TOPIC: Deck cleat position

My boat is small, 13' 9" centerline and 60" beam. Only came with 2 cleats, roughly 5 inches forward of windshield. These are too small to tie both anchor and fender to, really too small for anything larger than a 3/8" line. I am installing 4 more I can't mount the front ones more than even with the seat backs, they would interfere with throttle on starboard side. And the rear ones can only be mounted in front of the stern light pole. This only gives me 57" between the two. My question is will this distance suffice for springline mooring and general situations I may encounter? I tried to take pics but I can't find my USB cable to download.

Maybe add just one to each side, midway?

And how could I tie a springline 'fore cleat to aft on dock aft cleat to for on dock? Existing cleat is useless. Honor your response, but I guess I don't understand.

I'd guess that the small cleats forward of the windshield were intended for bumpers only. Usually a boat should be fitted with a center bow cleat - 15 to 20 inches back from the tip of the boat. Then a couple chocks on the starboard & port deck about 12" to 16" back from the tip of the bow. I can't imagine that a springline would be needed on a 13 foot boat. You might be better off looking at gunnel fenders - those have a sharp bend in them where they essentially snap over the gunnel without a rope. They are great for runabouts, but a little expensive compared to conventional bumpers. An annchor is best attached to a ski tow on the transom, or the bow tow eye. You can put a spring loaded D ring on the enchor line to make it easy to attach. If you want to add cleats on the aft gunnel area - I'd suggest putting them 12" to 16" ahead of the transom. You may need to reinforce the fiberglass underneath.

I agree with Bruce , Bow clete mostly for looks with a couple chocks . stern Cletes work for bumpers. I have a small line I use with a snap eye on the end that I use for dock lines- One from the bow eye that is used to attach to the trailer and one for the stern that I go from the eye in the stern that is used for the trailer hold down. In a small boat you should not need a spring line and I don't like the lines rubbing across the deck Bow ring and stern eye are usually the most solid on the boat ?

Thanks for the info. Looking back on my original post I meant to type "not room for both fenders and dock lines" instead of anchor and fenders. Using the bow eye and ski eye makes sense. Keep them attached and tie off to the dock. I'll look into the fenders that don't need to be tied.