Cleat Hitch

One of the most important knots to know as a boater is how to tie up to a mooring cleat! This knot is used every time you tie something to a cleat. It is a very simple, plain, and elegant knot that will securely hold a line indefinitely if tied properly.

This knot can be used to:

Secure dock lines
Secure jack lines
Tie up to a pier
Tie up to another boat
Secure a tow line
Secure a painter
Tie off a sheet
Secure a halyard

The list goes on and on!

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There are a few ideal principles to keep in mind when tying a cleat hitch. If these principles are followed, the knot can be securely tied offering peace of mind and security.

The loaded line should enter the cleat in the same direction that the tail exists the cleat.
There should only be 3 lines passing on the top of the cleat per cleat hitch. 
For high loads, a wrap around the cleat will help reduce the force exerted on the knot.
When properly tied, it will form an X over the cleat with one leg composed of one line and the other leg composed of two lines.

To tie a cleat hitch, follow these steps:

Bring the line alongside the cleat

Wrap the line around the back of the cleat under the horn

Pass the line over the cleat

Wrap the line under the horn

Pass it over the cleat forming an X

Twist the line to form a turn and slide the turn over the cleat horn and tighten

Pull on the tail to tighten the knot all the way

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This knot may seem easy to tie, and it is! But so are wrong variations of the knot. Common mistakes made are:

Tons of wraps
Never creating the turn to secure the line to the cleat
Not tightening the knot
Twisting the turn the wrong way

Tons of wraps simply bulk up the cleat so no one else can use it and makes it harder to untie the cleat when it's time to release the line.

Never creating the turn to secure the line is dangerous. It will look like a secure knot but will come loose over time. 

Not tightening the knot will allow the line to untie itself and slip off the cleat, failing its purpose of securing the line.

Twisting the turn the wrong way is a very common mistake. It may look secure, but it will come loose with a few pulls. If you tie it the wrong way, it would behoove you to untie the cleat and do it again the right way.

Sometimes, cleats are hardly tied with almost no tail!

These cleats have been tied this way for a very long time, some of them for years without inspection. Just because you tied your line properly when you docked your boat, doesn't mean that it is still tied properly. I have seen many boaters pull in and untie a cleat to tie their boat up and tie the existing dock line to a new cleat. Do you know if they tied your dock line properly?

When tied properly, multiple people can easily tie up to the same cleat and untie easily when it's time to cast off.

These cleats may look like a jumble, but in fact they are cleats where two lines are tied; one over the other. They are both tied correctly and all the lines are perfectly secured on the same cleat.

While it is important to know how to properly tie a cleat hitch, the examples of poorly tied cleat knots have held for many years without anyone touching them. If you are tying to a cleat in a hurry while docking and the knot comes out wrong, it will probably hold fine while you secure the rest of the lines in a hurry. Once the boat is safely tied to the pier, it is a good idea to evaluate the cleats and make sure your knots are correct before leaving the boat. A poor knot will hold for a while, but a good knot will hold for longer!

Weathering the Snowpocalypse

As a record setting 29.2 inches of snow fell in Baltimore, MD, where we are docked, only around 1 foot accumulated on the deck. Most of the snow was swept off the deck as quickly as it landed, since the winds are much stronger on the water. The snow began on Friday afternoon, and continued all the way into the early hours of Sunday. This meant we stayed inside (except for when I went to fix Tooth) during the whole storm. 

The deck has interesting snow drifts that accumulated in the windshadows of the sail bags and rigging. The leeward lifeline net also helped to hold in a lot of snow, making and interesting looking snow drift that tried to creep over the side of Wisdom. 

Windpuff had its own snow formation on its deck.

During the storm with its strong winds and constant whiteout conditions, we watched movies, cooked delicious meals, and Maddie painted while I worked on reconditioning an old bilge pump. We were cooped up inside for over a day, but we enjoyed our time together with no distractions and every moment focused on what we wanted to do.

There were no social obligations and neither of us had to go to work, we simply stayed inside with each other as the storm blew past. We woke up when we wanted to, and went to sleep when we felt tired. It felt like cruising again: doing what you want, when you want, without a care in the world.

