Question About 55C Cleat Placement

[Sparky1]

I've been meaning to ask this question since I first went to tie up that 55C I've been talking about moving north. Why did Hatteras not install a center cleat on this particular model?

I've run a fair number of boats in my day, but this is the first one I remember that doesn't have a center cleat. Among other things, it will make locking through much more challenging as I usually accomplish that with only one line attached to the center cleat when tying to a floating bollard. With the way this boat is set up, I'll have to use two lines or maybe rig something up with a loop in it. Either way, it will be harder to pull the boat to the wall and would really be a pain when single handing.

 

[captddis]

The aft spring cleat works just fine. Tie tightly to the floating bollard and the boat won't go anywhere. Non of the Hatts I have been on had a center spring cleat.

 

[Sparky1]

Maybe it's just a sport fish kind of thing, but both my Hatts and every other boat over 25' I've owned and or run through a lock had center cleats. Could be that aft spring cleat is closer to the center than it looks, but it still seems it might be a challenge to pull the boat against the wall by hand if the wind was swirling in the chamber.

With that being said, I guess my question still remains... why no center cleat?

 

[captddis]

tie it tight and the boat can't swing away. BTW, how did I get a pic of Freebird on my photobucket page??

 

[Sparky1]

tie it tight and the boat can't swing away. BTW, how did I get a pic of Freebird on my photobucket page??

I'm not worried about the boat swinging away after it's tied tight, it's the tying tight before it swings away part that concerns me.

As for a pic of Freebird (I'm assuming the boat) showing up on your photobucket page, you've got me there. Post it up someplace so I'll know which one you're talking about.

 

[bigbill]

randy, my 58yf has 4 cleats, bow, stern, fwd. spring, aft spring, nothing in the middle. bigbill

 

[Sparky1]

Hmmm, maybe it's a sportfish/yachtfish kind of thing.

Now you guys have me wondering. I'll have to dig back through some pictures and/or give my ole' buddy Carl Guzman a call just for the heck of it and see if he had center cleats on his 67CPMY. There is no doubt both my Hatts have them. Maybe that's a double/triple cabin kind of thing!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

No center cleats on a 52cmy, 53MY, 53ED, 60C, 61CMY. Just fwd and aft spring cleats.

 

[Sparky1]

OK, so again with the question... why?

 

[Sparky1]

Went back and pulled a pic of that 70CMY I moved a couple of years ago, and it looks to have had a center cleat. Until I looked at that pic, I honestly didn't remember. No, that's not me in the pic.

 

[Pascal]

4 cleats is pretty standard on most 40 thur 80 footers. not sure why you'd want more.

once you get in that size range, you don't pull the boat by hand, you use your spring line. Once you have the spring on, you can hold the boat in place in gear on that spring for as long as you want.

A single breast line amidship works to hold a small boat, it's far from ideal with a larger vessel.

 

[Sparky1]

once you get in that size range, you don't pull the boat by hand...

Maybe you don't.

Just messing with you. My 58 has a center cleat, and it makes things much easier when locking through. Not trying to be a smartass, but have you ever taken a 40'+ boat through a lock?

Yes, I could use a spring line to hold myself against the wall while securing the boat, but that means I'm going to have to make another real quick trip to the bridge if I'm singlehanding the boat. You'd be surprised how much wind you can pick up in a lock, and it can take you out of position real fast. So now you know why I'd want a center cleat.

 

[Pascal]

the ability to single hand a boat depends more on the boat layout than the skills of the captain. with the typical hatt MY, if you drive from the lower helm, you're just a couple of steps from the spring line, so it's real easy to secure the spring line and use that to bring the boat in.

Lock experience? small ones only, a few feet, both my 53 and the 70. Wind is not my concern in a lock but the turbulence as the water level comes up or down. The wind is no worst than an exposed dock. controlling the boat as teh level change is a much harder task. This is why some locks do not allow single handling, requiring 2 lines each manned by a crew member. I'd never try controlling the boat in a lock with just one line on a center cleat.

 

[captddis]

One line on a floating bollard works fine. Unless you have a 100++ ft boat, you will not even reach the other bollard. It holds the boat in place much better than using two long lines. See the pic above.

 

[Sparky1]

the ability to single hand a boat depends more on the boat layout than the skills of the captain.

So in other words, one becomes a skilled captain when he buys a Hatteras. Hmmm, that would certainly explain a lot of things.

Sorry Pascal, sometimes you make things way to easy! Keep a couple of things in mind here, we're talking about a 55C which has no lower control station. In addition, your description of wind inside a lock is way off. While it may be true in small locks where the total travel up or down is only a few feet, it makes a huge difference in a lock where you're talking about being deep down in a 50'+ hole with a 25 MPH tail wind and no place for that wind to go. Things can turn real ugly real fast as the wind swirls and does all sorts of interesting things to a boat. Add to that most lockmasters will not close the doors until you have the boat secured to the wall, and it makes every second count. Try it on one engine by yourself sometime, it's a hoot!

As for controlling the boat as the level changes being a much harder task, there is no controlling the boat once it's tied to a floating bollard. Turbulence is not an issue in the larger locks. I'm sure you're referring to locks you encountered on the Okeechobee Waterway which are quite different than those you would encounter running up the Tenn-Tom and Tennessee. As for some locks not allowing single handing, that's a new one on me. Just out of curiosity, where did you encounter that?

 

[Sparky1]

One line on a floating bollard works fine. Unless you have a 100++ ft boat, you will not even reach the other bollard. It holds the boat in place much better than using two long lines. See the pic above.

Yep, your pic is exactly the way I tie a single line to a floating bollard. Using two lines makes no sense.

 

[Brian Degulis]

Maybe I'm not understanding what you mean by center cleat? Both the 61MY and the 60C have 4 cleats on each side. Are you talking about a cleat centered from bow to stern?

Brian

 

[Sparky1]

Maybe I'm not understanding what you mean by center cleat? Both the 61MY and the 60C have 4 cleats on each side. Are you talking about a cleat centered from bow to stern?

Brian

Yep, that would be the one the 55C doesn't have in that position.

 

[Pascal]

"So in other words, one becomes a skilled captain when he buys a Hatteras. Hmmm, that would certainly explain a lot of things. "

i never said it has to do with Hatt... i said it has to do with the boat layout. indeed a convertible (or any FB boat) without engine controls out back is probably a worst case scenario when it comes to single handling.

i'm not going to argue this forever, but if you get better control with a "center cleat" and a short breast line when docking in gusty conditions, good for you. I'll chicken out and use a spring line when things get ugly. if you have 25kts coming down your stern you need enough line length to have time to pass it before it becomes taught. a short breast line will not do the trick, a spring will.

as to crew requirement in some locks, forgot which canal or system requires a second line handler... it's usually a non issue since few boats are single handed and few do the loop alone.

 

[Brian Degulis]

Yep, that would be the one the 55C doesn't have in that position.

So why can't you do the same thing with another side cleat? On our boats it's probably no more 10' off center?

Brian