Can a boat have too many mooring lines?

[capnsensible]

True, but the question, I think, was about how many people have had to cut a mooring line. Some, no doubt, but not many, and not enough for me to want to forgo the convenience of having an eye in my lines.

I can relax knowing that I'm never gonna have the problems I've seen others have. Phew.

 

[dunedin]

Yeah, there must be loadsa people slipping lines in a marina with a knife ready in one hand......

Or those that use good seamanship and don't have spliced loops or bowlines.

Still, people do all sorts of odd things and are happy.

That’s an extremely arrogant assertion. Just because you have issues with loops or bowlines don’t make them unseamanlike.
As noted, others have managed successfully for decades, almost all chandleries sell them, and commercial ships use them.
When were you appointed the judge and jury on seamanship?

 

[capnsensible]

That’s an extremely arrogant assertion. Just because you have issues with loops or bowlines don’t make them unseamanlike.
As noted, others have managed successfully for decades, almost all chandleries sell them, and commercial ships use them.
When were you appointed the judge and jury on seamanship?

Calm down. Like I've said a few before I've seen it go wrong too many times to make it worthwhile. Plenty of others seem to agree. especially sailing instructors.

But you are free to do what you like. And chandlers are free to sell crap stuff to the unwary.

And commercial ships have plenty of crew on deck and plenty of dockside crew as well. Mind you I've seen a few bunker tankers dinging the dock in Gib too. As did my mate Gary who worked for the port as dock crew.

 

[johnalison]

I can relax knowing that I'm never gonna have the problems I've seen others have. Phew.

I don’t know what problems you have seen, but disasters seldom have a single cause. A misjudged manoeuvre might not have given rise to concern if it hadn’t been for the lack of maintenance of some piece of equipment, for example. I don’t think that a properly-managed small cruising yacht is significantly at risk from not having its lines immediately freeable from both ends, sailing in Northern European harbours or marinas during the normal sailing season. I may not have such a wide experience as you, but in over fifty years cruising and for twenty of them three months per year continuously in harbours varying from luxury to slums, from Cork to Gdańsk, I have never witnessed such an event, although a multitude of cock-ups of course. Other contributors seem to be of the same opinion.

 

[westhinder]

Let’s not get too dogmatic about spliced eyes in mooring lines. It all depends how and when you use them.
In my home marina I use a spring with an eye splice. It is made to the right length and remains on the catway, so that I or my crew just have to pick it up, place it on the midships cleat and I am certain I am not going to bump into the pontoon. No worries about crew surging/not surging a line etc.
When travelling I prefer the convenience of lines without spliced eyes. Still there will be specific occasions I revert to a line with an eyesplice, or a quick bowline.
Flexibility, adapting to circumstances, in a word, good seamanship.

 

[capnsensible]

Let’s not get too dogmatic about spliced eyes in mooring lines. It all depends how and when you use them.
In my home marina I use a spring with an eye splice. It is made to the right length and remains on the catway, so that I or my crew just have to pick it up, place it on the midships cleat and I am certain I am not going to bump into the pontoon. No worries about crew surging/not surging a line etc.
When travelling I prefer the convenience of lines without spliced eyes. Still there will be specific occasions I revert to a line with an eyesplice, or a quick bowline.
Flexibility, adapting to circumstances, in a word, good seamanship.

I believe I mentioned way back up thread that if one has ones own berth and uses it a lot, there are circumstances where is quite normal to leave lines on the dock. I go out regularly on friends boats. Several sailing boats, a fast speedboat and a large motor cruiser. One of them has loops in the end of his docklines through the pontoon cleats. Personally I wouldn't do that and prefer a round turn and two half hitches as taught to me by sailors with far more experience than me. However, they are all well aware that arriving at a fuel dock, reception pontoon or a berth in another marina they can lean on the experiences I've had as I leant on those before me.

I'm sure they learnt too from problems in strong winds. Strong currents. And a mixture of both. A snagged line can end up causing a lot of damage. Add on crew mistakes, helming mistakes and the holes in the cheese can line up. As I said, I've seen it even in benign conditions enough to heed what I was taught. I'm also well aware that they and i am far from perfect. So I prefer to minimise the risk of problems to begin with.