For dinner on Saturday, I had the bright idea of cooking lamb chops on the grill. The cockpit was completely filled with snow; luckily I had a pretty good idea where things were so I wouldn't step on anything important. I carefully made my way through the deep snow to dig out the grill and bring it into a hole I dug near the companionway. They were the best lamb chops ever!

When Sunday rolled around and the snow had stopped, we went outside to explore. The snow accumulations highlighted the importance of a heavy displacement boat. Our boats, Wisdom and Windpuff were pushed down 1 inch past their scum lines. A very light displacement catamaran however, had a bunch of snow on his forward deck and it completely changed his attitude. His rudders were out 6 inches higher than their scum lines and his bow was sunken down well below his boot stripe. Other light displacement sailboats were down nearly to the tops of their boot stripes. While I don't think one should plan their cruising boat based on how much snow they can carry, I do think it is important to think about weight distribution when you load up all of your belongings.

A light displacement sailboat will be much more sensitive to where you place your stores and cargo, where a heavy displacement sailboat wont really care too much. Anywhere is fine, if it's not it will list just a little bit, but nothing too dramatic.

We also checked on Tooth to see how he fared right side up. Just fine actually! There was a tiny bit of snow in his hull, nothing more than a few cup fulls of water. I guess I should have left him right side up to begin with. You live and you learn, that's a huge part of boating. They say smart people learn from their mistakes and wise people learn from the mistakes of others. Be wise and leave your dinghy right side up on an exposed pier during a blizzard, the snow will blow right out of it. 

After that we went into town to explore the snow covered wasteland. It turns out that a bunch of the other liveaboards in the marina had the same idea, so we all went out for brunch.

Walking around town made me appreciate living on a boat even more. People were digging their cars out of the giant mountains of snow, hoping that no one would steal their dugout parking spot. Sidewalks were piled high as people tried to shovel their ways to freedom. Meanwhile on the boat, the piers were blown clean by the wind and the little bit of snow that did accumulate was minor and easily traversed without much effort. 

On shore, we saw a bunch of tiny little foot prints and wondered if it was from a tiny little doggy, or something else.

Turns out they were rat prints leading to the dumpster, oh Baltimore.

We also had some fun with the snow. I was riding my bike around (snow biking is just like downhill biking in muddy conditions, you slip and slide around and it's all good fun) and then we had some fun with the huge snow piles.

Maddie's car is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Staying warm inside a well built sailboat during the blizzard was very relaxing. The whole world went away with the snow and we were living in our little bubble of warmth and happiness for a few days with no interruptions and no distractions.

Preparing for Snowpocalypse

A possibly record setting winter storm was fast approaching us and I needed to get home from work to batten everything down; but how do you prepare a sailboat for a blizzard?

The answer is simple, tie everything down on the deck so it doesn't blow away and make sure everything that stays on deck is flat or out of the wind. Larger items can seek refuge in the safety of the cockpit. Snow isn't as big of a problem since the wind will blow it off the deck as quickly as it lands.

The big problems are figuring out how the dinghy Tooth would deal with the snow. I have to pump the water out of him after every rain storm, but snow is a different animal. My concern was the wind blowing all the snow to one side and tipping the sheer strake into the water. This would cause Tooth to fill with water and sink quietly in the blizzard. 

As a good dentist, I chose to pull Tooth... out of the water and flip him over on the pier. We have a few liveaboard neighbors here, so I took him over to an empty pier and tied his overturned hull to the cleats available. If he does get moved by the strong forecasted wind, he wont go very far with the short lines I tied him with, or so I thought.

The winds picked up and blew Tooth into the water, luckily landing skeg down. The stern cleat ripped right out of his hull as he remained hanging by his bridled painter. This strong attachment point kept him secured to the pier instead of letting him float away during the blizzard, never to be seen by us again.

I pulled Tooth out of the water once more, but was unable to safely flip him with the raging winds howling through. I looked at him laying there, relatively flat to the dock and figured he would offer less wind resistance as he is, as opposed to flipped over. I just hope a little snow in his hull won't cause too much damage. 

I returned to Wisdom to escape the chilling winds and hope that Tooth will fare well. Only time will tell.

