3 Essential Dock Line Handling Skills [Coiling, Tossing, Looping] | BoatUS

[@artandpati]

Helpful training video. Short, to the point without a lot of fluff.

[@boatus]

Thanks, Arthur! We do our best to get you in and get you the info quickly. Glad you found it useful!

[@mariad1216]

Thank you so much forgoing over this basic very important skill!

[@boatus]

You're welcome, Maria. Thanks so much for watching!

[@debraaaron365]

As a novice I appreciate your candor and encouragement. Simple and effective is the key to my success and your video accomplishes both. I knoe the old timers may chorkle but as a baby sailor I appreciate you and the video. I practiced your technique and it increased my confidence. We need smart sailors when the world if filled with money and no brains. Thank you

[@boatus]

Thanks, Debra! We're glad you found it helpful. A lot of experienced boaters in the office said they learned a thing or two as well. We like to remember that every boater starts at the beginning at some point. Here's to fair winds and following seas in 2020!

[@finmanpoozie4756]

Awesome video--- job well done. I personally found lassoing a piling the most helpful for my needs!! Big thumbs up

[@boatus]

Thanks for watching, Fin Man! 🤙Glad you found it helpful

[@gilesfisher5277]

Thank you so much Lenny. You such a great tutor and teacher infused with wisdom.

[@boatus]

Glad it was helpful!

[@teriostroviak6921]

Very helpful. Thanks for the straight talk

[@boatus]

You are very welcome, Teri! Glad you found it helpful.

[@Sinvare]

Awesome video. There is a further trick to throwing lines if you really want distance or have a heavy line. With the coils split between each hands about 50/50 with a couple loops worth of line slack between them. You throw first with your dominant arm and then throw the second coil with your other arm before all the slack is taken up. The first toss will no longer need to expend it's velocity to pull the second half of the rope, allowing it to go much farther.

[@boatus]

Great tip, Sinvare! Thanks so much for sharing.

[@germangulfan6979]

Always great at info thank you for sharing

[@boatus]

Thanks for watching, German! Glad you found it useful.

[@WysteriaGuitar]

Very useful, thank you. I'll be ready for Spring.

[@boatus]

Awesome! Glad we could help.

[@pauleenwardbrown]

Very helpful, thank you! I will pass it to our sea scout ship for our scouts to learn from at home!

[@boatus]

That's fantastic, Pauleen! Hope they find it useful. It must be so hard for them not to be doing things together for the last year. Please send them our best!!

[@langstonholland9272]

Great, helpful video, thank you Lenny! Comment: Tursi recommends overhand throws keeping the throwing arm straight and aiming above the target. This keeps you from fouling on the boat's safety lines.

[@boatus]

Thanks for adding your two cents, Langston, as someone might find it helpful. While there are probably many possible ways to toss a line, I've never heard of tossing it overhand, unless you're using a throw bag in an MOB situation. I'm not familiar with Tursi, but I'll definitely look into that. We always recommend tossing underhand and aiming toward the recipient's outstretched arm. This ensures the person doesn't end up with a faceful of potentially soggy line. Ouch (and yuck)!

[@Captdal]

Yep ! As always great info Lenny. Thanks for sharing.

[@boatus]

Thanks, Dal! Happy New Year!

[@Lutzboater]

Always great info Lenny. Thanks for sharing.

[@boatus]

Thanks for watching, Tom!

[@TMcD3]

I wrap a lot of bnc video cable and the technique is nearly identical. It also helps to get rid of “rope memory”.

[@boatus]

Thanks for watching, TMcD!

[@libbyd1001]

I know this is a 3 year old video at this point but I'm seeing it for the first time. 3-strand line works well being coiled with the hand twist so that it makes nice loops - but has twist introduced as it's coiled rolling the hand. That's because that line is already twisted and you're going with it. However, braided line should not be coiled that way. Coil it without rotating your wrist. It will hang in a figure 8 but will uncoil with no twist. It's counter-intuitive. An easy way to remember is that twisted 3-strand is coiled by twisting and hangs in a nice loop but un-twisted braided line is coiled by NOT twisting and hangs in what looks like a figure 8. Weird right? This video demonstrates it well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rImXi6Vmq8l6fqc (note, he begins by demonstrating the WRONG way and rotating his hand. Then he shows the right way).

[@boatus]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@renee1503]

Thank you so much. New to boating and want to LEARN :)

[@boatus]

Welcome aboard, Renee! If you go to the playlists on our channel, we have one just for new boaters that includes basic boat handling skills, essential knots, and much more. Enjoy the journey!

[@robertnortan87]

Rock 'n' roll 🤟

[@boatus]

Thanks, Robert!

[@henrygrieb1097]

... and one thing NOT to do ..... Sometimes you see land-lubbers make a coil by sticking out their thumb and then looping the line around the outstretched thumb under the elbow, around the thumb, under the elbow, etc.. The problem with this is that the coils don't go on top of one another. When you go under the elbow some coils will go underneath and some will go on top. If you try to throw this coil it will snag. In contrast, when you make a coil as is shown in the video, placing one coil after another into your hand, the coils are "stacked" and will feed out without snagging when thrown. Just sayin ...... [ Nice video ]

[@boatus]

Awesome point, Henry! I think many of us are guilty of this. Thanks for watching and offering this great tip.