I'm very lucky to have been trained by guys like that. And just because I haven't seen something happen, it doesn't mean I won't take advice from those that have.

And you wouldn't believe the things that sailing school students can get up to!!!!

 

[Stemar]

Our mooring lines all have spliced or knotted eyes on one end. Coming alongside, the eyes are on the shore side boat cleats. Get the line ashore and make it off. Once that's done, bow and stern lines are set up with the eyes on shore cleats and made off on the offside bow and stern cleats. Same with springs. Eyes ashore and the knitting aboard. That way, the pontoon cleats are still available for others to use. If I need to spring off when leaving, I'll use another line, and the eye will be on the cleat aboard, so there's no risk of it snagging the cleat as we slip it. That's how I was taught to do it on my DS course, and it's never let me down.

My pet hate is people who put locking turn after locking turn on a cleat, usually over my eye, and pulled so tight I struggle to get their line off so I can go. Knives haven't yet been used, but have been thought of a few times . The RYA's OXXO works, and can always be undone.

 

[johnalison]

Our mooring lines all have spliced or knotted eyes on one end. Coming alongside, the eyes are on the shore side boat cleats. Get the line ashore and make it off. Once that's done, bow and stern lines are set up with the eyes on shore cleats and made off on the offside bow and stern cleats. Same with springs. Eyes ashore and the knitting aboard. That way, the pontoon cleats are still available for others to use. If I need to spring off when leaving, I'll use another line, and the eye will be on the cleat aboard, so there's no risk of it snagging the cleat as we slip it. That's how I was taught to do it on my DS course, and it's never let me down.

My pet hate is people who put locking turn after locking turn on a cleat, usually over my eye, and pulled so tight I struggle to get their line off so I can go. Knives haven't yet been used, but have been thought of a few times . The RYA's OXXO works, and can always be undone.

I sometimes have to put three lines on my own cleats. For me a single round turn and one locking hitch means the least cordage on the cleat. Of course, this is not the only or right way, but it serves its purpose well enough for me. I use the same technique for all fixings, such as for signal halyards as I like to have consistency throughout.

 

[Stemar]

For me a single round turn and one locking hitch means the least cordage on the cleat.

Indeed, sometimes you have to do that, but I imagine the locking hitch must get pretty tight after snatching for a few hours in a bumpy marina

 

[johnalison]

Indeed, sometimes you have to do that, but I imagine the locking hitch must get pretty tight after snatching for a few hours in a bumpy marina

Never happened yet, but I look forward to solving the problem, should it occur for the first time ever. It might happen, I suppose if you omit the round turn, as I see people do so often, but that's not my style.

 

[Frank Holden]

Snip....

'And commercial ships have plenty of crew on deck and plenty of dockside crew as well. Mind you I've seen a few bunker tankers dinging the dock in Gib too. As did my mate Gary who worked for the port as dock crew.'

The typically merchant ship these days has a total compliment of less than twenty. My last day job - 20,000 grt - had 16 all up. Master plus 3 mates, 4 engineers, a cook and a steward. 6 ratings in total, 3 watchkeepers , two dayworkers and one engineroom rating. That gave us 3 each end when berthing - not what I would call 'plenty of crew' but rather 'barely enough. Likewise only two shore linesman at each end.
The reason you send eyes ashore is that it allows two or more lines to each cleat or bollard and if you 'dip the eye' of each line you can let go your lines in any order you want. The is especially important if you are sharing cleats with another yacht.
When 'letting go' I will normally single up to a spring on the bight without an eye so that I can let go from aboard with no fuss.

 

[viago]

well i haven't read through 7 pages of replies but i think the question is impossible to answer.

for a start it depends on tidal fluctuation. if you are on a quayside mooring with a 17' fluctuation it is beyond tricky and you dont want your boat suspended.
ideally you want a couple of bars down the quay to allow for tie-in lines to slide up and down with the tide. best get a couple scaffold poles and fix them to the quay wall overnight.

dont ask how i know.

in a marina on the med, i think the more lines the better as long as they have some stretch to stop snatching.