I took a little “retreat” this weekend, running my C-Dory 22—Two Lucky Fish—around Lake Washington a bit. During this mini-cruise, I got to make use of some of the products and technology I’ve written about here at Navagear, and I thought I would summarize my experience with one in particular: TideMinders
I don’t often have an opportunity to use these, because I tend to tie up to floats most everywhere I go. On Saturday night, though, I decided I wanted a bit more peace and quiet than I got the previous night at Kirkland’s public dock. I wrapped a mooring line equipped with the TideMinders “string of pearls” around a piling at Kenmore Logboom Park.
During the night, the boat pivoted easily and silently around this creosote-coated piling as the wind shifted. Pleasant, and reassuring. One of my concerns when tying up to a pile is that the rope may snag or chafe against a protruding, abrasive bit of wood or metal hardware. With the TideMinders deployed, though, I don’t worry about this at all.
When I brought the rig aboard the next morning, the rope itself was nearly clean, and the smooth TideMinder balls hadn’t picked up any creosote either. No unpleasant mess, no stains, and no splinters in the rope. Nice!
I’m happy with this product, and found it valuable even on a lake without any tide to mind.
HOWEVER, I really need to figure out a better way to rig them to my mooring line. Right now, I’ve got them rigged to the middle of a 50-foot length of 1/2-inch three-strand line. I took the loose ends of the line and cleated both to a horn cleat at the stern. The result of this is that I’ve only got an effective 20 feet of mooring line to work with. Fine so far, but what if I want to swing wider, or secure the other end of the boat up against a wharf or something?
I think the TideMinders ought to be secured near one end of the line instead, with a shackle or something to “close the loop” around the piling. That should leave me with 40 feet or so of usable mooring line.
My conundrum: How to “close the loop” without introducing a new point of failure or complicated bit of gear that won’t function reliably after it’s been soaked is saltwater periodically. I suspect the solution is a high quality stainless snap shackle or carabiner, like the Wichard units with an eye at one end. This requires further study.
OR, I could just follow the manufacturer’s instructions!
Set-up Instructions
1) Mark your line about 42" from the end.
2) String TideMinders® on to the line with the middle ball over that mark.
3) Tie Figure-Eight Knots against the balls.
4) Now tie a Bowline, keeping equal distance to each Figure-Eight Knot.
(Notice the Bowline Knot is aligned with the center "Pearl")
Slip the TideMinders® over the piling and secure the line(s) to a deck cleat.
Adjust all lines for the boat’s preferred position in the slip, and tension the lines holding the TideMinders® at about 30 degrees below horizontal. This will keep all lines at correct tension, with automatic shock absorption.
Note: Leave enough spare length on lines to the dock – so you have control when pulling the boat to the piling – where you hang the TideMinders® while away from your slip.
Actually, there’s a reason I’m still considering a snap-shackle: Around here, we almost never have access to the top of the piling; there’s no way to “slip the TideMinders over the piling”! I don’t relish the idea of leaning out over the side trying to tie a bowline at just the right spot while wind or wave action knocks the boat around. Stay tuned…I’ll figure this out!
