GL: FOUR FOOT DOCK LINE EYES

[Charles & Pat Culotta]

Charles,

I understand your reasoning for Four (4) foot eyes on your dock lines  
to go over pilings, but I don't understand how you keep the line from  
slipping down the piling and into the water or going below deck  
level?  Most of our pilings (Chesapeake Bay) are less than 14 inches  
in diameter, so a 4 foot eye seems a bit big and would result in a  
sloppy tie?

I also don't understand how you secure a Four Foot eye to the average  
dock cleat - what prevents the eye from slipping over the horns and  
off of the dock cleat?

We splice our own lines with a 10 inch eye to go through the deck  
cleat and over the horns easily.  When tying to pilings, we simply  
put our hand through the eye, grab the standing part and make the  
loop as big as needed to go over the piling.  When pulled tight, the  
line stays where we want it on the piling - we then tie the line to  
the deck cleat.  When possible, we simply wrap the line around the  
piling and bring it back to the boat and cleat it off.

----------------------

We have not really had a problem with the lines slipping down, not one that
cannot be fixed immed, and without difficulty.
IF the line slips just walk it back up. I am fond of demonstrating this at
my seminars. I find the highest piling that is around and throw the four
foot loop over it from 20 or more feet away and then let the line slide dwn
into the water, (just to make it APPEAR to be difficult). I then gently walk
it up and off the piling (from the 20 or more feet away). After I do it Pat
does it.

Using a loop as you suggest, if that loop slides dwn the piling and into the
water the more that you pull on it the tighter around the piling it gets.
The ONLY way to loosen it is to get out the boat hook and start fishing for
it.
I have assisted more than one person with that.

Sloppy tie----NEVER.

As I mentioned, this is the way PROFESSIONALS tie a boat, ship, barge or
whatever. I am not smart enough to come up with this.

NEVER, I REPEAT NEVER have I had a line come off of even a small cleat as
are used on inland floating docks.

Let us say there is an undersized or even a really big cleat as in 4ft ears
in front of the boat.

Hook the eye on the NEAR SIDE of the cleat and bring the rest of the eye
forward on the land side of the cleat and then back to the boat. Bingo, it
aint coming loose. 

If the cleat is behind the boat the converse is true: the eye is placed on
the ear of the cleat that is toward the boat and the balance of the eye is
lead AWAY FROM THE BOAT AND ON THE LAND SIDE OF THE CLEAT and back to the
boat.

If the cleat is immediately opposite the cleat that I intend to use on the
boat, this occasionally happens, I merely loop the eye around both ears, 350
degrees.

Using the method you suggest does not lend it self to getting the line over
the piling at a distance. 
One can EASILY throw a four foot eye a long way to a piling, virtually
impossible using a cowboy loop as the soft ropes that we use makes the loop
collapse.
Cowboy ropes are STIFF, thus holding a loop.

By the way using this professional manner of tying one's boat to a dock
enables one to also LEAVE the dock unassisted by someone on the dock whose
capabilities you do not know. 

I hate to belabor the point, but ALL of the forgoing is explained in detail
in the article that is on docking on my web site. Please take a look at it.

CCC
PAT & CHARLES C. CULOTTA, JR.
M/V CCRIDER
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
charlesculotta.com