How to properly finish a cleat hitch

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I used that cleat hitch MANY times, we did it slightly different by finishing it off with 2 locking hitches, one on each end of the cleat. I still use that as the only way I ever tie up to a dock where there are cleats, I don't believe we ever had a small boat in extremely foul weather conditions come loose due to not being tied down properly. It worked then as well as now, why change!
 
I agree that more is better.

Yesterday, I was helping an old guy get off of a boat. He wrapped the dockline around; criss-crossed the line a few times, and attempted to step off. Sure enough his "hitch" came undone.

The boat drifted back and if I hadn't pulled him up, he would have taken a swim.
 
No doubt one will, but the cleats we were tying up to were probably 2' long and we were using about 1-1 1/2" nylon rope, never saw a cleat get ripped off during gale force winds, those suckers were really welded on to the barge that we worked off of! :lol: That's the way we were taught to secure the 10 small boats that we ran in the North Atlantic, maybe just an added safety precaution.
 
He explains it well for sure, but can he do it fast?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWYgcgkreoI
 
Thanks Capt Tom
Two half hitches and don't lock the line.
I like watching people that work around boats every day. When they handles lines they do it standing up. No bending over. Very impressive.
 

Latest posts

Top