Slip tie-up advice, CD25

[Kilgore]

It's getting time to refresh my docklines, so I'm looking for improvement. Setup is floating dock perpendicular to the boats, with pilings and sliding rings at the water side opening of each slip. (feast your eyes on my mad MS paint skillz)

I park stern in, with lines from the stern cleats to adjacent cleats on the dock. I run spring lines on either side from the rings to the same dock cleats with a loop tied even with and over the winch. I run another pair of lines from the bow deck cleat, through the bow chocks, and back to the ring. The piles are about even with the mast when parked, so line tension pulls the boat back into the slip.

Some ideas, in no particular order: add chocks to the toerails on either side of the bow cleat so that they are closer to the rings (rather than running forward through the bow chocks) (red)

Add elevated cleats or cleat/chocks to the deck on either side, even with the pilings, with lines run to the rings instead of from the bow cleat . (blue) I can probably route away from the shrouds in this case.

Run a line from the ring to the closest stanchion base on either side with a snap hook (worst (?) but easiest). (also, blue)

I've looked into genny track cleats to get the springline off the winches, but they don't come in my size.

Prevailing winds are often from the bow. I've a bumper on the dock. Lines run to the rings have thimbles and shackles.
The trick is to have enough tension in the lines to keep the boat from rubbing on the dock/pilings but not so tight that the rings bind on the slides.

[fmueller]

I added these a while back to my 27. Pricey, but solved all my dock line issues.

https://www.spartanmarine.com/all-produ ... rail-chock

[John Stone]

Some thoughts just looking at the diagram. The reality of seeing it in person might illicit a different recommendation.

Cross the stern lines. That makes them longer and acts a little like breast lines. A mid ship cleat is a good idea but needs to be amidship not forward and even with the mast.

Don't secure lines to the stanchion bases. They are not made for that. The bails can be broken off. The diagram depicts what looks like midship breast lines. You shouldn't need those.

So minimum lines are now lines and stern lines and spring lines. Breast lines are usually optional but the specifics of each boat and berth dictates.

Spring lines are important. Your bow lines angling back to the pilings act like aft springs. But you need forward spring lines to keep your stern off the dock. From the stern cleats to the pilings if you can manage it. Don't forget chafing guards.
Using winches is not a great idea but sometimes you have to do it. If a must run through a block then to the winch. If your winches are on bronze stands be careful. They are not as secure as winches bolted through the deck via teak blocks.

My preference for dock lines is England Ropes three strand nylon. You can slice the eyes yourself.

[Kilgore]

Thank you for the responses, and more info. The rings on the forward pilings are set up like these https://www.dockhardware.com/product/ti ... ering-new/ (the rails are mounted to the 'aft' facing side of the pilings).

Yes, best case seems to be a new set of midship cleats for spring lines. This would allow me to get them off the winches (yes, are on brass stands for a CD25) and push me forward enough to cross the stern lines (not feasible this close to the dock) and not use bowlines, as such:

[John Stone]

More like this. In the short term you can rig up the aft springs to the stern cleats. Those are essential for keeping the stern off the dock. Go to the winches temporarily if you must but through a block in the rail.

[ghockaday]

We pull in bow first, cross stern lines, bow lines to cleats on dock, one spring line to mid ship. We only have about 1.5 feet of tide range.

High winds, hurricane or other we double all lines and add a second spring line.

[wikakaru]

Try to maximize the length of springs to provide as much "spring" as possible and to adapt better to changes in water level. I would try something like this:

CD25 Dock Lines.jpg

Mid-ship cleats are nice to have, especially on bigger boats, but on a smaller boat like a CD25 they will likely clutter the side deck and become toe-stubbers. Also, if you happen to use the bullseye on the side deck as the lead for your working jib, it is likely a midships cleat will snag the jib sheet every time you tack.

CD25 Brochure Photo.jpg

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[Kilgore]

More excellent points. I think the tide swing is around 7' here. That last setup would avoid any hardware changes. A genoa track cleat would be useful, but they start for 1" tracks and IIRC the CD25 is 3/4". There is also no chock on the starboard side stern cleat.

[gonesail]

ask the dockmaster if you can move or install another cleat on the dock .. if needed. I did to avoid having 2 lines on the same cleat .. so much better.

[Jim Cornwell]

What do the sages have to say about shock absorbers, "Shockles" and such?

[Bill Goldsmith]

What do the sages have to say about shock absorbers, "Shockles" and such?

I love my Davis shockles. I use them on my bow lines as we get some chop in my club's marina sometimes and I'm facing it. I've had two for over 10 years and they barely show any wear and tear. When you're down below relaxing or working on something, they can improve the experience as the boat is not pulled up short when it's moving in the slip. For storms I override the shockles with nylon which provides some stretch but more control than the elastic provides.

[Jim Cornwell]

Shockles are secured to dock lines either by means of clove hitches or by means of proprietary Dyneema "Line Grabbers" at each end. I'm suspicious that clove hitches, bent around the very tight radius of the carabiners, would significantly weaken the line, so the line grabbers seem to have a strength advantage. But Dyneema eye splices rely on buries of 72 line diameters or about 8" from each end in the case of what appears to be 7/64" material. Hmmm. Davis doesn't reveal how its 9" long Line Grabbers are fabricated, of course. So I'm trying to reverse-engineer. Are the tails overlapped inside? Is the robust thread used for the mid-line stitching obtained by unravelling some rope? Anybody know?