Wind and dock lines

[jason.erbecker]

We had a pretty good storm with high winds yesterday in Hampton Roads. Sustained 35kts with gusts out of the North for several hours ahead white caps in the very protected Hampton River where I am docked. I went to check the boat this afternoon and found that an ounce of prevention is indeed worth a pound of cure. The prevention was putting on extra dock lines before the winds began to hit. I found a boat covered in ice but also with a snapped dock line. In the end, the 10 minutes it took to add extra lines was pretty cheap compared to what could have been…

 

[Captain Ralph]

Good post and heavy reminder to all.

 

[Pascal]

Did it snap or chaff?

 

[jason.erbecker]

Did it snap or chaff?

This was the one line that was tied to a fixed concrete piling. The rest of the lines went to cletes on a floating dock. I think that chaffing certainly had something do do with the ultimate line failure. In addition to high winds we had an extraordinary high tide which could have caused additional strain on the line. Long story short: probably a combination of wind, tide/chaffing was the cause. It was a fairly new line- just a couple uses over this last season.

 

[brico]

it may be my eyesight but it appears that these are very thin mooring lines for that size of the boat. I would not use anything less than 5/8' or even 3/4' braided line on that size of the boat.

 

[Avenger]

it may be my eyesight but it appears that these are very thin mooring lines for that size of the boat. I would not use anything less than 5/8' or even 3/4' braided line on that size of the boat.

This. ^^^^

I wouldn't use woven lines for permanent tie-up. They're great for traveling, but my boat is tied up with 3/4" braided line, all eye spliced and chafe protected, and they stay at the dock. I've broken 5/8" lines because we see a lot of wave action. The only thing that saved me from disaster was that the strands didn't all fail at once.

 

[jason.erbecker]

it may be my eyesight but it appears that these are very thin mooring lines for that size of the boat. I would not use anything less than 5/8' or even 3/4' braided line on that size of the boat.

These were the extra lines I put on prior to the storm hitting. My permanent lines are 5/8 but after seeing this may go to 3/4.

 

[Captain Ralph]

This was the one line that was tied to a fixed concrete piling. The rest of the lines went to cletes on a floating dock. I think that chaffing certainly had something do do with the ultimate line failure. In addition to high winds we had an extraordinary high tide which could have caused additional strain on the line. Long story short: probably a combination of wind, tide/chaffing was the cause. It was a fairly new line- just a couple uses over this last season.

I have noticed chain in use around concrete piles. Some marinas do not allow this.
Could you use chain at your dock? Maybe that plastic coated stuff to help it look good?

 

[jason.erbecker]

I have noticed chain in use around concrete piles. Some marinas do not allow this.
Could you use chain at your dock? Maybe that plastic coated stuff to help it look good?

I don't think we can put chain around the concrete pilings. I have changed my line configuration so that I no longer need to have a line around that piling. I just go from the forward cleat down to a cleat on the floating dock that is a bit aft of the bow... That coupled with crossed stern lines and two spring lines should keep me secure in most conditions. Next time a storm comes in I will, once again, put extra lines on. I do, however, think that I will move to 3/4" vice 5/8".

 

[rwaldrop13]

We have 1.5" "storm" lines and 3/4" secondarys on our boat. During the wind event last week, where a peak gust of 80+mph was recorded, we didn't move. There's a 64' Grand Banks Aleutian Class near us in the marina, and the delivery crew only dropped one fender when they brought her in. She was swinging badly and swung into and crushed the dock water line.

 

[Captain Ralph]

I do have a coupled hundred feet of new, 3 strand twisted, 1 1/4" nylon, if anybody needs some storm lines. To big for my little Bertie. Made nice weather lines for the longer Hatt next to us.

 

[skinners1]

Have Tideminders on both front and aft lines around stationary concrete pilings and they work perfectly, no more chafing. Also run secondary lines from cleats onboard to cleats on floating concrete dock in addition to our spring lines

 

[Captain Ralph]

Have Tideminders on both front and aft lines around stationary concrete pilings and they work perfectly, no more chafing. Also run secondary lines from cleats onboard to cleats on floating concrete dock in addition to our spring lines

The Tideminders work on square piles?

 

[Briankinley2004]

it may be my eyesight but it appears that these are very thin mooring lines for that size of the boat. I would not use anything less than 5/8' or even 3/4' braided line on that size of the boat.

I believe the rope diameter should be 1/16" per every inch of cleat. So if the boat has a 12" cleat the line should be at least 12/16 or 3/4".

 

[jason.erbecker]

Well, in addition to the snapped dock line…My brand new fly bridge enclosure took a hit. The fasteners of one piece all pulled out of the fiberglass. Luckily the curtain is undamaged. Looks like I’ll have to hope for some reasonably warm weather to do some fiberglass repair.