Advice on cleat mounting position?

[jim_s]

I've got a little 16' Bayliner outboard that I'm going to be keeping in a slip this season for the first time. It presently has 3 cleats - one on each side near the stern, and one front/center on the bow - these are somewhat limiting, even just when putting the boat in/out at the ramp, as well as when getting gas, etc, especially when trying to tie lines and hang fenders off of the side cleats (and hanging fenders over the bow side from the grab handles...) The slip will house 2 boats, so I'll need to moor it on one side only (starboard side, FWIW, though clearly I'd like to be able to moor it on either side).

I've purchased 4 lightweight pull-up cleats for hanging fenders (Fish-On Fender Cleats, presumably, I want 2 each side), as well as 2 'real' cleats (Perko 4.5" stud-mount cleats) to add to each side, presumably somewhere around the mid-point (The windshield will force the cleats to be a bit ahead of the mid-point, but this will put them at the widest point of the boat.)

I've tried to attach a diagram from the owner's manual that shows the locations of the current 3 cleats, as well as the general layout of the boat. I'd welcome advice on where to place the two new mooring cleats, as well as the 4 fender cleats. Any additional advice on how/where to attach the lines (there is no piling or tie-off in the middle of the slip, so all lines will be on one side of the boat) would be welcome. This is a freshwater lake, with no tide change, and the marina is reasonably-well protected, though we rarely get huge storms here in far-inland VA anyway. (and if we were forecast to get the dregs of a hurricane or such, I'd likely go pull the little tub out of the water anyway...)

Oh, I'll have a 'semi-custom' cover on it, which currently prevents access to the cleats, so my plan is to cut access holes for the cleats, then sew on velcro-backed covers. I'm hoping that this will also help to secure the cover to some degree, at least on the one side.

Another item of note - we tend to go over the side near the rear seating area with waterskis, so avoiding placing anything on the side from the rear of the windshield to the rear seatbacks would be preferred.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Advice on cleat mounting position?



I don't know if you can see them in these photos, but I added cleats to my 21 foot cuddy cabin. It came with the same set-up: Two stern cleats and one center bow cleat. I added four more: Two near the windshield and two midway between the forward two and stern two, near where the Bimini attachment is located. I also dropped them from the top of the cap to the lower portion near the rub rail and backed them with aluminum plates.

I use plastic tarps and after about two winters, the cleats still do tend to poke through.

If you little Bayliner is a walk-through windshield, I suggest putting two cleats just in front of the windshield.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Advice on cleat mounting position?

for the mooring you are doing you can use small nylon cleats with no backing and put them about anywhere. Consider using your bow and stern eyes, too, with mooring lines with clips on them.

 

[redneck joe]

Re: Advice on cleat mounting position?

for the loading/unloading ski concern you might consider pop up cleats in those areas.

 

[jim_s]

Re: Advice on cleat mounting position?

Thanks all, for the help and info. I have mounted the mid-point (ish) cleats (for a spring line), as well as a forward fender hanger on each side. The cleats were mounted with a 1/4" bolts/washers/nuts through a 1/4" alu backing plate and thickened epoxy for bedding between the plate and the underside of the hull. The fender hangers were mounted w/ stainless machine bolts, washers and nuts, with 4200 around the holes.

The follow-up question... The rear fender hangers, pretty much no matter where I put them, are inaccessible from underneath. Combination of being way up in a narrow space, having a huge block of foam that seems to have been teleported into place (no way in heck to get it out), and one side even has the gas tank in the way. So, as much as I hate to do it, I think I'm going to have to use some type of tapping arrangement to affix the rear fender hangers. They'll just be used for hanging the fenders (in fact, it even says "Not for Docking" on them , so I don't anticipate them taking much strain (until the one time they get caught on/under a dock or something, of course...). Am I better off drilling and tapping holes for a machine bolt? Using some type of self-tapping screw? (the thought of driving self-tapping screws into a fiberglass hull scares the crap out of me...) Other thoughts? My (granted, inexperienced, uneducated) preferred approach is to get as deep a thread bolt as I can find (and that will fit through the hanger), drill the holes in the fiberglass hull, tap them, stuff the holes full of 4200 (so it gobs up underneath somewhat), then screw them in and let it all set up. (That having been said, looking from underneath a bit further forward (too far forward for the rear fender hangers), there are self-tapping screws holding on the bimini top brackets and the bow canvas cover snaps.)

Also on these rear hangers, am I better off putting them flat on the top of the hull, or more vertical on the slanted top-side of the hull? They're more out of the way a little over the side, but I'm not sure which would be a better position to withstand whatever pull they'd potentially get. (putting them flat on the top, the fenders would likely only ever put a sideways force on them, so the threads wouldn't likely be prone to pulling out. Putting them on the side, as long as the fenders are just hanging, it'd still be a sidweways force on the bolts, but if a fender were to get caught on something, that could quickly turn to a force pulling upward/outward on the bolts, and the limited threads in the FG might be more prone to pull out, I'd think?)

Thanks Again for the help!

 

[saumon]

Re: Advice on cleat mounting position?

Can't help on the prefered location but to install something that you can't bolt-through and without reinforcement under the fiberglass, the best way is the "hockey puck" method. Check post #7 by rcbrownjr (Bow Mount Trolling Motor - Moderated Discussion Areas).

 

[jim_s]

Re: Advice on cleat mounting position?

Oh, hey, I like that! (hockey puck method) I guess I'd need to drill a little pilot hole and make sure that there was something right up against the interior of the hull in that mounting location (to contain the epoxy while it sets), but I'd wager that that foam is way up in there.

Thanks for the great tip!!

 

[saumon]

Re: Advice on cleat mounting position?

I guess I'd need to drill a little pilot hole and make sure that there was something right up against the interior of the hull in that mounting location (to contain the epoxy while it sets)

Yes; it's something commonly used on foam-filled boats, on which there's always something inside...

 

[jim_s]

Re: Advice on cleat mounting position?

Hmm.... Just had a thought on a modification of this approach, if the foam weren't all the way up to the underside of the hull. I'll call it the 'Party Umbrella' approach. I'd bet if you got a little cocktail drink umbrella, you could fold it up, push it into the hole, then wiggle and pull up on the stick to open it up underneath, then fill that full of your thickened epoxy or MarineTex or whatever.

I hope the foam is all the way up to the top on mine, but if not, I gotta find 2 cocktail umbrellas to try that approach!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Advice on cleat mounting position?

forget the backing. just use SS wood screws. It's done all the time for low-pressure cleats and other fittings.

drill a small pilot hole. then rout out a bigger surface with a countersink bit. then drill your hole. this prevents gel coat cracking. seal the hole when you put the screw in.

more trouble than its worth, you can tap for a machine screw but I think the wood screw will hold better.

You always want things mounted so whatever force pulls perpendicular to the screws, not straight up.

and the problem (for some) with the umbrella trick is that you have to find two girls to drink umbrella drinks for you, since men can't.

try it. if in some freak accident it pulls out, try your more complicated method; the cleat will cover the old holes.