Chapter 4 · Lesson 3Practical demonstration · about 5 minutes
Securing lines to cleats and bollards
Prepare a fair lead, avoid crossed lines and secure the line using the method ordered for that fitting and load.
Video coming soon
Securing lines to cleats and bollards
In the video
- A fair lead against a trapped lead, unloaded
- Smaller line, larger line and the line-to-cleat fit
From the captain
Before you start
A line does not become properly secured merely because it has touched a cleat. If the lead is crossed, the turns are piled up or nobody can release it, you have decorated the fitting rather than used it.
By the end of this lesson
Read a fair lead and an operable fitting before applying the vessel's securing method.
See it
See it for yourself
Lead before turns
Follow every lead before adding turns. Secure does not mean impossible to operate.
Check the line-to-cleat size match first: a small line can still slip on a large cleat even with a locking turn. Bollard and samson-post methods must suit their own fittings.
Lead before turns. Each line comes fair through its own chock to its own fitting. The turns are readable, the finish suits the line and the second line can still be eased.
Draft technical visual · plan view, not to scale · no line size, cleat ratio or number of turns implied · the vessel's method for each fitting governs
What to look for
Look at the next line too
An attachment can look tidy while trapping another line that must move. Follow every lead before adding turns.
Keep the fitting usable
For the cleat examples, use a locking finish on smaller lines and normal figures-of-eight on larger lines. Check the line-to-cleat size match first. Excess turns or the wrong finish can obstruct the next adjustment.
The lesson
The lesson
- 01
Lead before turns
Check where the line comes from, which fitting it belongs on and whether another line may need to move. Keep the lead fair through the approved chock or fairlead and do not trap a line that may need adjustment.
- 02
Use the onboard method
For cleats, I use a locking turn on smaller lines and normal figures-of-eight on larger lines. Check the line-to-cleat size match: a small line can still slip on a large cleat even with a locking turn. Keep turns readable and follow the arrangement specified aboard. Bollard and samson-post methods must suit their own fittings; do not copy a cleat finish onto them automatically.
- 03
Secure and still operable
The finished arrangement must carry the intended load and allow controlled adjustment by the mooring team. Manage the tail without creating bights around feet, blocking a walkway or fouling equipment.
Where it goes wrong
A deckhand adds turn after turn because the line is moving. The pile traps another line and then jams when the officer orders an adjustment. More rope on the fitting has produced less control.
Your call
What would you do?
Pick one, then read the feedback on all three.
The situation
The line you are about to secure crosses over a second line that the officer will need to ease.
Take it aboard
Find the trapped lead
Do this during your induction or first weeks, with the person responsible for your work.
Unloaded practice
Use two short training lines and an inert cleat or bollard model.
- 01Trace each lead and the next intended movement.
- 02Identify the crossed training arrangement.
- 03Reset it to the supervisor's method while unloaded.
- 04Lay the tail clear of the working route.
What a useful result looks like
- Neither line is inadvertently trapped.
- Turns remain readable and the tail is clear.
Stop: Do not reset loaded mooring lines for an exercise or apply a light-line hitch to a heavy system by assumption.
Deckhand Foundation · Job card
Lead and fitting check
From the lesson: Securing lines to cleats and bollards
- Correct fitting and next movement known.
- Lead fair and other lines clear.
- Line-to-cleat size match, turns and finish checked.
- Tail clear of feet and machinery.
- Status reported to the person directing.
Fitting / method
Lead conflict / instruction
Your vessel's procedures and senior crew come first. Nothing on this card is stored.
Quick check
Four decisions, then move on
This check confirms the principle. Your vessel's own induction still comes first.