We look at tying up to a dock as a two phased process. Coming in, we want maximum flexibility, and ease of adjustment.
This dictates the use of strong, but light, Spectra dock lines, attached to deck winches. Once we are secure, it is sometimes preferable to have the dock lines cleated off all the way outboard, where they are not in the way of foot traffic as they are with winches.
For long duration stays switching to larger diameter polyester is often the best approach.
This is where the bollards come into play. There are four of these per side: forward adjacent to the windlass, two sets amidships for spring lines, and on the transom for stern lines.
The bollard style offers several advantages over a conventional cleat. They are easier ease off under load and they do not stress the line as much, which is particularly important with high modulus dock lines. They are also easier to use with large diameter dock lines than is the case with cleats.
The caps overhanging the tops are to help keep the dock lines from jumping off when tied up to non floating piers in areas with substantial tidal range.
Posted by Steve Dashew (March 17, 2010)
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 2:00 am and is filed under FPB Series Notes.
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