Midship Cleat

[tsl]

I do not have a Midship cleat and don't plan on installing one for a number of reasons. I would like the same functionality for docking.
I see what looks to be a wire cleat that can be attached to my aluminum toe rail but without seeing one they seem to be light weight for ultra light boats only.
Another idea would be to attach a line to my forward cleat and run it through a hole in the toe rail at midship with of course some anti chafing.
Any other ideas?

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by tsl

I do not have a Midship cleat and don't plan on installing one for a number of reasons. I would like the same functionality for docking.
I see what looks to be a wire cleat that can be attached to my aluminum toe rail but without seeing one they seem to be light weight for ultra light boats only.
Another idea would be to attach a line to my forward cleat and run it through a hole in the toe rail at midship with of course some anti chafing.
Any other ideas?

My boat is like yours -- no midship cleat but a perforated toe rail.

I have what I call a double-ended spring line. a carabiner in a figure-8 loop clips into the toe rail. The bitter ends of the line are taken to a piling at the stern and a dock cleat at the bow.

I bring the boat in and only have to grab that line and clip it to the right hole (I marked it with a zip tie). Now the boat can neither leave the slip nor hit the main dock, and I can do the other dock lines at my leisure.

The only problem I have with it is that other people on the boat are sure they need to (literally) "spring" into action, dramatically jumping off the boat, or scrambling to get other lines tied off as if there were some great urgent need.

They just can't believe it can be that easy.

[sck5]

Or you could go ahead and install a midships cleat because being able to spring in and out of slips is a more important reason to do it than a number of reasons not to do it.

[Efraim]

You can use the base of a shroud...assuming you have good quality hardware.

[riggear]

Slotted Aluminum Toe Rails are really not that strong. Spring lines in light to moderate conditions are okay, BUT....if it gets really rough and waves are pounding the boat around You CAN bend/break the toe rail and trust me they are expensive and time consuming to replace. Better to use a properly backed up cleat.
I use my chainplates myself, but they are massive, not like some of the wimpy ones I have seen on some boats.

Cheers,

[maine50]

The cleat made by CS Johnson that attaches to a perforated toerail is made of 3/8 stainless. Sold by Defender for about $67. Have had this on two different boats including current one that weighs 24,000 lbs. Works fine-Tim

[riggear]

The cleat may have SWL of 24,000#, but the rail itself.....not so much

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by riggear

Slotted Aluminum Toe Rails are really not that strong. Spring lines in light to moderate conditions are okay, BUT....if it gets really rough and waves are pounding the boat around You CAN bend/break the toe rail and trust me they are expensive and time consuming to replace. Better to use a properly backed up cleat.
I use my chainplates myself, but they are massive, not like some of the wimpy ones I have seen on some boats.

Cheers,

You're absolutely right. It's a DOCKING LINE. No, I don't want that kind of strain on my toe rail through bad weather, but I can dock my boat efficiently and safely when by myself. It IS a double-ended spring line. It's not a good storm strategy. It's a docking strategy.

[Cotemar]

You can use a good Midship cleat like these.

Garhauer Marine Hardware -6303080

Schaefer Mid-Rail Chock / Cleat

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

You can use a good Midship cleat like these.

Garhauer Marine Hardware -6303080

Schaefer Mid-Rail Chock / Cleat

They're not exactly cheap. Are those the ones designed to attach to the Genny track? My Genny track isn't built to take those kinds of forces from those angles. The only thing I would put amidships is a properly installed cleat with a stout backing plate.

All I need is a quick way to temporarily secure the boat when docking. Depending on the wind direction, sometimes I put it on while leaving the dock as well.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

They're not exactly cheap. Are those the ones designed to attach to the Genny track? My Genny track isn't built to take those kinds of forces from those angles. The only thing I would put amidships is a properly installed cleat with a stout backing plate.

All I need is a quick way to temporarily secure the boat when docking. Depending on the wind direction, sometimes I put it on while leaving the dock as well.

Cheap and Boat should never be used in the same sentence.

Cheap is something you buy at Walmart.

[Hudson Force]

I don't have a mid ship cleat either and there are times when I wish I had one. My shrouds and chainplates are outside my hull and interfering with a fair lead for most mid cleat options....and no toe rail. I'll likely continue to do without. I take a light load on occasion with a line through a block on my genoa track, but that's not a position that I would place a heavy load at ninety degrees to the track. My hull is one inch thick fiberglass at the level of my portlights and I thought of the option of placing a cleat or a pad-eye for a snatch block between my portlights, but I doubt if I'll sucumb to that. Most likely I'll continue to lead long springs past the full beam of my boat and keep these springs from slapping my hull with fenders to hold them off.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

I don't have a mid ship cleat either and there are times when I wish I had one. My shrouds and chainplates are outside my hull and interfering with a fair lead for most mid cleat options....and no toe rail. I'll likely continue to do without. I take a light load on occasion with a line through a block on my genoa track, but that's not a position that I would place a heavy load at ninety degrees to the track. My hull is one inch thick fiberglass at the level of my portlights and I thought of the option of placing a cleat or a pad-eye for a snatch block between my portlights, but I doubt if I'll sucumb to that. Most likely I'll continue to lead long springs past the full beam of my boat and keep these springs from slapping my hull with fenders to hold them off.

Exactly. I LIKE my toe rail, but I wouldn't buy or not buy a boat based solely on that. But I have to say I really like it. didn't realize how valuable it would be to me, but you can imagine how secure my lifeline netting is.

Between the netting along the lifeline and the fully netted cockpit (when I'm not sailing), my boat looks bigger than she is. That's really not a good thing. It also emphasizes her less-than-graceful lines, but they all serve good purposes.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I have a fetish about unencumbered decks (or very sensitive toes! / a tendency to trip over own feet!) so a few years back installed a couple of pop up cleats, wouldn't trust them to hold in a gale but worked well enough for docking and for springs.

[tsl]

Sorry, I did not make myself clear:
My boat is 20,000 lbs. I

My goal: I want to be able to spring into my slip.(Placing a line midships and attaching it to the aft dock cleat so it pulls the boat into the pier as the line tightens) Same as Rakuflames but my slip has the prevailing winds to my back. I often need to be coming in faster than I want. The dock crew is good at stopping boats with a spring line because of this prevailing wind condition.

I use and will continue to attach spring lines to fore and aft cleats to hold the boat in place.

If I install a midship cleat I would also cut a fairlead in the slotted toe rail. So as the line stops the forward momentum of the boat, a large load will be on this fairlead. (alternative) If I attach the spring line to the forward cleat and pass it through a slot in the toerail or cut a fairlead midship. The load stopping the momentum of the boat will be largely pulling aft with less athwartship load on the toe rail.

Suggestions?