The best money I ever spent boating was paying the Sunsail boat-movers a case of beer so they could show me how to dock boats (back when Sunsail was at Hodge's Creek). I've been singlehandedly docking my monohulls ever since.

One thing taught to me by Mark (of the boat Sealife), another singlehander, about two years ago when we were taking out a catamaran for the Heineken Regatta was to do practice figure 8-s in reverse around 2 moorings. On the catamaran we did this without using the rudder, but the principle applies to close-quarters maneuvering of a monohull as well. Whenever I get to drive a new-to-me mono, I'll idle forward at slow speed and then put the boat into reverse, with rudder amidships. This lets me see how strong the prop-walk is. Some boats have almost no noticeable prop-walk while others will actually travel sideways for a bit before picking up reverse speed.

I have found that reversing into a slip is easier for me than going in forward, mainly because there's little or no prop walk when putting in a bit of forward prop to stop a reversing boat.

As others have already noted, key is preparation and planning. Because I'm alone, I will spend up to 20-30 minutes bobbing along outside of the marina and setting up every single fender I have (minus 1 which is a "rover"), and putting on 4 lines on the docking side (fore, aft, and forward/aft springs) plus one spring on the other side - just in case. I flake the lines on the lifelines so that someone on dock can just grab them easily, but it also lets someone on the boat easily handle the lines as well.

I go slow, with just enough speed to keep steerage but if there's a crosswind pushing the boat away from the dock I'll go a bit faster to give the wind less time to push my boat around.The guys at Nanny Cay and Leverick usually indulge me while I slowly back in but I know they'd rather cross their arms and tap their feet in impatience or beckon me to hurry up; but at least I don't have to do a go-around.

I have to agree with the comments about Leverick - those guys are good and can make even the least experienced skipper look like a pro coming in.