We have our excess tied to the dock, and that's where we leave it. When we return, we grab the ends and secure them to their designated position. The lengths are already set. If we're cruising to a new dock, we have a separate set of lines in the transom locker. When we get close, we take four out and secure them to four cleats, one at each corner. The bow ones are routed from the cleat, outside and over the rail, and sit on the deck where they will NOT fall in the water. The rear ones are much easier to contain - anywhere handy.

Once we begin to tie up, we frequently bring two more up for bow cleats, stringers...

 

My dock lines are left at the dock when I pull out. Have other lines hanging in the transom locker along with the fenders. I never leave fenders or lines hanging on the boat when I'm underway!!!

 

Dittos around. I have 4 preset dock lines that stay at the dock. I have extras stowed (never on cleats when underway... too much risk). I have three for docking or rafting and extras to trail off the stern when anchored to keep the ladies from floating away.

 

I also have a set of stern lines that I leave by the dock, which I consider dedicated dock lines. But, I'm thinking of situations where I would need the lines in unexpected situations. E.g. you pulled to a gas dock and they don't have dock lines, you pulled up to a dock to get ice or fill water tank and there's no dock lines (I actually had this happened while chartering sailboat in BVI).
So, in these unexpected situations things don't go as smooth as you'd like, b/c while you're trying to keep the boat steady another person has to quickly get that line going. All works fine when the lines are attached and in ready position, but if you have them in the locker somewhere it's puts a little more pressure at the person trying to get that line. It's obviously not a big deal when conditions are calm, but if you're being pulled by the wake and wind, having the lines ready helps a lot.

I can see how having the lines stored in the stern locker and then get them ready as you pulling up to an area where you need them. But, my thoughts were about those unexpected moments. Of course they are rare, so I could be beating the dead horse.

 

If you are away from the dock, then all the lines should be stowed out of the way. Left laying about of hanging from various places they become tripping hazzards and get in the way.

Anticipate your need for lines well before you get to where you need them. Stop outside the seawall or as you approach whatever and retreive the lines from wherever you stow them and place them near where you anticipate using them......on the cockpit floor in a cornet, on a seat near a cleat or throw the coiled bow lines thru the windshield vent so you have both hands free as you go forward.

When leaving, as son as you clear the dock, coil and stow the lines out of the way.

Finally, get out a couple of spring lines. You may not need them, but more times than not when I fuel up or dock for lunch, someone squeezes in on my bow or stern. The spring lines stop forward and aft movement of your boat and allow you to spring off the dock if you need to when departing in case you do get jammed in.

 

We keep our lines tied from the bitter end to outboard spring pilings fore and aft and to dock cleats on our port side tie up. There is also a spring line amidships on the port side. The stern lines are crossed. The pilings have plastic coated hooks that hold the looped ends when we are away. The other lines are neatly laid on the dock for an easy pick up when landing.

 

I'm slipped at a floating finger on my starboard side that's about 10' shorter than my boat. My line arrangement is as follows:

Bow line permanently attached to the stbd. bow cleat, flemished (flat spiral) on deck when underway. I have a small clamp-on jam cleat attached to the rail that keeps the weight of the line from unrolling the flemish.

Stern line attached to PORT stern cleat, then run through the stern eye, across the swim platform, (nests nicely into the seam between platform and transom) through the other stern eye and then to the cleat on the float. This arrangement really helps control fore and aft motion, but only works for low floating docks. This line is cleated to the starboard stern cleat with the excess hung inside the boat while underway.

Spring lines stay attached to the float, one each leading fore and aft from the middle float cleat, again flemished to reduce the tripping hazard when I'm away from the dock.

I too keep extra lines coiled and hung in the transom locker, along with my fenders, spare anchor, beach stick and so on.

Cheers,

Bill

 

I leave the lines set up at my permanent dock. I keep six extras aboard for when we tie up at another dock. I never leave lines hanging from cleats when I'm underway.