[@johnbogert]

As a sailing instructor, I'm cringing when you introduce twist into a line when you coil it by turning your hand. It looks pretty, but will cause kinks.

[@boatus]

Thanks for watching, John. Twist is going to get into a line no matter how you coil it, that's just a fact of life. Better to control that twist rather than just hope it doesn't get too bad. JUST for the record, that was a lesson I learned while mating on the Mildred Belle for a captain in the U.S. Coast Guard. -Lenny

[@johnbogert]

@@boatus Hi Lenny. Thanks for your reply. Here is a great video that illustrates the problem with introducing twist and how to avoid it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rImXi6Vmq8l6fqc This is especially important for sailors, since we are running long lines through multiple blocks.

[@KenBuscho42]

@@boatus One of the tricks I've learned in teaching folks to learn to coil a rope is to teach them first how to do it with something flat, like webbing or phone cable, the stuff you used to use back in the day of landlines. Using flat stuff makes it very obvious if there is still twist in the line, it won't lay flat. While you are show removing twist with your wrist, rolling the line between you thumb and fingers gives you more control and lets you fine tune the de-twist process, it's really visible with flat stock. Part 2 is training folks to make uniform-size loops. I teach that by starting out with my right elbow tight against my chest/waist, and right hand straight out like you were shaking hands. For beginners, the left hand goes down to grab the rope tight against your leg, like you were patting your pocket to see if your wallet is there. This uniform position guarantees each loop is the same size, and starting with flat stock engrains the twist/de-twist muscle-memory. Once these skills are solid, you can reposition either hand as needed, I've learned placement so I can reliably grab 5' of rope at a time in order to be able to determine unknown lengths, or be able to work with the length I want. Beginning mariner here, but decades of experience with search and rescue rope work to refine these skills, and train them to others.

[@boatus]

@@KenBuscho42 Great tips! Thanks for sharing!

[@KenBuscho42]

@@boatus I think 1" webbing works well as a training tool. If they pick it up with between the thumb and first two fingers (assuming the palm is facing forward and the pinky is touching their leg), that hand gets rotated so the thumbs are touching nail-to-nail and that webbing surface is touching the top of the one in their hand. It works real well visually, they can see the rotation and untwisting, and how nicely things deposit down. When you graduate them on to rope, they already have a good visual and muscle-memory to transfer the skill.

[@michaelquigley1411]

I like most of your stuff but your line coiling guidance is bad. The longer your line, the more important it is to "flake" the line and not coil it. And make full-arm-length loops. Flaking eliminates all the twists and allows the line to pay out tangle-free. When throwing a line be sure to throw it so your coils unwind on the way. Similar to throwing a roll of toilet paper - there's a right way (to get it to unroll) and a wrong way.

[@boatus]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Michael. Flaking may work well for you, and in some situations it's not problematic, but remember that we're speaking to a broad audience. Many boaters will have rails, cleats, etc., so they'll need to hold and release the line at or above a certain height. For the record, we're going to have to disagree that flaking eliminates all the twists; it just doesn't add any new ones to those that already exist. Thanks for watching!

[@ELPHABAGIGI]

It

[@swampwhiteoak1]

Do people really need to be taught such fundamental concepts and skills?

[@boatus]

Did you know how to do these things before you started boating? (And have you ever sat and watched the boat ramp on a busy summer weekend?!)

[@swampwhiteoak1]

@@boatus Yes, I was taught many life skills at a young age by my parents and extended family before I started boating. I would not devote hours or days watching incompetent, unskilled, and dangerous people at a boat ramp. Plus I rarely use a boat ramp on a weekend. However, I have seen people at boat ramps who are incompetent, unskilled, and dangerous. I have even assisted a few.

[@boatus]

Consider yourself fortunate, Swamp. Not everyone grows up in a boating family. And I think you answered your own question: THAT is exactly why we need to teach basic skills.

[@gilroot2158]

Never throw a line

[@boatus]

Why not, Gil? How would you get it to someone if it can't be passed?

[@gilroot2158]

@@boatus use the boat hook and eye of the line.

[@boatus]

@@gilroot2158 That's definitely an option. Still not sure why you say not to throw it though. Sometimes necessary if you're too far away.

[@gilroot2158]

@@boatus If it ends up in the water and under the boat caught in prop.

[@MrMacman71]

@@gilroot2158 What do you do if you have to pass a 5/8 or 3/4 line to the dock? Its simple, throw the line and the guy tossing it is responsible for keeping it out of the prop. Have you ever docked a 100 ft boat? boat hooks dont work, but tossing dock lines does.

[@jacmaclar]

Excellent video but did some things a little too quickly-would’ve been nice to have seen a close up here and there.

[@boatus]

Thanks for your feedback, Cobra. Glad you found the video helpful, and we'll keep your suggestion in mind as we shoot future videos.