Funny Cleats!

[Lodesman]

Lori - the bitter end is called that, because it was the end that was attached to the bitt (a post attached to the deck of the ship). I don't recall a name for the other end.

Sean - that's some nice ropework, but a locking hitch followed by a round turn seems like a bit of overkill.

On bigs ships we put the eye to the shoreside, but clearly there are yotties who prefer to do their tying dockside - I wonder why? You wouldn't have to worry about dirty shoes tromping on your nice clean lines if you cheesed down (made a Flemish coil) on board. Also others can share the same cleat (as long as they dip their eyes, thank you very much!).

Downside to the coils, or even flaking on deck is that dirt seems to collect and create interesting-looking stains on the deck. I prefer to hang the remaining line on the guardrails - I'm sure there's a downside to that; probably causes osmosis.

Kevin

[ssullivan]

Kevin,

Yes, the single round turn is not necessary. I agree. No need for it at all. However, no comments on the other cleat jobs? Do you all think those will hold well?

How about those that are simply a loose eye with no tension? What about those that forget to properly do the clean in general, and just do loopdie loos?

Maybe I should have left my cleat off the page. The point was to show what we found to be hillarious cleating on our dock. Maybe they are not as funny to others. ??

[Wahoo Sails]

Sean,
The majority of people that move to Florida, buy a boat because .... well? Because it's Florida damnit, and that's what your supposed to do. Buying a boat, and learning anything about it are 2 completely different things. Fortunately, most of these boats are purchased, people love them greatly ... and they sit on their lifts for years & years. On rare occassions, you will see one out and about, and what they do for docking is truly good for a laugh. My best story is the fellow with a carabiner on the end of his line ......
Bob

[Lodesman]

Sean,

Sorry didn't mean to offend you - I guess the irony was lost. Not sure the other examples are funny - tragic, perhaps and certainly abysmal; clearly their owners are beyond help.

Kevin

[southernman]

um I have a carabiner on my dingy - does that make me a bad seaman? you kknow it's handy for the dink. The bums could have used a few for thier cat!!

[Moby Dick]

I understand the the 'official, seamanlike' opinion is that taking line from boat, through cleat and back to boat can lead to chafe, as it is sawing backwards and forwards over the cleat. And the worn point is halfway along the warp, meaning you cant turn the warp around and extend its life.

A bowline, spliced eye or round-turn+2 half-hitches is prefered on the dockside, to leave room for others. All spare warp back on the boat, for tidyness, and also ability to adjust mooring lines from the boat. Do any spirals there (or hang from lifelines as pervious poster said).

[David_Old_Jersey]

as it is sawing backwards and forwards over the cleat. And the worn point is halfway along the warp

A couple of turns around cleat solves this.

[ssullivan]

No offense taken, Lodesman.

I guess the cleats are more tragic than anything else. ha ha ha

I just laugh every day as I walk by them. Thankfully, the water is like glass in here and there haven't been any real storms that would disrupt anything. The boats are staying put... by some miracle.

We also found that many of these cleats that are just "figure 8" loops were done by the dockhands, making it even more funny (or tragic?)

[Lodesman]

Sean,

I guess that's all the more reason to avoid leaving it to the dockhands. My original question was serious - is there any advantage to putting the bitter end on the dock cleat?

Kevin

[Rick]

I think that the end attached to the boat is referred to as the "standing end". If there is a line attached to the dock and you are attaching the line to the boat then the dock end would be the standing end and the other end the "working end".

Anyone else know?

[knottybuoyz]

I just had a quick glance through Dutton's, Chapman's, Bowditch's, The Bosun's Manual & Nicholl's and I can't see anything other than the "eye" as the spliced end of the line. The ancient version of Chapman's only refers to moorning lines as "warps".

[canuck1955]

When I took my basic cruising course, the first thing the instructor did was make us all learn how to tie off on a cleat. He showed us many boats tied off with a variety of messes much like the pics. Then he showed us the preferred method, neat, tidy and holds securely while being easy to undo also. We didn't get on the boat until all of us could tie lines properly.

[Dune]

Originally Posted by knottybuoyz

It causes Osmossis. You asked!

Improper usage of a cleat, or 'cleat hogging' as I call it, does cause a mosis...ASSMOSIS

[Dune]

Oh, and I believe that the other end is the 'purchase'. Something about that rings a bell.

[YOGAO]

The other end is called the osmosis end - everyone knows that 'bitter' and 'osmosis' go together, cause we are really bitter when we discover osmosis.

The other great thing about leading the line back to the boat is it makes it more efficient for rodents, insects and spiders to get on and off the boat. The charts these creatures use to get on your boat show it as a "Traffic Separation Zone." UGH!