Chapter 6 · Lesson 2Practical demonstration · about 6 minutes
Securing the tender
Read the conditions, movement, clearance and chafe before deciding the arrangement.
Video coming soon
Securing the tender — demonstration
In the video
- Tracing the approved line leads and fender protection
- How passing wash changes the contact risk
- The tender-end bowline and the vessel-side release point
From the captain
What will this setup do later?
A tender can be secure when you leave it and at risk when you next look back. Wind, wash and the yacht’s movement change the picture. Choose the arrangement with the officer and keep checking whether it is still doing its job.
By the end of this lesson
Assess movement, clearance and chafe in the vessel's approved tender-securing arrangement.
See it
See it for yourself
Choose the arrangement, then keep checking it
Three arrangements the vessel may approve, and what a change in conditions does to yesterday's choice.
On tender lines, whichever arrangement
A bowline can be used at the tender end; at the vessel-side release point, the captain prefers an attachment such as a round turn and two half hitches. Confirm the actual arrangement and release plan with the responsible officer.
The four questions, whichever arrangement
- What are the conditions doing next?Answered with the responsible officer
- What arrangements are approved aboard?Answered with the responsible officer
- Can anything contact, chafe or foul?Answered with the responsible officer
- Who will monitor it?Answered with the responsible officer
Alongside or on whips may suit a sheltered period when the fitted arrangement controls movement and preserves clearance. Correct lines, fendering and continued monitoring still matter.
Illustration · not to scale · no single wind number decides this · your vessel's approved arrangement and responsible officer govern
What to look for
Read the movement
Consider the relative movement of yacht, tender and berth. A quiet-water arrangement can behave differently when wash or wind arrives.
Check clearance as well as attachment
A line may hold while the tender strikes a fitting or loses fender coverage. Inspect the whole arrangement and report changes rather than adding tension blindly.
The lesson
The lesson
Four checks before walking away
- 01
What are the conditions doing next?
Check the current wind, swell, wake and relative movement, then the forecast and expected change over the full period the tender will remain secured.
What goes wrong: A setup suits the calm conditions at deployment but is left unchanged when wind, swell or passing traffic increases the movement later.
- 02
What arrangements are approved aboard?
Use the securing points, whips, fendering, long-line arrangement or recovery method established aboard. A bowline can be used at the tender end; at the vessel-side release point, I prefer an attachment such as a round turn and two half hitches. Confirm the actual arrangement and release plan with the responsible officer.
What goes wrong: A familiar method from another yacht is improvised on fittings or line leads that were not designed for it.
- 03
Can anything contact, chafe or foul?
Check the tender's full range of movement, hull clearance, line leads, chafe points, propellers, waterjets, platforms and any operation planned nearby.
What goes wrong: The tender stays attached, but a line chafes, a tube or hull touches paint, or loose line reaches machinery or another vessel operation.
- 04
Who will monitor it?
Agree when the arrangement will be checked and who is responsible. Reassess after a weather change, significant wash, wind shift or change in vessel activity.
What goes wrong: Everybody assumes somebody else is watching while the tender's motion gradually becomes unacceptable.
Options, not universal rules
- 05
Alongside or on whips
May suit a sheltered period when the fitted arrangement controls movement and preserves clearance. Correct lines, fendering and continued monitoring still matter.
- 06
Held away on an approved long line
May reduce contact with the mothership when conditions and sea room allow. Traffic, security, line lead, chafe, retrieval, propulsion and other operations must all be considered.
- 07
Recovered or stowed
May be the correct choice when the vessel's procedure, forecast or operation makes leaving the tender in the water unsuitable. Recovery remains a separate authorised operation.
- 08
No universal wind number decides this
The correct setup comes from the tender, mothership arrangement, location, forecast, sea room and vessel procedure—not a single wind threshold or a rule copied from another yacht.
Where it goes wrong
The line arrangement is copied from yesterday, but today the tender is surging and a fender is riding out. A knot check alone will not fix the changed conditions.
Your call
What would you do?
Pick one, then read the feedback on all three.
The situation
The tender is secured, but passing wash moves its stern towards an unprotected fitting.
Take it aboard
Read an arrangement from the dock
Do this during your induction or first weeks, with the person responsible for your work.
Walk-through aboard
With the responsible crew, assess a secured tender from an authorised position.
- 01Trace both line ends and identify the planned vessel-side release point.
- 02Identify fender coverage and possible contact.
- 03Point out chafe and movement to monitor.
- 04Explain when you would report a change.
What a useful result looks like
- The whole arrangement is considered.
- No universal line count or tension is invented.
Stop: Do not board, lean into a gap or change loaded lines for the exercise.
Deckhand Foundation · Job card
Tender securing check
From the lesson: Securing the tender
- Approved arrangement followed.
- Both line ends and the vessel-side release point checked.
- Clearance and fender coverage observed.
- Movement and chafe monitored.
- Changes reported and adjustments authorised.
Contact / chafe point
Condition change / report
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.