Mooring with one cleat

[Derkis]

Hi there,

I will be putting my new-to-me boat on a mooring fit the first time. All of the other boats I've been on I've used one line to each bow cleat when mooring. However this boat only has a single bow cleat.

Will using only one line to one cleat be a problem?

[boatman61]

Don't you have fairleads either side at the bow.???
If you do take one line either side and tie them on to the single cleat which I presume is central.. thus creating a bridle and balancing out the load.

[Knotical]

Smaller boats have 1 midline bow cleat with chocks on either side and they seem fine, we have a few of those in our bay.

[Mike OReilly]

My previous boat had one stout central cleat on the foredeck. I had port and stbd bow chocks so I'd run two mooring pennants; one through each chock, and then tied off at the cleat.

ADD: Just as Boatie just described.

[Derkis]

Sounds good, I'll give that a try as long as all the lines fit on the cleat. Thanks everyone.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Derkis.

[basssears]

As someone who has lost a boat off a mooring before (cleats sheared off) I would HIGHLY recommend more than one point of attachment to the mooring. Whether it's a secondary (properly installed cleat), samson post, or even the mast itself, something other than a single line between your boat and the mooring ball will give you a little peace of mind when it comes to chafe / cleat failure / line failure.


-- Bass

[Scorpius]

I would run a slightly slack line from the mooring (you've tested that, right?) along the side of the hull to a stern cleat. That way, if the bow set-up failed, the boat would drift off and turn around. Thus, if you just look at the boat from the shore (as I do when Scorpius is anchored out and I'm not aboard for several days) you will see that something has gone wrong with the primary (bow) lines and can go out and fix things up. (The stern line should be slightly slack so that it won't chafe and possibly fail).

[basssears]

Derkis,


What kind of boat? Have you inspected the underside of that one cleat to make sure it's properly backed and can take the load?


-- Bass

[nortonscove]

Originally Posted by basssears

As someone who has lost a boat off a mooring before (cleats sheared off) I would HIGHLY recommend more than one point of attachment to the mooring. Whether it's a secondary (properly installed cleat), samson post, or even the mast itself, something other than a single line between your boat and the mooring ball will give you a little peace of mind when it comes to chafe / cleat failure / line failure.


-- Bass

I'm thinking the same thing. I used to put a substantial line around the mast if there was a lot of wind in the forecast. My 27 footer actually veered her way through a hurricane that way. Shocked to see that the small plastic cleat stayed in place.

[basssears]

Originally Posted by nortonscove

I'm thinking the same thing. I used to put a substantial line around the mast if there was a lot of wind in the forecast. My 27 footer actually veered her way through a hurricane that way. Shocked to see that the small plastic cleat stayed in place.

It had never occurred to me to use the mast as a "backup" location... but that's what the salvage company used to tow my boat back out of it's, err, chosen location after it got away and there were no bow cleats to use.

Full saga here:
October 13, 2020 – Sailing Idaho, the Salish Sea and beyond

I wish I had a proper samson post but if wishes were horses etc. etc.

[Disailor]

Got that dreaded call from the harbor master in Belfast Maine: "Your boat has broken free". Calisto is a Morgan OI, encapsulated keel, keel hung rudder. Bumped only one boat & parked herself along side the ramp down to the docks.
I have one mooring line that goes from one bow cleat around a thimble that is shackled to the mooring ball then back up to the other deck ckeat. The two lines are lashed together in 6 places to prevent the ball from getting tangled between them.
In spite of this the line shifted around the thimble allowing the throat of the thimble to chafe through the line.
I now line the thimble with a piece of tough leather thus spanning the thimble's throat & protecting the line. Each winter I put the mooring line assembley under tension & re lash the eye tightly around a new thimble.
This year I will soak the line with thinned bottom paint to preclude the growth of sharp edged muscles from possible chafe.

[Notfast]

Originally Posted by Derkis

Hi there,

I will be putting my new-to-me boat on a mooring fit the first time. All of the other boats I've been on I've used one line to each bow cleat when mooring. However this boat only has a single bow cleat.

Will using only one line to one cleat be a problem?

My boat also only has a single bow cleat. When mooring I run two separate lines to the mooring ball through the port and starboard fairleads. If you're really concerned you can just install a dual cleat system or put in a brand new cleat with beefier fasteners and a nice big backing plate. Since it's a single point of failure, it's probably worth ensuring it's bombproof. Alternatively, and I'm just hypothesizing here, you could run lines from cleats further aft and run them through the bow roller for your anchor or something similar. If the bow cleat fails this could act as a backup. I'm not sure if it would work for your boat but it's worth a think. Good luck.