Boat came untied at Weirs Beach on 9-7-2013
 

We tied up for a short stay yesterday and as we were motoring away from the docks, noticed that a boat at another dock had come untied at the port stern. It was still tied at the port bow. It got 90 degrees to the dock and was about to make contact with another boat on the adjacent dock on the right, when I was able to get my bow in close enough for my wife to get a hold of the port side stern cleat with a boat hook. I eased my boat in and out of reverse, hard to port, and brought it gently back to the dock where some kind souls re-tied it.

Being a nice Summer Saturday, the wake action at the docks was pretty intense, I have no doubt there would have been some serious gel coat damage to two or more boats, had it been left like that. Please be more careful when tying up.

Some people just warm my heart. Nice job and hope the owners realize some one helped.

I was there yesterday also and seen a boater get cought up watching the flyboader that he left his boat running and wlked up to the weirs for well over an hour!!

There was a boat left running when I was there too. Monterey 248. I assumed that it may have had a bad battery or something.

We looked out at our dock in the middle of summer to see our own boat apprently untied at the stern. I ran down and the cleat had come detached on the boat! Pretty scary, at least we noticed it before there was any damage; but how often does that happen?

Does the boat get beat up with wakes? Might be a good candidate for snubbers.

Dock Buddies
 

That IS a scary thing to have happen. We rent a cabin for a couple of weeks with no rub protection at all on the dock. We were up Labor Day week and there were several extremely rough days with the wind coming from the northwest. The fetch were we are, off of Smith Point, produced some potentially damaging waves for a docked boat. I had planned for this trip and had purchased a 12" mooring ball to cushion the boat off the dock and used "dock buddies" bow and stern to prevent that punishing jerking of the lines to the cleats. I found they worked great relieving the strain and I backed them up with the regular lines because they could break. (see picture) That Thursday night after Labor Day the boat was bucking up and down like Gallopin' Gertie, but rode it out with no damage at all. If you don't have a lift, whips or a mooring, they could be a good alternative.

Yup, I had one of those flush mount cleats on a Chaparral come unbolted from the back side. With the flush mount cleats, there is enough play that you don't realize that one bolt is off until the 2nd one comes off and your boat is floating away. It's kind of a catastrophic failure that is hard to guard against unless you quad tie the boat every time.

thanks!
 

Thank you Salty Dog, that photo is really great and I can see where that would be very helpful! Also - did you attach the mooring ball to the dock or the boat? We have an extra one just laying underneath our camp, I could use it to help. The Sophie and Doris go by our house and create a bit of a wake and then the boat bounces around a bit, I may have to look into have a backup plan! Our ropes do get chewed up, we try to watch closely and replace if there is any question. Never expected the cleat to let go though!

Mooring ball
 

I tried both attaching it to the dock post and to the boat. In my case I got the best results securing it to the center/spring cleat on the boat. I found otherwise, attached to the dock, the boat could push it up and out of the way allowing a hit to the dock. Good luck.

uschick,

If you own your own place on the water, I would suggest getting mooring whips.
They will take the stress off the dock, keep your boat safe, and give you a wonderful piece of mind......

http://www.monarchproducts.com/monarch.htm