Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

[And-Con]

Just a little rant going on here, we seem to have an ongoing issue with nearly every boat we own, insufficient and undersized cleats, mostly the latter. After going out today, we pull into the slip and try to fight all our lines onto our cleats. This happens to be a 40' sloop, so our dock lines are large, probably 5/8" diameter, so a bit over-sized, but not obscenely. In a few locations we have 2 lines on one cleat and i seriously doubted they were going to fit. This isn't my first time tying up here, but i am seriously doubting that boat designers are actually boaters. whatever. least i got to go out today

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

Which is why I have 10 cleats on a 17'6" boat. I also use every one of then frequently.



???

 

[Mark42]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

Yep, I wish cleats were larger. I also wish all cleats were stainless and cheap as plastic, but that aint gonna happen either.

 

[QC]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

Good discussion. I moved to boat topics as it is kinda where it belongs . . .

More may be better, but aesthetics and safety on deck matter too. For example. I have four cleats. Two amidships and, two at the stern quarters. This boat begs for a cleat on the bow as a minimum addition. I've had her for 6 years and never done it though. Main reason is we sometimes board over the bow and I don't want anything to have a potential for stubbed toes or even worse someone tripping and ending up in the drink . . .

So safety may not be a concern with cleats mounted below the gunnel, but anything on the decks is a potential injury if you ask me.

On the aesthetic thing, why not some winches with rocket launched grappling hooks? That would be disgustingly ugly and expensive, but effective. Which brings up cost. Stainless cleats aren't cheap. So where do any of these compromises and discussions end? I guess iboats . . .

 

[Thad]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

I replaced mine with pop-ups. They did require a smaller diameter rope, but then again, I'm not docking the Titanic.

 

[QC]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

Yeah, I have "pull ups" as opposed to pop ups and love them, still could be tripped over, even down, and they can be left up . . .

Honestly, cleats scare me with kids and swimming and jumping and diving and towing and all of the above.

 

[BTMCB]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

I haven't had any problems with my cleats since I played football......oh...sorry...wrong forum!

 

[stubbsboogie]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

We have seven. Have not run into a situation where we needed more yet but I know that day will come.

Our previous boat had only three however and we always were fussing with lines and wishing we had more.

Kinda like electrical sockets you always want more.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

I've seen a lot of boats made with insufficient cleats--the sofa boats are notorious, but also some jon boats--you'd think the working boats would have more of them. I thinkthe G3 has no stern cleats at all.

Really, you need heavy ones for serious mooring, but light/small ones work for accessory lines: a drifting tube, spring lines, bait keeper, etc. That's where the black nylon ones are nice, and not as likely to hurt someone.

For a bowline I keep tied off all the time, I run the line through the cleat's eye and tie a bowline (knot--pronounced Bo'-lin) so the cleat is available for anchor line, etc. On my side and stern cleats, I run a loop (either spliced or tied) through the eye and hook over, leaving some cleat available.

Drives me crazy when a helper winds 10' of line onto a cleat. It only takes one wrap each side no matter what the conditions. It's the design of the knot (which is actually a clove hitch).

I use larger than needed lines because they are easier on the hands--whether it's for mooring the boat or a minnow trap. On the bait keeper I need a stout line b/c I sometimes forget and drive off dragging it!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

Four cleats across the bow ("square" shape - trihull) and two at the stern, mounted on top of the cap. Its pretty hard to trip on them in those locations.

Four cleats, in pairs at the one-third and two thirds positions, mounted on the angled side of the cap. I use these for spring lines, etc. They are very handy for putting a boat in a side tow, to maneuver it into a dock or trailer. I also use them for the fore and aft lines that hold my bimini in place.



???

 

[dingbat]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

I have five, 8" heavy duty SS cleats and a pair of skene Bow chocks.

No problem with 5/8" lines. Never wished I had more.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

On the aesthetic thing, why not some winches with rocket launched grappling hooks? That would be disgustingly ugly and expensive, but effective. Which brings up cost. Stainless cleats aren't cheap. So where do any of these compromises and discussions end? I guess iboats . . .

Speak for yourself! I'm starting to consider exactly that, even if i don't get to use it for anchoring I'm fairly sure it might solve some ramp issues.

 

[Thad]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

Speak for yourself! I'm starting to consider exactly that, even if i don't get to use it for anchoring I'm fairly sure it might solve some ramp issues.

I was thinking something similar

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

While I do think that the pop-up or pull-up style cleats should be the standard, the cleats on my boat actually aren't in the way due to the design of the cap. My boat has water-channels down the length of the boats cap in which the cleats sit, so it's difficult to stub a toe. We have 6 and it's always been enough on the 20'. Two stern, two by the windshield, two up front on either side of the bow. All of my lines have a slip-knot tied on them (fender lines as well - pre-set) so that there is no tying knots on the boat end, just on the dock cleats.

 

[seabob4]

Re: Cleats. Make them bigger, give me more.

From a builders perspective, too often the determination in not only how many cleats but also the size, say 6" or 8", is determined by cost. It's sad, but true.

I've always built fishboats. Wellcraft, Aquasport, Hydrasports, Stamas, Proline. Almost all but the truly low-end models have 3 sets, 2 fore, 2 aft, and 2 springline. Most had a seventh, located mid foredeck to tie off the anchor rode. Too often, these were 6" cleats, and 6" cleats have a hard time with 5/8" dock line, especially with the springline cleats that will be seeing 2 lines. Builders simply assume you're going to be using 1/2" line on smaller boats.

Anyway...