Critique my slip lines

Moving to a new slip this year, and thinking of the best way to tie up when i first get there and set my lines for ease of use through the season.

Slip is a foot or two wider than my beam, floating dock at the stern, 2 fixed pilings at the bow end. Sea Ray Sundancer 270 and we back the boat in.

My thoughts are the following once i get in the slip and loosely tied up while i set my permanent lines.....
1) Stern lines - Criss crossed from the transom cleats, to the dock cleats. Loop end of the line attached to the boat, other end wrapped around the dock cleat to keep side to side movement, and forward movement controlled
2) Bow lines - Loop end attached to the bow cleats, wrap the other end around the piling to keep the boat from too much side to side movement
3) Spring Lines - Instead of single line from the piling to the spring cleat on the boat, i thought about running a spring line from the piling, all the way to the cleat on the dock where the stern lines are attached, and then tying an alpine butterfly knot where the spring line meets the spring cleat.

I figure the advantage of the piling to dock cleat spring line is that when i pull in and out of the slip, i can do it myself without anyone else, as the spring line provides a bit of guidance to slide the boat into the slip, slip the knot into the spring cleats, and then i can attach the forward and aft lines without worry the boat is going to slide too far forward, or too far back and tap the dock. And this way i can also just unhook my lines, and pop them onto the dock or top of the piling when i'm leaving, and they're there for me when i get back. I always carry extra lines on board for tying up elsewhere while i'm away

Good to you guys? Thoughts on the best way to permanently attach the spring line and forward lines to the pilings so they dont slip down? I've seen people use everything from a million knots, to driving a nail into the piling just below the lines so they dont slip, to putting a screw right in the middle of one of the lines directly into the piling.

EDIT - added pic to page 2

That’s a lot of words…. You got a pic

Do you board your boat from the side or stern/swim platform?

1 Yes
2 Yes
3 I tie the bitter end around the pole (see term you hate thread pole/piling)
And the loop end over rear cleat.
the spring line is first on and first off. The outdrive exhaust keeps me off the pier.

An alpine butterfly knot?
That was not one I ever heard of in the Boy Scouts.

Floating dock? Did I understand correctly?

Hard to screw up on a float dock in a slip.

Pirate Lady, that's probably cause you were off chasing a girl scout.

TLDR

Halfhitch said:

Pirate Lady, that's probably cause you were off chasing a girl scout.

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WOKE. Limit the chasing to “a scout”..

The crossed lines in back are fine, but not needed on floating piers. Crossing lines is used on fixed piers to give your boat some play as the tide rises and falls.

Bow lines: You defeat the benefit of floating docks if you tie off to fixed pilings because your boat’s rise and fall will be constrained by those lines. That may not be an issue in normal conditions, but something to remember for storm tides.

Also, get some decent sized fenders for your starboard side. At least three. You’ll need them (and more) if you ever want to raft up with others, too.

If that’s a spring line on the starboard rear cleat, it appears too loose to keep your stern from bumping the pier. Too bad you don’t have a mid cleat on the boat. That would allow for easier attaching of spring lines. And is that a spring line on the port side, too? Tighten it up a bit, to keep your boat from floating out into the fairway. The crossed stern lines should not be doing that for you. On a floating pier your spring lines can be a little more taut, since they don’t need to account for tides.

Pirate Lady said:

1 Yes
2 Yes
3 I tie the bitter end around the pole (see term you hate thread pole/piling)
And the loop end over rear cleat.
the spring line is first on and first off. The outdrive exhaust keeps me off the pier.
View attachment 123427

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Man that boat looks to have about 12' of freedom to move based on the slack in those lines? What's keeping it from bouncing off that finger pier as pictured?

I’d throw out a couple of “bumpers” just to be safe!

scooper321 said:

The crossed lines in back are fine, but not needed on floating piers. Crossing lines is used on fixed piers to give your boat some play as the tide rises and falls.

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I always thought, and did, the same. While on my new to me boat this past Saturday, with the high winds, the port stern was rubbing against the floating dock. I checked all of the other boats to see what they do. They cross the one furthest from the floating dock (starboard side in my case) to keep the boats off the dock. My guess is winds/tides. I did this and glad I did as the winds got worse after I left.

Now I understand why the previous owner had a bumper between the boat and the floater on the port side. The squeaking/rubbing noise from the bumper while inside the boat was driving me crazy, which is what got me looking at the lines. By not crossing the stern lines the starboard hull was bumping/rubbing into the floating finger pier. Their solution was to put a bumper there, versus change the stern line configuration. Genius...

scooper321 said:

Bow lines: You defeat the benefit of floating docks if you tie off to fixed pilings because your boat’s rise and fall will be constrained by those lines. That may not be an issue in normal conditions, but something to remember for storm tides..

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Usually true but not when the floating finger pier is short. I had a short one at a marina once and we had to tie the bow lines to the pilons.

Glad I don't deal with tides....

Halfhitch said:

Pirate Lady, that's probably cause you were off chasing a girl scout.

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Eating brownies.

Stee6043 said:

Man that boat looks to have about 12' of freedom to move based on the slack in those lines? What's keeping it from bouncing off that finger pier as pictured?

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That starboard line gets tightened when not at boat. Need slack when there so we can get on boat. Those built in platforms are kind of a pita to step across.

Pirate Lady said:

That starboard line gets tightened when not at boat. Need slack when there so we can get on boat. Those built in platforms are kind of a pita to step across.

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Have you ever considered putting your drive down and backing all the way to the dock behind you? Step straight onto the platform?

Pirate Lady said:

1 Yes
2 Yes
3 I tie the bitter end around the pole (see term you hate thread pole/piling)
And the loop end over rear cleat.
the spring line is first on and first off. The outdrive exhaust keeps me off the pier.
View attachment 123427

Click to expand...

You need to help out your neighbor… a bit neglected ….What’s up with the cord in the water ?

Why is the out drive up on your boat?
Leaving it down is less stressful on the bellows and the less of the rams are exposed.

scooper321 said:

The crossed lines in back are fine, but not needed on floating piers. Crossing lines is used on fixed piers to give your boat some play as the tide rises and falls.

Click to expand...

I don’t know about that. I like crossed lines on the stern when away from the boat in fresh water. In a transient slip I don’t do it if a tripping hazard