capnsensible
Well-known member
Yeah seen it happen plenty of times. I suppose some get away with it and think loops are great. Until they aren't.
Can a boat have too many mooring lines?
- Thread starter westhinder
- Start date
dunedin
Well-known member
How can a loop "snag" if you never try to run that end free? And the rope arrangement used for departure can be very different from that used to snug up overnight or for a gale - hence the "single up" and slip lines.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Well not everyone is as smart as you.
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
Maybe I am or maybe not, but I have spliced loops in my medium and short lines, the loop always goes at the boat end for the reason you think it does. If it all turned brown snd smelly, the knife is within reach.
johnalison
Well-known member
My wife usually undertook to deploy fenders and shore lines when we approached a berth, basically one line at each corner, moving one across to the centre cleat when we know which side we're going to be on. I can't imagine the fuss that would have been made if she had been required to tie each line down instead of just slipping a loop through and over. Our cleats are a decent size, but sometimes it was necessary to attach two or even three lines, which would have been a trial without simple loops.. I have never felt the need to shorten a line from chafe or mankitude - I just buy new ones.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Lots of people only seem to go in and out of their own berth mostly. So the get used to what they need.
Do most people dock/ slip with a suitable knife right next to them. Doubt it.
No loopy, no snaggy, no worry, Mon.
dunedin
Well-known member
If somebody can’t manage to loop a rope on a deck cleat, and release the other end, then there are 1,001 much more complicated things they are going to struggle with when boating. Doesn’t seem a complex one, and not sure why some seem to get their underwear in a twist when other people want to use mooring ropes with spliced ends (which Jimmy Green Marine and others sell in their thousands without apparent issues).
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
The very people who made mine.
capnsensible
Well-known member
How many thousands?
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
0.004 thousand of them to us.
dunedin
Well-known member
You could ask them, but there are certainly over a thousand mooring ropes with spliced ends in our local marina (some spliced to order by the local chandlery), and that is just a single marina. And the fact that every major chandlery sells them suggests many thousands sold. What is your problem with this ?
capnsensible
Well-known member
I don't have a problem. Coz I never put loops in the ends of mooring lines. If others wish to attract problems for themselves, its up to them.
I certainly don't go round marinas counting them either.....
Skylark
Well-known member
My comment was about eyes. Your comment was about my comment. Am I not entitled to an opinion if you don’t agree with it? You’re very welcome to your viewTo quote your post ..... "cut these off they are the work of the devil" is more than "a bit strong" isn't it?
I probably spend more time than most on different boats entering and leaving different marinas in a wide range of weather and tidal conditions.
I’ve witnessed very experienced sailors and crew embarrass themselves with snagged lines. 5hit happens. My risk mitigation plan is to cut the buggers off.
LittleSister
Well-known member
If p is the volume of your rope locker, q is the longest length of mooring you'd need 95% of the time, and r is the greatest strength of the wind or current you would expect (hope?) to be tied up in, then you might benefit from a formula to calculate how many mooring lines you might need. Unfortunately I am not aware of one. 
LittleSister
Well-known member
Another factor is what number, arrangement and sizes of cleats/bollards you have on deck to fix these ropes to. I have rarely, if ever, been short of mooring lines, but one of the frequent challenges I regularly faced cruising in small boats was finding suitable places on the boat to tie them to, even allowing for pressing into use genoa winches, chainplates, etc. One of my criteria in searching for my ideal cruiser was centre cleats, which I had so often rued my lack of, and even having finally moved up in the world to a boat with these, I find I am still often constrained by having only a single centrally located bow cleat.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Agree. It's a bit like reps who drive huge mileage a year in their cars will see many more accidents than I do. Going in and out of moorings hundreds of times a year for decades means people like us will see many more mooring snags than they will.My comment was about eyes. Your comment was about my comment. Am I not entitled to an opinion if you don’t agree with it? You’re very welcome to your view
I probably spend more time than most on different boats entering and leaving different marinas in a wide range of weather and tidal conditions.
I’ve witnessed very experienced sailors and crew embarrass themselves with snagged lines. 5hit happens. My risk mitigation plan is to cut the buggers off.
But it's entirely up to the individual skipper how much hard won experience by others they wish to benefit from.
johnalison
Well-known member
It is so long since I have done proper cruising that I had actually forgotten what we generally did. For an average finger berth, the two bow lines would be led round and/or through the shore cleat and back to the boat to be made fast on our cleats, and generally the same with the stern. Depending on the arrangements, a spring would be taken from our bow and its loop put over the finger cleat, and sometimes another from the stern forwards. There would be no question of these lines snagging because they would be taken off well before departure.
As for removing the other lines, this is where it gets awkward and I would be grateful if you wouldn't tell my wife about it. She was in the habit of letting go the free end of the line and pulling it through. Usually this was OK but could create a snag if another boat's line was above ours, or the cleats were dodgy wooden ones like those at Heiligenhafn. My preference was always to release by flicking a loop down the line while holding the end, generally keeping the rope out of the water. My wife never got the hang of this and would protest if I mentioned it. I don't think that she played enough cricket to get the hang of throwing, but that's the problem when you can't choose your crew.
As for removing the other lines, this is where it gets awkward and I would be grateful if you wouldn't tell my wife about it. She was in the habit of letting go the free end of the line and pulling it through. Usually this was OK but could create a snag if another boat's line was above ours, or the cleats were dodgy wooden ones like those at Heiligenhafn. My preference was always to release by flicking a loop down the line while holding the end, generally keeping the rope out of the water. My wife never got the hang of this and would protest if I mentioned it. I don't think that she played enough cricket to get the hang of throwing, but that's the problem when you can't choose your crew.
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
I chose my crew about 37 years ago, and don’t regret the choice, especially now I seem to have broken her habit of jumping for the pontoon. Eventually, my telling her we could buy another boat but not another her, got through.
capnsensible
Well-known member
There are some fab finger pontoons in places like St Vaast that cure the jumping habit forever. And plenty of tidal harbour walls to go alongside too. And, of course, the Panama Canal.
geem
Well-known member
My bow and stern cleats are 400mm long. No problem getting plenty of string on them but for some inexplicable reason, the centre cleats are only 300mm long. I may well fit a second set of mid cleats this winter except I so rarely go in marinas I wonder if its worth it. I generally use ropes with spliced loops on these as it doesn't need much cleat area and spliced loops never squeak on the cleat.
