Cleat Hitch Dock Line (Deck)

The Cleat Hitch secures a rope to a cleat. The Cleat Hitch is one of the best ways to tie a boat to a dock. It is a quick and easy method of tying a rope to a cleat on a dock or boat that is also easy to untie.

Watch the video to learn the hitch!

Why No Locking Hitch? Several skippers have written to emphasize various situations when a Locking Half Hitch must be avoided:

• Large Vessels: The uniform practice on large vessels is to never add a final Half Hitch.
• Towing: Never add a Half Hitch on either end of a towline. First, a towline should always be monitored. Second, the ability to quickly release either end is essential.
• Sheeting a Sail: Avoid a Half Hitch for the sheet controlling a sail – rapid release may be critically important in preventing a disaster, e.g., a capsize.

Use a Locking Hitch? In other situations a Cleat Hitch is commonly completed with a locking hitch, e.g., the dock lines for a yacht left in a harbor for long periods, small boat sail halyards, and flag halyards. [1]

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The rope we used in the video is ¼" Utility Rope (Royal Blue): a basic, affordable, all-purpose and all-weather rope.