Best docking line assist pole?

[Bonedoc]

I am often solo on the boat and need to get a stern line fast to the dock quickly on a windy day.

Which boat pole type device do you like for passing a looped line to a cleat out of arms reach on an unmanned dock... ie no one to toss a line to?

 

[Giggitoni]

Hook & Moor Telescopic Boat Hook is the one I have on board. Haven’t used it a lot, but it has worked well.

 

[psneeld]

The way I tie up is I place the dockline loop on the boat cleat, then close to the dock I just toss a giant loop over the cleat and pull tight. I then hitch that end over the cleat. When I get on the dock later, I throw a figure eight or two over the cleat with a little slack in my original loop around it so it doesn't saw back and forth or come off.


That's the simplest way I know but if you still need a pole...there are many out there and different ones are better for certain situations or functions. Doubt there is a best, maybe get info on the ones to steer away from and why.


I have never used anything but the loop method or just a regular boat hook.

 

[RonR]

Hook & Moor Telescopic Boat Hook is the one I have on board. Haven’t used it a lot, but it has worked well.

we have been looking around as well and the wife likes this one so far.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...F1567AB0D43856A5BBC3F15&view=detail&FORM=VIRE


https://www.partsvu.com/c-sherman-j...erm=4574655569335237&utm_content=All Products

 

[Giggitoni]

The Grab-n-Go is made and works well. The reason I switched to the Hook and Moor is because it passes the line back to the boat. The Grab-n-Go clips the line to the cleat or mooring making it difficult to unclip when it’s time to depart.

 

[ranger58sb]

The way I tie up is I place the dockline loop on the boat cleat, then close to the dock I just toss a giant loop over the cleat and pull tight.

Somebody here recently posted what I thought was a nifty video about a good way to do that, too. Basically approx six loops in an attached line, separated into three loops for each arm, push the whole mess out there in the general direction of the cleat... then drag in the slack and fasten...

-Chris

 

[murofrelwart]

+1

It is also good for mooring balls.

Hook & Moor Telescopic Boat Hook is the one I have on board. Haven’t used it a lot, but it has worked well.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Hook & Moor Telescopic Boat Hook is the one I have on board. Haven’t used it a lot, but it has worked well.

We use this too.....

 

[Moonfish]

We sell Hook & Moors and can tell you that they do work on a dock cleat, but you have to think of it like grabbing a mooring ring. It will depend on the size of your dock cleat, as you "hook" the center hole as opposed to looping around both horns.

With the Hook & Moor you rig up the mooring line like normal and either pull or push the line through the hole and bring the line back to you. It does work really well to establish a secure connection when single handing. But when you are totally secured, you will likely re-tie that line with a traditional cleat hitch.

Here are some screen shots from a 3-sec video that shows how it would work (though we don't see very many dock cleats here in the Pacific NW like the one they used).

 

[drb1025]

We sell Hook & Moors and can tell you that they do work on a dock cleat, but you have to think of it like grabbing a mooring ring. It will depend on the size of your dock cleat, as you "hook" the center hole as opposed to looping around both horns.



With the Hook & Moor you rig up the mooring line like normal and either pull or push the line through the hole and bring the line back to you. It does work really well to establish a secure connection when single handing. But when you are totally secured, you will likely re-tie that line with a traditional cleat hitch.



Here are some screen shots from a 3-sec video that shows how it would work (though we don't see very many dock cleats here in the Pacific NW like the one they used).

The clip that holds the line broke on mine. Are there replacement parts available?

 

[Larmex99]

It would be more interesting to see these hooks being put to use in a serious blow with some current. Docking in prime conditions isn’t much of a challenge to most. I use a boat hook in really nasty conditions and question the value of adding line to it as it seems to me like the possibility of it getting in the prop(s) or stuck in the dock planks makes it not worth the risk. Just my opinion though.

 

[Moonfish]

The clip that holds the line broke on mine. Are there replacement parts available?

I know we can get replacement heads, but I've asked if we can get individual parts like the clip. I'll let you know as soon as we hear back.

