As a relative novice, I approach single handing with a number of basic strategies. My home slip minimizes the effects of the prevailing winds.
I try to dock, port side, so that I get the benefit of the port travel while slowing the boat in reverse.
Check the forcast. Have an alternative place to put the boat if the winds prevent a safe return. At my marina there are always guest slips which favor different wind directions, so when I leave I check out where I am going if the winds make the return to my home slip difficult.
Practice with an extra set of hands on board. Get sage advice from an old boat handler. Practice.
If your boat doesn't have mid ship cleats, put cleats on the tracks. Find a good ballence position for those cleats. If you can get the boat close enough to safely get on the dock, a line from the mid ship cleat to the dock will secure the boat long enough to get the other lines in place. The boat may swing out of place but you will always be able to control it if you are hooked up Mid-ship.
Practice.
The most important thing is to know your limitations. Set maximums for yourself. Those maximums are based on wind direction and strength. Don't fudge on those maximums. Just because you have seen it done doesn't mean that you can do it. Be very conservative in these choices.
Be ready to call for assistnce at the dock. I am lucky in that I can call the marina office, 24/7 and one or more dock hands will show up to help out. So far, in 3 years I haven't had to do that but I wish I had a couple of times.
Be prepared to be no stranger to embarrasment.
If someone walks over to help, give them clear instructions as to what will help.
Don't let yourself be rushed by circumstances or an audience.
Wear a PFD.
Practice.
Buy some gel-coat touch up.
Have lots of fenders, deploy these on the intended side and put at least 3 on the un-intended side
Practice.
Good luck.

Bruce
Are you leaving the dock under power? I do a lot of single handing. My boat is usually tied port side to the dock. I use a spring line tied to a piling which is about even with the stern of the sailboat and wrap the other end of the dockline around the jib winch. With the motor in idle, shifted in forward, the boat stays tight against the dock regardless of the wind direction. When I am ready to leave the dock if the wind is holding me against the dock, I put the boat into reverse which causes the stern to "Walk" to port and the bow to swing out away from the dock. I simply unwrap the dockline off the winch, throw it onto the dock where I can reach it when I return, and motor away.

When I return from a nice day on the water I simply pick up the spring line off the dock with a boat hook attach it to the winch, leave the boat in forward at idle, the boat stays tight against the dock while I walk forward and pick up my forward line off the dock and tie it to the forward cleat. Then I tie my aft line to the stern cleat, shut down the motor and take the sprig line off the wench and tie the dock lines to the boat. By the way I tie up with a "Slide More" mooring slide system.

That's what docking is...like playing chess for money. Chess, because you must think many steps ahead, and for money, well...

My singlehanding basics - and I do a lot of it:

1. A fender is your friend. Have six of em, all in place, and if you're motoring don't stow them unless you're going on a long trip. Simple pull them onto the deck so they can be easily deployed before you enter your next marina.

2. Midship cleats oughta be mandatory. If you don't have them then get a couple and snap them on the tracks.

3. Propwalk is your friend, at least on a Catalina 36, because it is absolutely predictable and reliable. Learn to use it.

4. Never drink alcohol until you're at anchor or at a slip at the end of the day. You need every brain cell to be alert.

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Here's what I know about docking brought down to its essence:

* Half of good docking is simply being aware of the environment in which your boat operates. I use these three questions as a checklist: What is the wind doing (and how will that affect my boat)? What is the current doing (and how will that affect my boat)? What traffic do I have?

* Half of good docking is knowing in advance what your boat will do in any given situation.

* Half of good docking is Lots of Practice.

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If that's too complicated, then you can rely on the traditional rules for docking: 1) Never approach a dock any faster than you want to hit it, and 2) Aim for something cheap.

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I read about a rope cradle and tried it in the slip where I kept my C30. I found 2 problems;
1) it would slide down the angle of the bow, so it didn't stop the boat firmly. I tried to fix this by raising the line that held up the point of the V at the dock but that caused problem...
2) the cradle removed the Bruce anchor from the bow leaving me nicely anchored (and highly embarrassed) in my slip.
I abandoned the approach, but maybe with some tuning it would work. Note that I came in bow first to a very tight slip, 6" on each side at the outer pilings; accuracy was necessary.

I currently have a slip on the last dock of the marina and it's oversized, 45 x 18. Pilings at the outer end, 2 pilings about 10 feet out supporting the finger pier on the port side, cleats/pilings on the dock. I have strung tight ropes between the outer and middle pilings, one more or less at the height of the deck at mid tide, the other about chest height. When backing into the slip, if the wind grabs the boat, the lower ropes help guide the boat in and keep it from smacking my neighbors. The upper ropes can be grabbed either with a boathook or by hand, to guide the boat in. I also keep a 10' piece of line with a carabiner on one end. If I know there's a strong cross wind, I secure one end to the windward sheet winch and clip the other on the upper piling rope. This keeps the stern under control while I go forward to handle spring and bow lines.

My biggest problem occurs when the wind is blowing directly into the slip (SW wind). Very difficult to keep the bow from blowing off to one side or the other when I turn into the wind and start to back down. If I can't get it on a couple tries, I'll just admit defeat and come in bow first.

As mentioned above, practice is good, along with more practice and, eventually, some more practice.:) My neighbor admires my docking technique and asks what he should do. I tell him practice, practice, practice, hopefully on a nice windless day to start. My other mantra is plan, plan, plan; think about what will be happening and then prepare for it. That one covers sailing in general.

Good luck and enjoy your new boat..!!!