Published in the August 2003 issue o Passagemaker.
Method of Tying Boats to a Dock
Submitted by: Charles C. Culotta, Jr.
On a recent multi thousand-mile trip up the Tombigbee and Tennessee River System, we found virtually every boat tied
with the "eye" of the dock lines on the boat and the bitter end on the dock. This results in the dock being tied firmly to the boat!
By the way, we see a lot of this on the coasts but not as much as we saw on the rivers, where it seems to be universal. I hasten
to add that I learned the same way. Having acquired my first large boat in the oil patch I was quickly "corrected" by a
commercial boat captain. I then began to take cognizance of how shrimp boats and the professionals tie up oilfield boats. In
trying to discern exactly why so many boaters do this, I came to the conclusion (quite possibly erroneously) that it is probably a
hold over from starting to boat on small boats, i.e. runabouts and skiffs that have the dock lines made-up to the boat. Upon
graduating to "yachts" this habit transfers. So, what difference does it make, you ask?
Tying The Boat To The Dock
The boater approaches the dock with all lines ready. Each line is set through the hawse or laid near the cleat with the eye
ready to be placed over the dock cleat or piling. The boater may throw the eye to someone on the dock for it to be placed on
the cleat or piling of the BOATERS CHOICE or the deckhand drops the line over the cleat or piling. Right here is where this
system shines.
The boater has TOTAL CONTROL of how much slack is left in the line(s). This enables the boater to use a spring line to pull
the boat along side without a lot of shouted orders and miscues, for your deck hand has ALREADY been apprized of YOUR
INTENTIONS. The deckhand KNOWS how much slack you need to swing in or you can tell the deckhand in a speaking and
not loud voice to adjust the lines and you KNOW that it will be done because you have practiced this and reviewed it before
starting this docking maneuver. In the event you are pulling into a slip, you, again, have TOTAL CONTROL of your boat.
Once the boat is in the slip YOU may adjust the lines to your satisfaction without trying to convey your wishes to a stranger and
without getting off of the boat. Adjusting the lines without leaving the boat is especially helpful when, at two a.m., a sudden
storm comes up, you don't have to GET OFF the boat in the wind and rain to adjust the lines.
Again, getting off the boat in a strange place in the dark is dangerous and an invitation to injury. Not to mention that if you have
a sundeck style of some other type with a really high freeboard, then we are talking about a gymnastic feat. Once we watched a
couple dock a large flush-deck yacht. He was at the wheel and as the boat came alongside she climbed down the 6 ft. high
ladder from the back deck to the swim platform, ducked under the suspended dinghy and then got off while the boat was still
moving. Of course she was out of his sight line doing all of this. Then before the boat was made up HE ALSO GOT OFF!!! I
am well aware that in the Pacific NW most docks do not have cleats and one must get off to tie to the horizontal timber but to
me, that is the clear exception.
In order to ease getting the dock line over the cleat or piling we have spliced FOUR FOOT DIAMETER eyes in all of our
lines. The way I learned this trick was, again, from a commercial boat captain who saw me trying to lasso a piling a la Will
Rogers. He tactfully explained to me that this does not work because cowboy ropes are very STIFF and will hold a circle, our
soft dock lines simply will not. In addition, my wife Pat and I want to be as self-sufficient as possible. We certainly don't decline
assistance in docking but we have found this method far superior to being dependent on help. This applies to leaving a dock as
well. Since we control the lines from the boat it is very easy (with the four foot eyes) to pop the eye of the dock line from a
piling or cleat when getting underway thus not requiring shore side assistance. Comes in real handy when leaving very early in
the morning with current or wind working against you and no one is around to help.
Another option for ease in leaving a dock is to place the eye on board and run the line around the piling and back to the boat so
that you are able to slip the line quickly and pull away. In this same vein, it is not good practice to use one line from the boat to
two points on the dock. Doing so makes it difficult to adjust the line(s) and to leave the dock.
From the school of Hard Knocks:
I often mention that I have been boating so long that I have made just about every mistake---at least once! Particularly
docking. From that vast reservoir we rely on the following:
1. Two way radio earphones with a built in voice operated mike. The "mouse ear" type available at large toy stores. This
leaves BOTH hands free while docking and enables instant communication between the helm and the deckhand. The
cost is about $20 per pair.
2. The aforementioned four-foot eyes in the dock lines.
3. What we call a GLOP-D.
Picture this:
A standard telescoping boat hook. Extend only the outer length. This should be about 2.5 ft. long. That is between the
end and the first extension point. Get two stainless steel hose clamps that are long enough to be tightened on the pole
but, and this is the important part, leave about 3 inches of the clamp free. One is placed near the end of the pole just
short of the end fitting, and the other just before the extension joint. This provides two "hooks" onto which your dock
line eye is placed. The two clamps will be about 2.5 ft. apart as stated. I then used yellow electrical tape on the "hook"
part of the clamps to give it visibility and a smooth finish. In the event that the deckhand prefers to place the eye as
opposed to throwing it, this is a terrific little aid.
GLOP-D? Get Line Over Piling Device
As the commercial says, "try it, you'll like it."
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