 

We always have our lines off the cleats and stowed while underway. One of the conversations we have while approaching a marina coming back in is what side we'll be tying to and the Admiral gets the lines and fenders ready. If one of your knots come loose and you don't see it, it could quickly become tangled in your props(if it's that long) or simply in the way.

 

all my lines are left at the dock when we depart. the two bow and two stern lines are pre-set and just loop around their respective cleats (stern lines are crossed). the port and stbd springs are free at the bitter end (no eye splice) b/c i like to adjust them according to the tide and wind. i have marked the APPROXIMATE location of where they should be made fast by inserting a colored piece of plastic btwn the strands.

in the cockpit locker, i have about 8 coiled lines of various lengths ranging from 30' to 60'. i buy line by the spool, cut them to length, make an eye splice on one end and whip the bitter end. as for foreign marinas, once i know where i will be slipped, the admiral will put a bow, spring and stern line on the windward side of the boat (at my direction) so that i dont bang into the neighboring boat (if semiprivate slip or one with just pilings on the leeward side). in a private slip it doesnt matter which side the initial set of lines are on. once the boat is safely in the slip, i'll chase away the dockboy and get everything set to my satisfaction.

when rafting, we'll communicate via radio which side to set fenders and lines. usually that is the anchor boat's call. regardless of which boat i am, i feel strongly that the moving boat have the lines ready to be tossed.

as for gas docks, i NEVER pull in without a bow and stern line ready on the appropriate side, even if the gasdock has lines. i think it is virtually impossible to have a line thrown TO you on the boat when they are already fixed at the dock. it is much easier to toss a line to someone on the dock or jump off with a line in-hand.

lines cleated while underway are a problem waiting to happen. you can forget about any future docking maneuvers if the loose end goes over the side and gets wrapped around a prop. i'm with frank. survey the situation before you make your approach, call ahead either with vhf or cell phone, esp in an unknown marina, and then prepare for your landing.

the ONLY "emergency" situation i had was heading into forked river (to a marina i'd never been to before but had a overnight reservation for). we had left ocean city early AM to beat small craft and t-storm warnings for late afternoon. even though we entered the river before noon, as we headed up the river, the skies to the west turned grey/black and we were watching the lightening getting closer. i called the marina on my cell phone and asked them to have someone come out to the docks to direct us (two boats) to our designated slips. they sent a kid out and just as we spotted him pointing to our slips, the skies opened and the wind started whipping. both myself and my travel buddy still say to this day we never spun our boats and backed in that quickly and perfectly before and probably never will again. the admiral had time to set up a bow and stern line but as the approachin weather got worse, i told her and my daughter to go below bc of the lightening. i tied the boat up during a wicked thunderstorm - it rained so hard it hurt my skin, but we made it in! it's amazing how quickly weather can turn to s#&t. the time span from the point that we noticed the threatening skies to the point of buckets of rain and lightening was MAYBE 7 minutes.

 

Very good suggestions guys. I'll be reviewing my methods of securing the lines. For starters, I'm getting additional set of lines for the dock and the other set will be carying while underway. I can see how the fairly large stern locker becomes rather small quickly.

 

I'm getting additional set of lines for the dock and the other set will be carying while underway. I can see how the fairly large stern locker becomes rather small quickly.

I've been lucky on the last two boats to have a stowage area just to the right of the helm seat. This area provides quick access, and I can determine what length to hand the admiral instead of trying to comunicate what we need.... I carry 3 pair of dock lines in 3 different lengths.

 

Yeah to all the above.

My dock lines have extra length. . but are marked where they need to be cleated. I find having a few extra feet of dock line can make an ugly docking go smooth.

I was recently onboard a 35' catamaran that had about 2" of slack in the dock lines. The dock lines proved to be a pain in the butt when the boat came up 2 feet short of target (due to a cross wind blowing the boat off the dock)

 

I guess I do it a little different, I don't leave any lines on the dock, I take them all with me. we travel a lot and I want all of my lines with me. Plus I don't like her stepping off the boat onto the finger with all of those lines. I only need one line to dock the boat, my stern line or my mid cleat.

