I was recently asked by a club member to check on his boat during my next trip to PYC. What I found was shocking: his tattered dock lines (pictured above) were barely hanging by their last fibers and some were stiff and brittle as dead twigs. As a result one fender (barely recognizable as a fender) was torn to shreds while pinned between the dock and boat. Only by a stroke of luck was the hull spared from significant damage.

After receiving this failing dock line report the owner was inspired to get his dock lines replaced. Now his boat is safe and secure in his slip. This got me thinking about the Do’s and Don’ts of in-water storage and dock line health. So here it goes…

When docking your boat in a PYC slip for extended periods:

-Do check your dock lines often (at least monthly).
-Do tie your dock lines tight as possible, with no slack in them, so your boat can’t gain momentum in its slip as winds blow it back and forth.
-Do use high quality three-strand premium nylon rope for dock lines. It is designed specifically to stretch and recover as nature tosses your 2,000 lb. – 20,000 lb. boat back and forth.
-Do be sure to use bow lines, stern lines, and spring lines.
-Do use proper cleat hitches when tying off your dock line.  Remember, your finished cleat hitch should look like “two roads under a bridge”.

-Don’t leave slack in your dock lines.
-Don’t expect your dock lines to stay taut without regular adjustment.
-Don’t count on rubber snubbers to keep your dock lines taut. They are vulnerable to becoming brittle and breaking.
-Don’t skimp on dock lines. Doing so is classic “dollar-wise, penny-foolish”.
-Don’t count on your bow and stern lines to keep your boat from drifting forward and back. This is the job of your spring lines.
-Don’t secure dock lines to anything but your boat’s horn cleats (e.g., stanchions, winches, pulpits, cam cleats, etc.).
-Don’t tie fenders to lifelines. If your boat gets pinned against a dock the fender may tear the lifeline and stanchions off your boat, which is obviously not cool.
-Don’t wrap your dock lines around dock cleats a million times thinking it makes your boat more secure. It just makes them harder to remove and adjust, especially in the winter when they are likely to freeze on the cleat.

Think of good dock line health as an insurance policy, designed to protect your valuable investment. Choose the right size, design, and diameter dock line and then tend to your dock lines on a regular basis. And each time you visit your boat take a look at your neighbor’s dock lines. You’ll be amazed at how many boats at PYC are at high risk for certain disaster next time the weather becomes harsh.

Bruce S. Liese
Bruce@KansasCitySailing.com