How to secure boat to dock on only one side?

[SecondBase]

Put the pilings in.

Double or triple them up to form your dolphins. Unfortunately a hurricane is coming "soon" to Punta Gorda to smash your port hull into the dock with wind speeds of 150 MPH.

The pilings will save your boat. Deal with any inconvenience.

[lancelot9898]

In the past I've always been in a fixed dock and was able to secure to numerous pilings during a Tropical Storm. The thing that always bothered me was the storm surge and for that reason, I anchored out when a Cat 1 came. Now I'm on a floating dock with high metal pilings in a very protected area, however my concern is I'm tied up on one side with fenders with no way of attaching lines to the opposite side. Seems like bigger fenders may be in order for hurricane conditions???

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by SecondBase

Put the pilings in.

Double or triple them up to form your dolphins. Unfortunately a hurricane is coming "soon" to Punta Gorda to smash your port hull into the dock with wind speeds of 150 MPH.

The pilings will save your boat. Deal with any inconvenience.

If you cant get pilings/dolphins installed in time them set a kedge anchor to windward or run lines across the canal. Just mark them well of course.

[hellosailor]

Well, there is another option. Instead of two dolphins, they could put two beefy ground screws (helixes) into the bottom. Now you add fifty feet of robust chain from one to the other, allowing that to lie on the bottom normally. When conditions get rough and you want to tie off, you grapple up the chain, go out to the ends above the helixes, and you've got two strong anchor points to keep the boat off the dock.

Or mark each one separately with a small float and a mooring line down, whatever works for you.

A little more work to access, more work to maintain (same as maintaining two moorings), but I'd also guess a lot less up front to install two helixes instead of two pilings.

[danielamartindm]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Yeah, in theory I could have docked my cat at my home in Florida, but I would have been aground on both hulls at low tide, plenty water in the middle though, and able to walk across the deck to my cross canal neighbor. [emoji41] Im sure the neighbors would have been thrilled.

You see so many things, sometimes you just don't know what to make of them. I met a guy who keeps an older Lagoon 410 on a canal in Apollo Beach, and he told me that it routinely bottoms out on each tide. I couldn't believe it, and asked him the same questions that you're probably thinking right now. He said the bottom was soft, and he'd had the boat there for years with no apparent issues related to the groundings. In addition, it was a rather narrow canal and his cat looked to consume more than a quarter of its width.

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by lancelot9898

In the past I've always been in a fixed dock and was able to secure to numerous pilings during a Tropical Storm. The thing that always bothered me was the storm surge and for that reason, I anchored out when a Cat 1 came. Now I'm on a floating dock with high metal pilings in a very protected area, however my concern is I'm tied up on one side with fenders with no way of attaching lines to the opposite side. Seems like bigger fenders may be in order for hurricane conditions???

Big fenders sure but better is fender plus adding a way to hold the boat off the dock. Dock rash only comes from rubbing against dock or piling. For a storm tie-up don't be shy about running lines 50, 100 feet in order to not touch the dock. A kedge can also keep you off but IMO a fixed point is preferred.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Well, there is another option. Instead of two dolphins, they could put two beefy ground screws (helixes) into the bottom. Now you add fifty feet of robust chain from one to the other, allowing that to lie on the bottom normally. When conditions get rough and you want to tie off, you grapple up the chain, go out to the ends above the helixes, and you've got two strong anchor points to keep the boat off the dock.

Or mark each one separately with a small float and a mooring line down, whatever works for you.

A little more work to access, more work to maintain (same as maintaining two moorings), but I'd also guess a lot less up front to install two helixes instead of two pilings.

+1. The only improvement that I would suggest would be to run a chain from each mooring to shore, lying on the bottom until needed accessible via a sinking rope secured at each end of the dock, pull it up and secure vessel if and when. That way the chain lies on the bottom causing no problems to anyone.

[JPA Cate]

TacomaSailor,

Just consider the wind strengths of the last 3 hurricanes. Do you really not want to have some way to hold the boat off the dock? It will depend a lot on the bottom if one of those helix anchors will hold well. I'm certain the dolphins will work.

Ann

[BandB]

Well, having been through the last hurricane and with ten's of thousands of boats around here secured on only one side, the only issues we've seen are where tornadoes whipped some loose and where docks just weren't adequate. I don't know anyone in our area with dolphins. They're a pain if you sell or you get a larger boat. Is your dock fixed or floating?

There's one philosophy of trying to keep the boat away from the dock. Whips can be used but I don't see many doing so. There's another philosophy though of fenders and dock padding and all forms of protection and then keeping the boat as tight as possible to the dock. That is especially seen with floating docks and works with fixed docks where tide is minimal, although surge would give it problems on fixed docks. if you have your boat well secured, your biggest risk in a storm will be the other boats in your canal. Just like a marina, if one fails to secure well, then the others may suffer.

[lancelot9898]

Originally Posted by BandB

There's another philosophy though of fenders and dock padding and all forms of protection and then keeping the boat as tight as possible to the dock. That is especially seen with floating docks ......

With a floating dock in a marina, I do think it might be best to keep the boat snug against that dock with the use of fenders.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by danielamartindm

You see so many things, sometimes you just don't know what to make of them. I met a guy who keeps an older Lagoon 410 on a canal in Apollo Beach, and he told me that it routinely bottoms out on each tide. I couldn't believe it, and asked him the same questions that you're probably thinking right now. He said the bottom was soft, and he'd had the boat there for years with no apparent issues related to the groundings. In addition, it was a rather narrow canal and his cat looked to consume more than a quarter of its width.

The bottom was soft in my case also so sitting in the mud not likely a problem, but I dont think the neighbors would have been happy.

[jimbunyard]

For the price of two pilings, you can get two good, oversize anchors and place them strategically in the canal with mostly chain rodes and trip lines tied off at the dock. You'd have added flexibility as compared to screws and could pull the anchors occasionally to check their condition.

I used just this system for about 4 years, mostly to keep the dock owners poorly trained dogs off the boat, but it worked good in the winter and for one stalled tropical storm of about 3 days constant 45-60 knot wind...

[captstu]

We missed something.

When I had a similar dick, I also had a 25' beam cat. No problem. Splice a line to the piling about 6' long with a plastic line hanger to keep it out of the water.

Approach the pole slowly, grab the line and loop over a bow cleat. Motor slowly forward with the rudder midships. The boat will neatly and slowly approach the dock.

Attach a second line from that pole and the other pole that are on stout blocks. When off, tighten these two lines to cleats on the dock.

Btw, use 3 pole dolphins, single poles bend in a storm.

[Lodesman]

Is the canal tidal or prone to storm surge? I'd consider a floating cat fender or Yokohama's.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

"Dock whips". Would need pretty heavy ones for a 42' sailing vessel, but theoretically an option.

I've got a set of unopened/unused heavy-duty dock whips... IIRC suitable for something like a 38K-lbs boat or some such. Taylor Made, I think, largest they make, see factoids in West Marine website. Bought for our boat at a previous marina, but they couldn't sort out 50A shorepower service, so we moved.

Could do a deal if shipping isn't too much of an obstacle.

-Chris