Mooring loop over cleat

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Boo2

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Hi,

Just fitted a pair of new mooring strops between the boat and mooring buoy and found that the chafe protection is such that I can't get the loops through the central tunnel in the cleat and just had to drop both loops over the cleat. To see what I was trying to achieve see pic below (slightly different style of cleat but still with a central tunnel.

I tied both loops to the cleat with a spare piece of line through the central tunnel and over the top, I'm not completely certain that was worth doing though, anyone think I'm worrying unnecessarily ? Or should I go back immediately and do something different ?

Thanks,

Boo2
cleatknot3.jpg
 
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Boo2 said:
Hi,

Just fitted a pair of new mooring strops on the boat and found that the chafe protection is such that I can't get the loops through the central tunnel in the cleat and just had to drop both loops over the cleat. To see what I was trying to achieve see pic below (slightly different style of cleat but still with a central tunnel.

I tied both loops to the cleat with a spare piece of line through the central tunnel and over the top, I'm not completely certain that was worth doing though, anyone think I'm worrying unnecessarily ? Or should I go back immediately and do something different ?

Thanks,

Boo2
cleatknot3.jpg
Click to expand...

I've done that for 14 years without a problem. That'll never come off unless done deliberately by someone; you, or a malicious person.. In the case of the former, it'd make the boat easy to set adrift, but if they were intent on doing that, they could undo a knot or use a knife..
 
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theoldsalt said:
FWIW I would NEVER use that method to moor a boat to a cleat. It would be impossible to release while under load.
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What an alarmist exaggeration; pull the boat slightly towards you and it becomes very easy to release . If it's super critical with a F12 pushing the boat off and you really do need to go sailing, use a knife ! Or, release the other end of the rope .
 
GrahamHR said:
I've done that for 14 years without a problem. That'll never come off unless done deliberately by someone; you, or a malicious person.. In the case of the former, it'd make the boat easy to set adrift, but if they were intent on doing that, they could undo a knot or use a knife..
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Sorry, "that" being as per the pic or tie the strops to the cleat with a spare piece of line ?

Also, forgot to say in my original post (now edited) that I am moored to a buoy rather than a dock cleat - the other ends are shackled to a swivel and the shackles are threadlocked and cable tied shut.

Boo2
 
And if you find that there is another warp on the bollard you would of course --- "dip" the loop, mooring , rope , line whatever.
Here we go again -- altogether now.
 
Like the OP, I would prefer to pass the eye through the cleat and then back over one or both horns. However, if there is insufficient space for that, it would be just as good to use a light lashing on the eye to keep it closed, so that it could not come off the cleat without first removing the lashing.
 
It seems you basically have what I would call a painter - with a soft eye. Very common arrangement.

I'm on very tidal moorings ( like 13m range - and with fore and aft buoys ) and soft eyes are not ideal really.

I do use a soft eye on the samson post - but I simply loop it over then tie it together with an extra bit of line - to fix it there.

My stern line is a soft eye'd painter attached to the stern buoy - and I have had to cut it at the top of big tide, when I had some problems with debris caught on the ground lines - and had the eye just hooked over one cleat, making ready to leave !

I usually attach this eye to a bridel line - which has a large shackle in the middle - then two loose ends. The bitter ends then attach both port and starboard stern cleats in the normal way.

This allows the boat to stream centrally from the transom - same as from the samson post/bow roller.

Things happen, like something caught and dragging down your ground tackle - so it may not always be possible to gain enough slack to release a turn like that.

You could add a shackle to the soft eye - then make off the shackle to the cleat with a loose ended line - that can be released under strain.

When you are watching a 14.6m tide at Avonmouth creep up to max - you are very aware that you would like to be able to release a mooring line. Its fairly normal for the bouys to go under on these mega springs !
 
Given that we are talking about the eye at the boat end of a strop for a swinging mooring, I think it would be most unusual to have line thin enough to do as you were originally suggesting, even without pvc pipe or other chafe protection. In my case I have a large loop which I drop over both bow cleats and the anchor windlass, and I then run the line from the pick-up buoy backwards and forwards between and around the two cleats to ensure the loop cannot jump off.
 
There is nothing wrong with the method suggested by the OP. I always tie my lines like that when coming into a berth.

As for loops over the cleat - they can & do come off in rough weather if the line becomes stiff & pushes the loop. More so on small keel boats with smaller cleats such as Squibs where the top of the buoy is not far from the deck. If the pin holding the line in the fairlead drops out or is not fitted the line can jump up as the buoy goes up in relation to the bow which might be dipping due to wave action

I have made a lot of mooring lines for people & I splice a light line into the loop so that when they come to the mooring the line is there ready to secure the loop onto the cleat
 
I had this problem when using a mooring in Conwy. I just hooked the loop over the post the used some thin line to stop it coming off. Two seasons and no problem whatsoever.
 
Boo2 said:
Sorry, "that" being as per the pic or tie the strops to the cleat with a spare piece of line ?

Also, forgot to say in my original post (now edited) that I am moored to a buoy rather than a dock cleat - the other ends are shackled to a swivel and the shackles are threadlocked and cable tied shut.
Boo2
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So I would refer to that piece of line with the spliced loop as a bridle.
The keelboats on which I instruct are kept on swinging moorings which have two bridles and a pick-up buoy on about 1.5 metres of line. The bridles are brought in through the port and starboard fairleads, each to the cleat on the opposite side of the boat. The loops are just dropped over the cleats and the light line holding the pick-up buoy is then tied over them in a couple of figure-of eights on each cleat. Similar boats have been moored in this manner at the same spot since 1969 without having the mooring bridle come loose in the manner that you are worried about. Your light line over the loop is serving exactly the same purpose and seems to me to be absolutely the correct practice.
 
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