Is what I have been doing right up to the point where it failed. The failure was different wind.

The wind normally comes out of the northwest or west, which is almost right on the nose (a bit more on the starboard side) as I come into the slip, and usually works out quite well for me. I just need to turn a bit closer to the starboard finger dock and maintain my way on as the nose is pushed down and I center into the slip.

What happened when it didn't work was that the breeze had shifted to the north east and east (So Cal Santa Ana winds) and as I pushed the boat out of the slip, these stronger breezes and the different angle worked to push the bow way down, such that now the bow was facing down the fairway instead of up the fairway.

I wanted to practice this last weekend, but the wind gods of course played their games and defeated my intentions by giving me no winds what so ever... so of course there was no way to practice... and barely enough to even sail.