 

[Moonfish]

It would be more interesting to see these hooks being put to use in a serious blow with some current. Docking in prime conditions isn’t much of a challenge to most. I use a boat hook in really nasty conditions and question the value of adding line to it as it seems to me like the possibility of it getting in the prop(s) or stuck in the dock planks makes it not worth the risk. Just my opinion though.

In the last six years we've probably used our Hook & Moor 75 times in everything from dead calm to strong winds and swift currents. Especially if it's a challenging situation, we feel a lot more confident securing a line with the Hook & Moor rather than just grabbing the ring and trying to hold on with a standard boat hook, which is what we used to do. It's just our opinion, but that old way seems more dangerous to us. Plus, we have about 100' of mooring line, so once the line is through the ring we have plenty of time and length to pull it through and cleat it off. Then, voila!, we are secure and can basically come down off the adrenaline high...

 

[John R M]

Somebody here recently posted what I thought was a nifty video about a good way to do that, too. Basically approx six loops in an attached line, separated into three loops for each arm, push the whole mess out there in the general direction of the cleat... then drag in the slack and fasten...

-Chris

This may be what you're referring to. Thanks for remembering.

 

[Moonfish]

This may be what you're referring to. Thanks for remembering.

Thanks for posting that video! I had completely forgotten about that trick. I learned it about 15 years ago from Capt. Jack Klang. I'm going to show my wife who occasionally plays cowgirl trying to lasso cleats...

 

[markpierce]

The Grab-n-Go is made and works well. The reason I switched to the Hook and Moor is because it passes the line back to the boat. The Grab-n-Go clips the line to the cleat or mooring making it difficult to unclip when it’s time to depart.

When saddling up to a dock (always floating here), I merely step onto the dock and secure a mid-boat line. In worse scenarios, I loop the mid-boat line around the dock cleat and haul in. ... aren't grab-in-go-like devices mostly useful for securing to mooring buoys? or am I spoiled with a low deck?

 

[Giggitoni]

Yup. Grab-n-Go hooks are great for grabbing a mooring buoy ring. It’s just not so easy to unclip it when one leaves.

 

[Dougcole]

This may be what you're referring to. Thanks for remembering.

Cool way to throw a line, thanks for posting.


I'd quibble with the logic of putting the bow line on first though, that's a rookie mistake in my opinion. I almost always go midship spring on first then use it to swing the stern in if needed, then get the stern line on, and last the bow. I sometimes don't even tie on the bow line for 5 or 10 minutes after I have a spring and stern line on. A tight bow line forces the stern away from the dock.

 

[Dougcole]

When saddling up to a dock (always floating here), I merely step onto the dock and secure a mid-boat line. In worse scenarios, I loop the mid-boat line around the dock cleat and haul in. ... aren't grab-in-go-like devices mostly useful for securing to mooring buoys? or am I spoiled with a low deck?

Yup.

 

[Dougcole]

Sorry for the thread drift, but I find side ties on finger piers to be pretty easy, line handling wise.



Much tougher is backing into a transient slip with two pilings on the outside and a short finger pier. Getting both a bow line and a spring line around each piling when the wind is blowing the boat across the slip is a real challenge for line handlers. It's even worse when there are no hooks on the piling and the loop in the line slips all the way down into the water.


Anybody got any good tips on that?

 

[ranger58sb]

Sorry for the thread drift, but I find side ties on finger piers to be pretty easy, line handling wise.

Much tougher is backing into a transient slip with two pilings on the outside and a short finger pier. Getting both a bow line and a spring line around each piling when the wind is blowing the boat across the slip is a real challenge for line handlers. It's even worse when there are no hooks on the piling and the loop in the line slips all the way down into the water.

Anybody got any good tips on that?

You might try arresting your sternward motion while the boat is right at those front piles.... while your crew loosely attaches bow lines and a forward spring.

The piles should keep you from blowing sideways too much, and you can use gear(s) to stay sorta straight. If wind is blowing you hard against one of the forward piles, pushing away from that might get the bow close enough to the opposite forward pile to get a line on. Or lasso it, if necessary.

