Method for braking a vessel with two marine propulsion devices

A method for controlling the movement of a marine vessel, comprising the steps of:

• providing a first marine propulsion device which is attached to said marine vessel at a port side of a longitudinal centerline of said marine vessel and which extends downwardly into water in which said marine vessel is operated, said first marine propulsion device being configured to support a first propulsor which is configured to generate a first thrust parallel to a first thrust direction, said first marine propulsion device being supported by said marine vessel for rotation about a first generally vertical steering axis, said first marine propulsion device being rotatable about said first generally vertical steering axis;
• providing a second marine propulsion device which is attached to said marine vessel at a starboard side of said longitudinal centerline of said marine vessel and which extends downwardly into water in which said marine vessel is operated, said second marine propulsion device being configured to support a second propulsor which is configured to generate a second thrust parallel to a second thrust direction, said second marine propulsion device being supported by said marine vessel for rotation about a second generally vertical steering axis, said second marine propulsion device being rotatable about said second generally vertical steering axis;
• determining a velocity characteristic of said marine vessel;
• receiving a signal from a throttle control device which represents a command to control forward movement of said marine vessel;
• determining a rate of movement of said throttle control device from an initial forward marine vessel velocity position to a current marine vessel velocity position;
• and
• causing each of said first and second marine propulsion devices to rotate in opposite rotational directions about said first and second steering axes, respectively, by angular magnitudes greater than three degrees from positions where said first and second thrust directions of said first and second marine propulsion devices, respectively, are generally aligned with a direction of water flow relative to leading portions of said first and second marine propulsion devices, respectively, said angular magnitudes being selected to create an increased hydrodynamic resistance to movement of said first and second marine propulsion devices through water which results in a braking force being exerted on said marine vessel, said causing step being performed when said current marine vessel velocity position is a position which represents a command for a zero velocity of said marine vessel.

A method for controlling the movement of a marine vessel, comprising the steps of:

• providing a first marine propulsion device which is attached to said marine vessel at a port side of a longitudinal centerline of said marine vessel and which extends downwardly into water in which said marine vessel is operated, said first marine propulsion device being configured to support a first propulsor which is configured to generate a first thrust parallel to a first thrust direction, said first marine propulsion device being supported by said marine vessel for rotation about a first generally vertical steering axis, said first marine propulsion device being rotatable about said first generally vertical steering axis;
• providing a second marine propulsion device which is attached to said marine vessel at a starboard side of said longitudinal centerline of said marine vessel and which extends downwardly into water in which said marine vessel is operated, said second marine propulsion device being configured to support a second propulsor which is configured to generate a second thrust parallel to a second thrust direction, said second marine propulsion device being supported by said marine vessel for rotation about a second generally vertical steering axis, said second marine propulsion device being rotatable about said second generally vertical steering axis;
• determining a velocity characteristic of said marine vessel;
• receiving a signal from a throttle control device which represents a command to cease forward movement of said marine vessel;
• stopping the generation of said first and second thrusts in response to said signal;
• determining a rate of movement of said throttle control device from an initial forward marine vessel velocity position to a current marine vessel velocity position;
• and
• causing said first marine propulsion device to rotate in a clockwise direction, when viewed from said marine vessel along said first steering axis, and said second marine propulsion device to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, when viewed from said marine vessel along said second steering axis, by angular magnitudes greater than ten degrees from positions where said first and second thrust directions of said first and second marine propulsion devices, respectively, are generally aligned with a direction of water flow relative to leading portions of said first and second marine propulsion devices, respectively, said angular magnitudes being selected to create an increased hydrodynamic resistance to movement of said first and second marine propulsion devices through water which results in a braking force being exerted on said marine vessel, said causing step being performed when said current marine vessel velocity command is a command for a zero velocity of said marine vessel, said angular magnitudes being generally equal to each other, said causing step being performed generally simultaneously with said stopping step, said angular magnitudes are selected from a plurality of potential angular magnitudes which are stored as a function of a plurality of velocity characteristic magnitudes.