly-by-wire steering — into its stern-drive lineup.

The system individually controls both engines' speed and direction, making it easy to crab the boat sideways or pivot it inside of its own length at a flick or twist of the joystick. Outside the marina, with a quartering sea and a following wind, I was able to crab a 34-foot Monterey within inches of a day mark piling. Twist and press the joystick simultaneously, and the boat pivots on its center point. Press it all the way for fast idle cruising. 

With the current sweeping through the marina and billions of dollars of boats just inches away, I still hesitated in docking maneuvers, yet, all along, the joystick let me aim the power to keep clear of other boats, pilings and the pier — that's just the kind of control boaters want.