Just hang there until all the forward lines are secure on the pile... then complete your entryway into the slip while crew pays out forward spring line as you make your way to your stop point.

-Chris

 

[R. Bush]

You might try arresting your sternward motion while the boat is right at those front piles.... while your crew loosely attaches bow lines and a forward spring.

The piles should keep you from blowing sideways too much, and you can use gear(s) to stay sorta straight. If wind is blowing you hard against one of the forward piles, pushing away from that might get the bow close enough to the opposite forward pile to get a line on. Or lasso it, if necessary.

Just hang there until all the forward lines are secure on the pile... then complete your entryway into the slip while crew pays out forward spring line as you make your way to your stop point.

-Chris

That's all well and good for most of you - any suggestions for those of us who aren't fortunate enough to have a "crew"? I'm usually out there by myself, and on all but the nicest of days, returning to the dock can give you back all of the stress that a peaceful day on the water has taken away.

 

[Alaskaflyer]

That's all well and good for most of you - any suggestions for those of us who aren't fortunate enough to have a "crew"? I'm usually out there by myself, and on all but the nicest of days, returning to the dock can give you back all of the stress that a peaceful day on the water has taken away.

1. Concentrate on stern and spring lines, bow lines can wait until the battle is won. Have them pretied, and flaked or coiled in the manner that you'll need to have them immediately available.

2. Sometimes you just have to accept contact, particularly with pilings that you must move between to reach the slip. Using them to your advantage by making that maneuver part of the plan from the start, "levering" your boat around them - without doing damage - may be the best any captain can do in wind or current. Don't let the piling or dock corner rip a fender off. Having a usable rub rail on your baby works better of course since you won't have help from someone walking a fender. I admit that using an actual spring line technique as you do this is much harder when single handing.

3. Using your engine idling in gear to hold the vessel against a line and the dock or piling with the wheel turned hard over in breeze or current is, for me, SOP, as I work to secure additional lines. Use caution of course. Never overestimate the strength of the cleating on either end of the line which basically means don't be tempted to goose any more RPM over idle speed for this.

4. Knowledge of the boat's pivot point, and using propwalk, and the big mo' (momentum) is to your advantage.

Apologies if I undershot the mark here. I've certainly found myself pinned against a piling trying to get over the other direction to the dock finger, and deciding that tossing a loop six or eight or ten feet over a cleat or opposite piling and doing a little hauling was more palatable then moving out and trying again. Of course that was in a size vessel that could be hauled up into the wind. Gosh having twins while singlehanding is so much nicer, but a single just requires someone smarter than the average cat lol.

 

[ranger58sb]

That's all well and good for most of you - any suggestions for those of us who aren't fortunate enough to have a "crew"? I'm usually out there by myself, and on all but the nicest of days, returning to the dock can give you back all of the stress that a peaceful day on the water has taken away.

Fair enough, that's a good point.

Another way to try might be to just use a short spring line quickly attached to a bow pile and run to the boat... back down on it only enough to hold you inside the two bow piles... then set bow lines sorta-kinda (on the piles but only very loosely attached to forward cleats... then back in the rest of the way and get any kind of a stern line on. Then go back and clean up the mess.

Some of this is "easy for me to say" especially at home slips... but transient slips, no crew, no thruster, etc. gets more difficult.

Within reason, I think I'd investigate a bow (and maybe stern) thruster with remotes before I'd let stress get to me. Another "easy for me to say" idea too, but OTOH I do often focus on "stress-free" and "it's only money." (I realize not everyone has that freedom...)

-Chris

 

[Capt Ray]

I have seen these Hook & Moor rigs at boat shows, but they have never been a match for where and how we dock. With us pushing off the The Loop next month, perhaps we should consider getting one now?!?! Can any Loopers attest to how handy they are for locking?

 

[sahockey]

Sorry, I’m not very computer savvy but search Teepor on Facebook and you will find the cats pajamas for hooking up to a cleat, ring, pipe, or most anything else you might to tie off your boat to.

 

[SteveK]

This guy does not look like a pole.