Locking hitch yes or no

LONG_KEELER

LONG_KEELER

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I recently had a friend of mine take my mooring lines when coming into the pontoon.

I was a little surprised as I noticed that after each turn on the cleat he applied a locking hitch. He has been a professional seaman all his life. I was taught that a thorough keel hauling would ensue if I ever did this

Perhaps big ships are different.

What does the team think.
 
I know we're not supposed to use them but I do all the time if the boat's going to be there for a while. Not once have I ever had a problem undoing them...
 
I’ve suffered a jammed locking hitch. My boat was moored overwinter in a Spanish marina that was exposed to occasional surges of swell. Took at least 10 minutes effort using a large screwdriver as a marlin spike to free it. Generally I do not apply a final locking hitch unless I am concerned that the line end may be disturbed by weather or people. in that case I put on a very loose half hitch as a precaution.
Mike
 
Depends on the size and type of rope, and the size of the cleat.
And the consequences of it jamming vs consequences of it coming loose.

People who spout grand rules about 'never do this....' have generally read it in a book.

PS, don't use a locking hitch when putting chain on a cleat, I didn't read that in a book but I will put it in my book. :-).
 
The OP said the friend applied a locking hitch after every turn, that's ludicrous.

I wann't aware 'we aren't supposed to use them' - a most surprising piece of advice as everyone i know, myself included does use them and haven't come across diktats aganst before.
 
Catalina36 said:
It'll only jam if you didn't put enough turns on in the first place. The turns take the load, the locking turn just stops the end from falling off.
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That is my understanding but open to other ideas about it.

I have definitely had problems undoing multiple locking hitches on cleats. A possible reason might be cleated when wet then sun dried.
 
Catalina36 said:
It'll only jam if you didn't put enough turns on in the first place. The turns take the load, the locking turn just stops the end from falling off.
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Also my understanding.

I generally encourage crew NOT to use them because it keeps things simple vs. "sometimes use them"; OXO, or OXXO in extremis will do. When leaving her unattended, it's my personal job to check all lines and add a locking hitch if I think necessary.

Typically, I don't think necessary because my "resting" set up is a long warp starting from the yacht, made off OXXO on the pontoon, then back to the yacht and OXO again, with the remainder coiled and attached to the pulpit/pushpit. The advantage is I am doubly attached and also it's very easy to flick off a couple of the pontoon turns and instantly she is rigged to slip.
 
Slowboat35 said:
The OP said the friend applied a locking hitch after every turn, that's ludicrous.
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Quite commonly seen. Including from professional watermen in my experience, but driving a motor workboat for a living doesn't necessarily make you an expert in line handling...

Slowboat35 said:
I wann't aware 'we aren't supposed to use them' - a most surprising piece of advice as everyone i know, myself included does use them and haven't come across diktats aganst before.
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I think the blanket prohibition comes from the days of natural fibre, which would shrink on the cleat when wet and locking hitches could jam even if there were enough turns underneath to hold the load. It's been persisted into the modern era by people who like repeating blanket prohibitions...

I use a locking hitch, on the final turn only, when it's appropriate. For example when the cleat is a bit undersized for the rope, or when the loose end is very short so that its weight isn't going to hold it in place and it might get knocked off the cleat.

Pete
 
I think that the rule forbidding a locking hitch relates to natural fibre ropes.

Anyone who has eased the burgee halyards in the evening and hauled them taut in the morning to avoid flying the burgee at the dip must be my age - and will know what I mean.

Getting a manila halyard off a cleat if a locking turn had been taken and a sea or ten had washed over it was just as easy and simple as getting a locking turn off a winch and just as dangerous if you needed to reef.

With modern cordage I always use a locking turn.
 
LONG_KEELER said:
I recently had a friend of mine take my mooring lines when coming into the pontoon.

I was a little surprised as I noticed that after each turn on the cleat he applied a locking hitch. He has been a professional seaman all his life. I was taught that a thorough keel hauling would ensue if I ever did this

Perhaps big ships are different.

What does the team think.
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The province of lorry drivers & dinghy sailors.
 
It is, as said, just a hangover from the days of natural fibre, which we certainly used until the late '50s. Many knots and bends could be impossible to undo after a wetting with natural fibres, but this only happens with excessive tightening with synthetics, as with the otherwise excellent halyard hitch. Even today, people don't understand the need for the first round turn, which itself needs to be done into the correct end of the cleat. I see supposed sailors tying to a mooring cleat ashore with a multitude of figures of eight and no round turn, leaving the rest of the bundle in what we call a bird's nest for others to trip over, but that is another can of worms. Overnight, I am happy to attach with a round turn and a single locking figure of eight. Leaving the boat, I usually add a turn or two.
 
With modern ropes they will never lock due to shrinkage, like with natural fibres.
But they can be a little slippery. The only reason they could possibly lock is if the underlying turns were slipping slightly - as perhaps when being worked heavily in a F10 gale (which isn’t that uncommon if leave your boat afloat 24x365).
I have certainly seen a properly cleared rope tighten after a few days of such ferocious winds. I have never had one tighten enough to be unable to release when required.
But I would rather risk having to cut off a rope (which as said has never been needed) than risk slipping when unattended.
Locking turn every time.
 
A round turn, 2 or 3 hitches and a single locking hitch to finish it off does for me.
Coil up any excess tail and leave beside the cleat if it's fairly deserted, hook it over the cleat if there's a risk of it getting kicked in.
 
Trident 24 said:
Coil up any excess tail and leave beside the cleat if it's fairly deserted, hook it over the cleat if there's a risk of it getting kicked in.
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With mooring warps, I generally put a spliced eye around or through the shore cleat (or put a round turn and a large bowline round one leg, if it’s being shared) and keep the adjustable end and the coil of extra on board. It’s a little bit of an affectation in a marina since regular adjustment is unlikely to be necessary, but I do think it looks neater. It’s certainly more considerate than building a bird’s nest on top of a cleat and dumping thirty feet of spaghetti next to it, in somewhere like Yarmouth.

EDIT: Not that I’m trying to suggest that Trident’s approach is inconsiderate! His post raised the topic of what to do with excess mooring line, that’s all.

Pete
 
I agree that a spliced eye around the cleat looks neater.
In a marina, the staff may adjust the lines in times of poor weather. It's easier and safer for them, and less stressful for me, if they do so on the pontoon rather than aboard.
 
Ah, well, at my home berth all the lines are spliced to length and cow-hitched onto the cleats anyway ?. Except for one, an important consideration I learned after making up the lines for our previous boat - if all the lines are fixed at their final length / tautness, you’ll struggle to hook the last one over the cleat!

So the spring from the midships cleat aft is not spliced in place, but hauled taut and then made up on the pontoon cleat. With a locking turn ?

Pete
 
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