Mid ship deck cleat positions

[YARGO]

To find the right spot is done at the dock by trial and error. Easy enough if you have a perforated toe rail. If not secure a dock line from bow to stern outside your toe rail. To this line use a rolling hitch to secure your mid chip cleat line aft to the dock. Move the rolling hitch forward or aft till you find the spot where the boat sits along side and you can control the bow at the helm to move it either into or away from the dock. If this doesn't work,a bit further aft is always better than forward to keep the bow from swinging into the dock when the spring line is used to stop/dock the boat.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Better give this some more thought. Cleats are rarely mounted on toe rails. But you might need to install chocks in or on the rail.

Absolutely... this is precisely why I have to cut a piece of the toe rail to mount the cleats on the solid fiberglass deck.

[deblen]

Originally Posted by YARGO

To find the right spot is done at the dock by trial and error. Easy enough if you have a perforated toe rail. If not secure a dock line from bow to stern outside your toe rail. To this line use a rolling hitch to secure your mid chip cleat line aft to the dock. Move the rolling hitch forward or aft till you find the spot where the boat sits along side and you can control the bow at the helm to move it either into or away from the dock. If this doesn't work,a bit further aft is always better than forward to keep the bow from swinging into the dock when the spring line is used to stop/dock the boat.

Great suggestion!! and you have the right idea on the uses of "mid ship" breast line. It is usually most useful if aft of mid point.Then it can be used to control the bow .
Tks / Len

[Terra Nova]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Terra Nova View Post
Better give this some more thought. Cleats are rarely mounted on toe rails. But you might need to install chocks in or on the rail.

Originally Posted by SVTatia

Absolutely... this is precisely why I have to cut a piece of the toe rail to mount the cleats on the solid fiberglass deck.

In some cases it might be better to cut the toerail, but not usually. Often polished stainless rub strips are installed on the toerail so the lines don't chafe, but are simply led over the rail to the cleat. Also a pad can be bonded to the deck so that the cleat is the same height as the top of the rail. Let-in chocks can be used if well matched to the rail. Or chocks can be mounted to the rail.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by YARGO

To find the right spot is done at the dock by trial and error. Easy enough if you have a perforated toe rail. If not secure a dock line from bow to stern outside your toe rail. To this line use a rolling hitch to secure your mid chip cleat line aft to the dock. Move the rolling hitch forward or aft till you find the spot where the boat sits along side and you can control the bow at the helm to move it either into or away from the dock. If this doesn't work,a bit further aft is always better than forward to keep the bow from swinging into the dock when the spring line is used to stop/dock the boat.

Yargo thanks for the technique. I was thinking of having someone on deck with a firm grip on the line... but yours is more precise. However, I assume the pulling point for the trial needs to be perpendicular to the boat's fore-aft axis, right?

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by SVTatia

Yargo thanks for the technique. I was thinking of having someone on deck with a firm grip on the line... but yours is more precise. However, I assume the pulling point for the trial needs to be perpendicular to the boat's fore-aft axis, right?

Simply tie a line to the nearest stanchion and see how it reacts.

[s/v Beth]

Find the center of resistance of the boat, then draw a line directly abeam. Best for spring lines and docking solo IMHO.

[Sandero]

Mid ship cleat should be at the widest beam of the boat. They work brilliantly for single handed docking or shoving off. Docking deal with the bow and stern lines after... departing deal with them first...

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Quote:
Also a pad can be bonded to the deck so that the cleat is the same height as the top of the rail.

Like this:

[deblen]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

Like this:

Looks good! Is that spacer made of Starboard or something similar?

How do you prevent chafe on the perforated toe rail &/or stanchions ?

Should you have a chock mounted on or inboard the toe rail?

Cheers/ Len

[Terra Nova]

King Starboard is not a good choice for a cleat standoff block. What you want is a material that will bond to the deck and not slip when the cleat is under heavy load.

Chafe can be prevented by installing leather or synthetic sleeves over the dock lines, where they cross the rail.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by deblen

Looks good! Is that spacer made of Starboard or something similar?

How do you prevent chafe on the perforated toe rail &/or stanchions ?

Should you have a chock mounted on or inboard the toe rail?

Cheers/ Len

It's not my cleat, but a pic I got from a forum. I think it might be on Chancy, the late Jon Eisberg's boat, or it was posted by him in any case.

I agree it shouldn't be Starboard, which makes for a bad backing block or structural spacer as described above by Terra Nova above. I feel good spacers or backing blocks should be epoxied to the deck where they will actually strengthen it.

[tstano]

Originally Posted by YARGO

As others have noted, location is extremely important. Without the proper location the mid ship cleat will not do as it is intended. Too far forward or too far aft and you will not have proper control when using it for docking which is its' primary use. When secured at the dock in forward gear with the mid ship cleat line secured aft and no other lines to the dock, you should be able to move the bow toward or away from the dock by steering. if you cannot, it's not in the best location.

We had a Catalina 30 and used this technique. I made up a line with a bowline which I laid over the winch in the cockpit and the other end had an eye loop that I would drop over a dock cleat. (The length was about long as the distance from the winch to the stern, you may have to adjust for your boat) The bow is controlled by steering like above by having the engine at the slowest speed and trany in forward. From this spot there was no chaffe, no drilling, no worries. When leaving the dock just have this line as the last one removed so you can control the bow.
Then set your mid-ship cleat that you bought on the deck where you would need to tie up afterwards.

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