Snowpocalypse

Crazy Snowpocalypse is on its way, and many people have been asking me how I plan to fair on the boat.  What will you do for heat? Won’t you go crazy?  There’s something romantic about being stuck in a little boat with the love of your life, keeping warm, snuggling, and watching movies…but not for three straight days.  Most of the preparations on my end included selecting movies and gathering things to keep myself occupied.  I’m the kind of person who can do nothing for a day and feel rested, but if I do nothing for three straight days, I will indeed go nuts.  

Thankfully, Herby’s got the heat situation figured out.  We have four methods of heating our little home: base boards, space heaters, reverse cycle, and the diesel heater.  The baseboards are the weakest and the space heaters become useless if we lose electricity.  The reverse cycle no longer works as soon as the water temperature dips below 38 degrees F.  This leaves the good old diesel, which heats the boat steadily and strongly and provides warm flickering fire and calming whirring sounds as a bonus.  So, that’s the answer to the heating question.     

Tackling the issue of going stir crazy is a little less obvious and depends on who you are.  Herby, for instance, is an introvert, and would be fine spending months on end completely alone in a tiny boat.  He’ll be working on various projects involving rope and weird looking tools: nothing out of the ordinary.  I on the other hand am an extrovert.  I could never be alone on a boat, but luckily I don’t have to be!  Herby will always be within a 35-foot radius of me.  Luckily, this excites him too or we’d have problems.  

The boat doesn’t exactly lend itself to a lot of movement and physical activity, so I have my yoga mat.  Yoga is an excellent way to both clear your mind and keep those muscles active.  The same thing applies for a long excursion during which you may not touch land for many days.  It sure beats jogging in place at least.  

Herby and I love games, so we have a few games on the boat that keep our minds exercised and challenged.  I strongly recommend games as a pastime with your partner, even if you’re not on a boat.  It’s intellectually stimulating and can be funny as well as competitive.  A little competition never hurt anyone…except me on the inside every time I lose at anything.  Anyway, games are way better than watching TV.  That being said, we did download a ton of movies to watch during this blizzard.  I plan to do a lot of art while we watch.  

You may or may not know that I am an artist.  Therefore, in order to prepare for a weekend trapped indoors, I brought a ton of paints, brushes, and canvases to the boat.  I’ll do another post about being an artist on a boat, but I plan to make good use of my time this weekend by completing at least three paintings!  (By the way, I do commissions if you’re interested.)  --> Shameless self promotion…

Anyway, we definitely plan to keep ourselves very warm and occupied during this storm, just as we do during long trips at sea.  Just like everything about living on a boat, you’ve got to have an open mind!          

Grilling

The grill is the best addition to the galley when cooking aboard. Entire dinners can be prepared on it, and it uses minimal space and resources. 

I recommend a good propane grill, such as Magma. The fuel source is easy to buy and store since it is in compact cans. If you have a dedicated propane locker, you can easily connect the grill to your large tank. If you don't, you can store your small camping size cans in a 4 inch PVC pipe on deck or in a well ventilated area.

I would caution away from using a charcoal grill because they are rather messy. When I was a kid, we used a charcoal grill. The food that came off of it was delicious, but the work involved with it was equally extravagant. The charcoal needs to flame up and burn down to embers, which can take a rather long time when you are hungry. After you finish grilling, you need to let it burn out and then dispose of all the ash. It can quickly become a very messy job on board a boat. 

Another reason to avoid charcoal is the fuel source is rather large. A bag of charcoal takes up much more space than a small camping can of propane. If you were planning a long voyage, it would be very difficult to store and carry all those bags of charcoal. It would be much easier to store a bunch of small cans, and a lot cleaner too!

Lastly, an unconfirmed issue with charcoal deals with spontaneous ignition. Apparently salty charcoal can spontaneously ignite. I don't know if this is true or not, but I would not want to find out on board my own boat. 

I would suggest splurging a bit when you buy the grill, there is a significant difference in build quality and longevity between the different tiers. I bought the Catalina Grill from Magma 2 years ago and it has been wonderful. It can get incredibly hot inside while not radiating heat outside. I set it on its legs in the cockpit (painted fiberglass) and the surrounding seat and backrest are cool to the touch. I have even used it during the snow, it cooked steaks beautifully and didn't melt the snow below or behind it.