Slip Length Question

[glenn.225]

Originally Posted by StuM

Sorry, I don't get your point. That looks correct to me. If a tight mooring line is close to vertical, then it will be subject to recurring snatch loads when swells cause the boat to rise and fall relative to the dock.

Oops, I had another look. What I took for the boat in the image was the dock. Confusion is a terrible thing.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Ukeluthier

I've considered that. I was on a side tie on a "T" at the end of the same dock for many years with no real problems with my old 45' cutter.

The main problem is that the little catboat has only about 2' of freeboard at the point of maximum beam, so fenders bearing against the edge of the dock wouldn't work. A substantial vertical rub cushion on the center dock piling might keep it from getting under the dock, but it would hold the boat so far away that it would be a helluva step down and out to board, espeially at low tide (I'm 67, and the catboat has no lifelines or shrouds to grab). I'm currently lying stern-to, and the long, overhanging boom in its crutch provides a handhold to allow me to board safely.

Perhaps a side tie with a ladder mounted on the dock would work.

Sometimes specialty bumpers attached to the dock are better than fenders on the boat, too... or at least they can sometimes solve something not otherwise easily sorted.

-Chris