 

When you depart you put the lines where you can grab them with a pole. When you return you use the pole and retrieve the lines. What's there to be stepping on then?

This also allows you to have the lines adjusted and marked. This makes it simpler to get the docking done.

I keep 5 lines at the marina. Two cross stern lines, with the loop at the boat and the bitter end around the pilings. A spring line (from an amidships piling to a stern cleat) with the bitten end on the boat. The bow lines likewise have the bitter end on the boat, but as sized to leave only a foot or two of extra line (which wraps nicely around the cleat).

Flemished lines may look nice, but provide a haven for mold and bugs underneath. No thanks. Those might work well on a boat that has lots of crew and makes daily use of the lines. But not for the typical recreational boat.

For travel I keep a full set of the same lines but in longer lengths. Along with two 50' 3-strand nylon lines for use when the pilings at a place are nasty enough to ruin nice double braided ones.

 

I have been experimenting with "lines that fit". I have West Marine cut them to size so there is not a lot of excess. So far so good. I hate extra line hanging on the dock or boat cleat or on a rail for that matter.

This usually only works for your home slip though so keep plenty of extras for travelling.

At our temp home, we have 2 on the bow tied to the pilons, one on the stern (floating slip) and 2 spring lines.

 

I agree that flemished lines can result in dirt and a moldy line. . . but in my experience that usually takes a fair bit of time to occur. Like. . over a month. But by that point the rest of the boat usually looks like crud as well. (like . .to the point where you want to wash it BEFORE going out). (this happened on another boat. . not the SeaRay)

Having lines cut rigged to EXACT length may work in a slip. . .but for a dockside mooring your bow and stern lines tend to be quite short. My experience tells me I would want longer lines for the docking procedure in "less than perfect" conditions. I suppose transient lines would serve for that purpose.

 

Can you guys recommend good type of lines to get. Are double-braded NYLON considered as good? I think this the what my current lines are, but I'll have to double check. I'm finding some nice packages on ebay and wanted to make sure I get the right lines. So, far my target is 5/8 20' double-braded NYLON.
Comsnark,
I think I what you mean by flemished lines. I think these lines I had on my 240DA. When tied to pilings they would turn green kind of fast enough. But, they worked nicelly, so didn't see a need for replacement. I just washed them before the season.

Thx,
Alex.

 

Something else we do with our home dock lines, we mark them with a Sharpie or blue tape. On the non loop end we put a mark where the line meets the cleat at the dock. Takes the guess work out of how long/short they need to be for tides in the event you ever have to remove them.

+1 for leaving lines at the dock and always carrying enough extras with you to dock somewhere else, or to tow a buddy in a crunch. Lines are cheap, on sale at WM right now.

 

Yeah, best to keep an eye out for the lines going on sale at West Marine. Every so often they have either the 3 strand or the double braided ones on sale. Lines aren't cheap but then neither is what they're holding in place.

Double braided ones are easier on the hands, the admiral prefers them. But if you wrap them around crappy pilings they do tend to pick up more splinters. As for turning green, that's what they make lines in colors!

 

On sale now at WM, just picked up 3 more extras, so now I think we have like 10 extras! Where to put all this boat stuff......

 

Thanks for the heads up on the sale.

Buying dock lines from West Marine is like buying Milk from Wawa. . . .real convienient, and I like to pick up one or two per year.

 

Flemish your lines.

 

i've always bought in a spool and made my own splices. last spool was an ebay find similar to this one...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-...QcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ26451QQihZ016QQitemZ260252462581QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

it's good to learn how to make an eye splice (easy once you get the hang of it) and you can make any length you want. it is MUCH cheaper (around 30cents a foot) if you buy a spool. granted, 600' is a LOT (i split the spool with a buddy) but it goes FAST. i use all 1/2".