Professional BoatBuilder - February-March 2018

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 35

enough so an additional unlooped line could be secured to

it in preparation for bad weather.

3.  e folding horns of this low-pro le cleat should pre-
   vent sails and lines from snagging when the horns are
   down, but with no central aperture for the line’s spliced
   loop, what’s to keep it from jumping o when the boat
   bucks and surges in challenging conditions? Plus, the deep,
   hard-edged Vs at the center of the horns guarantee that the
   line will su er abrasion under tension.  en again, maybe
   jamming it into that sharp angle will help retain the loop,
   at least until it succumbs to chafe.


4.  e throat of this chock is so narrow that two spliced
   or knotted loops just barely  t through. Given how close
   the cleat is to the chock, do the vertical rollers at the fore
   and a ends of the chock really help prevent chafe in the
   line? Why not leave more room in the throat of the chock
   so that chafe gear can be added?

It has been a stormy fall in New England,

and more than a few boats have ended up on

the rocks or the beach a er mooring or dock-

line failures. In some cases, the cleats were too

small to accept doubled lines, or the problem

might be that the chocks were too small for

even one dockline with adequate chafe gear on

it. When walking the show docks or down the

pier it’s important to remember that hardware

that looks good and works perfectly in benign

weather may not reveal its shortcomings until

conditions get ugly, at which point it may be

too late. Perhaps that’s why my  rst area of

interest here is cleats and chocks.

1.  e central apertures of these cleats are
   too small to accept two spliced loops, so the
   second line’s loop is just draped over the horns,
   which are so short that winding enough turns
   of a plain line around them might not be pos-
   sible. Without chocks or chafe bars, the varnish on the
   lovely wooden toerail won’t last long, and there’s prob-
   ably not much hope for the navigation lights’ long-term
   survival either.


2.  e hard edges on this cleat may not be best for pre-
   venting chafe, but the hole in the center of the cleat is big
   enough for at least the spliced loop of one dockline to pass
   through and dead-end securely.  e cleat’s horns are long

Cleats, Chocks, and Chafe

2.

3.

1.

4.

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