Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

[countingman]

Some two-earred mooring bitts have holes (for ropes) in their center post. I want to install one near the bow of our little 1958 Feather Craft Rocket Runabout. The question is, should the rope-hole face toward the bow, toward the stern, or to the starboard side, or port side? Which would be the most traditional?

3/17/12 Update: Here's a link to a supplier who shows the bitt with rope hole:

http://buckalgonquin.com/pages/ProductPages/deckhardware/mooring_bits.html

3/18/12 Update: I much appreciate the help that everyone has given. I now know how to fit the bitt!!!

Thanks Again!

 

[JoLin]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

Not quite following. Are you talking about a bollard (that's the vertical post) with a bitt (the 2 horizontal 'arms')? A picture or link would be helpful... I haven't seen a bollard with a hole in the middle of it.

 

[ken51k]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

I can't see a bollard on a small runabout, I think he is talking about a bow cleat. The hole would be facing the sides.

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

I can't see a bollard on a small runabout, I think he is talking about a bow cleat. The hole would be facing the sides.

I thought so initially as well, but in that case, how could the rope pass thru hole not face starboard and port / bow and stern at the same time?

should the rope-hole face toward the bow, toward the stern, or to the starboard side, or port side?

 

[JoLin]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

I thought so initially as well, but in that case, how could the rope pass thru hole not face starboard and port / bow and stern at the same time?

Well, he was asking about the orientation of the hole, not the rope. If in fact he's asking about a bow cleat, he wants the cleat's horns to point forward and aft, which would orient the 'hole' to starboard and port.

Hopefully, the OP will come back and clarify...

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

Well, he was asking about the orientation of the hole, not the rope. If in fact he's asking about a bow cleat, he wants the cleat's horns to point forward and aft, which would orient the 'hole' to starboard and port.

Hopefully, the OP will come back and clarify...

Right, but my point was that if the cleat is oriented parallel with the keel of the boat, the rope pass thru hole cannot be oriented only toward starboard or only toward port - it must be both. Same with the bow and stern if the cleat is oriented parallel to the boat's beam.

Agreed though, that the OP must clarify the question and a picture would be worth more then any discussion at this point.

 

[Pez Vela]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

A mooring bitt mounted on the foredeck would traditionally be used to secure an anchor line, so the hole in the bitt, unusual in itself, should be oriented in the direction which the anchor line will run, traditionally fore and aft toward the bow.

 

[flycaster]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

check this link http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=302372

 

[Beefer]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

I'm pretty sure in the bitt he links to, you want the hole for the rope to face aft. That way water/spray doesn't get in, and flood the locker below.

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

The link in your update makes it much clearer. I agree with Beefer, if you're installing it on the bow, I would orient it so the hole on the bitt is facing aft.

 

[Ned L]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

Beefer and spoilsofwar are correct. The hawse hole faces aft.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

All well and good, but the OP (countingman) hasn't returned to confirm that the bitt in the link supplied by flycaster is in fact what he's asking about.

Yoo-hoo, countingman... where'd you go?

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

All well and good, but the OP (countingman) hasn't returned to confirm that the bitt in the link supplied by flycaster is in fact what he's asking about.

Yoo-hoo, countingman... where'd you go?

Read the original post... The OP updated it with the link to the particular mooring bitt he was talking about.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

Read the original post... The OP updated it with the link to the particular mooring bitt he was talking about.

D'OH! Mea culpa...

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

JoLin. An Altar boy?

 

[JoLin]

Re: Mooring Bitt Question: Please Help!

JoLin. An Altar boy?

Nah... Homer's Italian cousin