Tie-up suggestions

nickdcj7

nickdcj7

Member
Jan 5, 2014
234
Bass River, NJ
Boat Info
1986 390 EC
Engines
Twin 454 Mercruisers
Hello all,

I'm looking for suggestions on tying up my 390 at the dock. I only have dock cleats on the stern and starboard side. It's probably fine the way it is, but i'm just not thrilled with the setup and I think i could do something better. Here's a pic of the starboard side tie-up. I don't have the stern lines crossed because it would make boarding a huge PITA.

20160424_183848.jpg
 
With that size boat you should have spring lines in addition to what you have. If allowed, mount another cleat on the dock at mid-ship and and add 2 spring lines. If you're not allowed to add cleats, you will have to run spring lines the length of the boat.
 
Here's how I tied up my 2008 280DA....although I don't see that you have a mid-ship cleat on your boat.

I ran a line from the bow to the forward cleat on my dock to keep the boat from moving forward but with a little slack so it could move a little. Then I ran a line from the mid-ship cleat on the boat to the same forward cleat on the dock to keep the boat from moving backward and keeping the platform from hitting the dock in back. I then criss-crossed the stern lines to control side to side movement of the stern.

This arrangement worked well and kept the boat secure while providing room for it to move as needed in the slip.

tieup.jpg
 
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JimG said:
With that size boat you should have spring lines in addition to what you have. If allowed, mount another cleat on the dock at mid-ship and and add 2 spring lines. If you're not allowed to add cleats, you will have to run spring lines the length of the boat.
Click to expand...

It looks like there is a midship cleat that the forward fender is tied to.

if the boat has cleats on the transom I would cross lines to the dock cleats to help keep the boat off of the starboard dock. More/better photos would help us to help you.
 
The cleats are on the sides, not the transom. That fender is tied to a cleat, it came with the slip. So I should rig spring lines from that cleat fore and aft? If I have time tonight, I'll try it.
 
Remove that fender from the cleat and hang it from your bow rail. Then run spring lines fore and aft from that mid-ship cleat. Those two spring lines, plus a bow line and stern line will hold the boat.

It would be best to cross your stern lines but I hear what you're saying about it being a PITA. By chance is there a tie down ring located just above your swim platform? If so, use those and you can cross your stern lines and they won't be such a PITA.
 
Gofirstclass said:
Remove that fender from the cleat and hang it from your bow rail. Then run spring lines fore and aft from that mid-ship cleat. Those two spring lines, plus a bow line and stern line will hold the boat.

It would be best to cross your stern lines but I hear what you're saying about it being a PITA. By chance is there a tie down ring located just above your swim platform? If so, use those and you can cross your stern lines and they won't be such a PITA.
Click to expand...

Yes, except but when I have my boat at the house the dock is not long enough to spring off the mid cleat. So, I spring from the bow cleat back and the aft side cleat forward. I then take a line from the aft outer transom cleat to the dock and another line from the bow cleat to the dock. Then finally populate fenders in three places between the boat and dock; The mid cleat gets a fender.
 
ttmott said:
Yes, except but when I have my boat at the house the dock is not long enough to spring off the mid cleat. So, I spring from the bow cleat back and the aft side cleat forward. I then take a line from the aft outer transom cleat to the dock and another line from the bow cleat to the dock. Then finally populate fenders in three places between the boat and dock; The mid cleat gets a fender.
Click to expand...

Good advice from above. If it were me, I would tie up like this... the line from the bow to the mid-ship dock cleat will keep the boat from moving forward and the line from the stern to the mid-shop cleat will keep it from moving backwards. Criss-crossing the stern lines will keep the stern from hitting the dock and your neighboring boat and by preventing the stern from swinging, it will also keep the bow from hitting the dock. Fenders at the stern and mid-ship will be sufficient.

Just my $0.02....

tieup2.jpg
 
Tonka Boater said:
Good advice from above. If it were me, I would tie up like this... the line from the bow to the mid-ship dock cleat will keep the boat from moving forward and the line from the stern to the mid-shop cleat will keep it from moving backwards. Criss-crossing the stern lines will keep the stern from hitting the dock and your neighboring boat and by preventing the stern from swinging, it will also keep the bow from hitting the dock. Fenders at the stern and mid-ship will be sufficient.

Just my $0.02....

tieup2.jpg
Click to expand...

+1

4 Lines; 2 spring lines, 1 stern line and 1 bow line. At a minimum.
 
All the suggestions here are great ones. The best I think is making sure you take that fender off the dock and put it on the boat. It will just mark up the hull at that point from constant rubbing.

You can also take a walk around your dock and see if another boat has a similar slip and see how they've tied.

Mark
 
One last comment.... you don't want the lines too tight or too loose. You want there to be some play so the lines don't snap in wind or a storm. Just enough slack to keep the stern from banging into the dock behind the boat. It will take some practice to find the right settings.

Also, once you find the right amount of slack, you can tie the bitter ends of the lines to the dock and attach the looped ends of the lines to the cleats on your boat. Doing it this way will make docking much quicker because you can simply unhook the looped end from the boat's cleat and toss the line on the dock. When you return, the lines are ready to be reattached.

I used to dock and tie up my 280DA solo all the time. It was easy because I had the lines already in place when I got back. Once the boat was in the slip I could shut down the engine and quickly hop off and have the lines secured in under a minute.

Edit: Just to clarify so we don't get off topic. I'm not trying to be a nautical know it all but my knot tying apps refer to the end attached to the "bitt" (or cleat) as the bitter end. This can be contested but I don't want the OP's question to get derailed because of the term I used.
 
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I installed 4 extra cleats to my 390. 2 at the back corners of the transom at the same height as the aft stb & port cleats + 1 on each side about 1/2 way along the ER vents. My sig pic does not show the stb cleat as it was not installed at that point in time. I will take some pics this w/e. It goes without saying that they get a lot of use. Sea Ray dropped the ball when it came to installing an adequate number of cleats on a boat of this length. :smt021
 
I agree with Tonka Boater. The stern lines crossed will keep your boat off the dock. But do not tie your spring or bow line too tight. When I first started with a boat in the water full time, I thought the tighter, the better. But I was wrong. It keeps your boat tight on the dock, and tight on your fenders, which can cause dock rash on the gel coat.
 
Thanks Ken. idk if i'll get to adding more cleats to the sides, but I'll definitely consider adding the set to the rear. I haven't had any luck finding those marinium cleats online yet though. otherwise i guess I'll get stainless. definitely no chrome zinc.
 
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