Rope hooks in cockpit locker?

[tmtracey]

I’ve just fitted a plywood wall in my cockpit locker and looking for some good hooks for the various ropes. I’m not a fan of the line tamers/ rope easys and really want some proper hooks. Anybody have any suggestions?
I was looking at the ladder/bike hooks type- but would they wear through the ropes or rust in a few years? Or possibly a peg rail but the off the shelf ones look a bit flimsy.
Any ideas for things that work?

 

[Martin_J]

How about just a horizontal stainless pole like you'd get across the top of a wardrobe, mounted a couple of inches in front of the ply.

Once a rope is hanked, the spare end can just be tied to it (clove hitch or a round turn and a couple of half hitches)..

Sorry, but it would make the ply redundant in terms of mounting.

 

[doug748]

I used this sort of thing:

Double HAT & COAT HOOKS Large Pack Aluminium Dress Robe Garment Peg Door Hanger | eBay

Cheap and easy to cut down to the size you require. They have lasted very well.

.

 

[tmtracey]

How about just a horizontal stainless pole like you'd get across the top of a wardrobe, mounted a couple of inches in front of the ply.

Once a rope is hanked, the spare end can just be tied to it (clove hitch or a round turn and a couple of half hitches)..

Sorry, but it would make the ply redundant in terms of mounting.

Thanks. I should have said at the beginning- I do a lot of singlehanded sailing so am really looking for something that is easy to sling on and off.

 

[MikeCC]

How about the plastic coated shed hooks? Usually come in red.

 

[PetiteFleur]

Try brass coat hanger hooks. Either single or double. Cheap and won't rust.
On ebay - search under 'brass coathanger'

 

[Pete735]

I single hand much of the time and have the set up as described by Martin J, the stainless tube and supports coming from Ikea several years ago. Tie them on using a Highwayman's knot and they are freed and ready for use in a moment.

 

[tmtracey]

Try brass coat hanger hooks. Either single or double. Cheap and won't rust.
On ebay - search under 'brass coathanger'

Great suggestion thanks. Amazing how cheap these things are.

 

[tmtracey]

I single hand much of the time and have the set up as described by Martin J, the stainless tube and supports coming from Ikea several years ago. Tie them on using a Highwayman's knot and they are freed and ready for use in a moment.

Certainly worth considering… I’d be able to fit a lot more ropes in that space doing it this way.

 

[LadyInBed]

I sail solo nearly all the time. I hank my mooring lines onto the top guard wires, three each side.
My method is - coil the rope, three turns around the coil, a loop near the bitter end is passed through between the turns and the top of the coil, the loop is presented just below the top guard wire, the loop is then passed from the seaward side to the inboard side up over the top of the coil. The bitter end is then pulled to tighten the loop on the coil, the bitter end is then passed through the coil above the loop and below the guard wire to lock it all in place.
It takes longer to describe than it dies to do ?

 

[Daydream believer]

I would buy a length of galvanised strap from a builders merchant- The type with lots of holes ( BAT strap) Possibly somewhere like B&Q might be better as it will be thinner.
Cut into suitable lengths. Bend into nice big hooks & screw, or bolt, to the ply through as many of the holes as you feel necessary. ( make sure you do not use screws that are too long or you will not be able to leave the pontoon )The hook size can then be sized to suit the ropes. You can even put a cord through the rear & slip it through one of the front holes for the less used ropes to stop it falling off in rough weather
Grind, or file, the sharp front corners, or cover in duct tape ,so you do not cut yourself when in a hurry.

 

[Kelpie]

I have recently fitted a pole across the inside of the locker lid. Mooring warps clove hitched by their tails. No more reaching down in to the locker! I must be getting old.

 

[LiftyK]

How about plastic cleats. Tie a loop of cord through the middle. To secure your rope pass the loop through your coil then lift the end of the loop over the top of the cleat.

 

[Daydream believer]

How about plastic cleats. Tie a loop of cord through the middle. To secure your rope pass the loop through your coil then lift the end of the loop over the top of the cleat.

Did the OP not say in his opening post that he was not fond of that type?

 

[Daydream believer]

Mine are in the anchor locker. I go forward, fitting 3 fenders one side on the way. Take out the 4 ropes. Tie on the 2 bow ones whilst I am there & bring the 2 spring ones aft as I make my way back fitting as I go one side. Hang the fenders ( off the guard rail) on the other side & fit the spring that side as well. That keeps trips from cockpit down to 2.
Single aft line sits in the aft locker by the helm so easy to reach. Has loops both ends so I loop it over both aft winches & slip it off which ever side is not needed as I dock. That ensures it does not fall in the drink.
Only need 5 mooring lines for a 31 ft boat. I do have more but they can come out later if needed, once docked

 

[ashtead]

Just use some cable clips (not ties) and once the rope is tied up into a Hank just put the clip through a Hank and hook to a pole or rope attaché to the board

 

[tidclacy]

Try brass coat hanger hooks. Either single or double. Cheap and won't rust.
On ebay - search under 'brass coathanger'

Yes they will

Never have brass on a boat apart from in the cabin, even then will corrode through time

 

[Neeves]

I don't know what you mean by a cockpit locker, a picture might be useful.

I guess its deep enough and the ropes you want to keep in the locker will hang down.

Why not a wooden batten, holes drilled at a 45 degree angle and you simply use dowel rods as hooks.

Coil the ropes, and hang on loops of bungy cord (or hang any way you like)

Jonathan

 

[davidmh]

I coil my ropes and finish with a with a loop instead of a plain tail. I have used for years a cockpit locker rail made from a piece if 10/12/mm plywood. I cut a series of u shaped slots along the tip edge and space them so you can hang the loop of the coil over the hooks that you have formed. I space it off the cockpit side to allow you to slip the loop of the coil over it. Cost very little. Mine have been on for 20 years and there is not rot even though I did not treat the ply in any way. Hope you understand quite difficult to too describe. Just think of it like a big comb with wide spaces and thick pins.

David MH

 

[LittleSister]

May not suit the OP, but for others reading the thread, a previous boat of mine had a very practical home-made wooden arrangement not dissimilar in principle to (and probably this sort of thing was actually the ancestor to) Barton Line Tamers, but rather chunkier and therefore much less fiddly, as well as cheaper. There was plenty of depth below, and the 'hooks' fairly substantial, so would easily accommodate a large collection of various length and thickness of rope.

One of the advantages of this sort of arrangement, especially when single-handing, is avoiding the need to tie off/untie every time you take out or put away a rope. So long as you have a coil, and not even that on short lengths of rope, it's away or out in a second. Being chunky means it can easily be done with gloved or frozen hands, and/or in the dark. Being chunky and rounded also means none of the risk of injury one might easily get from some metal or projecting hooks.

A well spaced row of short stubby hooks, each roughly fashioned out of wood - the hook about half the length and thickness of the body - and corners all rounded off, secured with a couple of screws one above the other. The body has a notch cut in the back, or a hole drilled through it, facilitating a captive loop of cord (significantly thicker than the Barton version and of length to suit) to pass though the middle of a coiled rope and hooked over the, er, hook.

From memory the hooks might have been about, say, 3/4" thick; 3" tall with the top 1" being the 'hook'; 2" total deep (front to back), with the 'hook' part being 1" deep.