How to Lasso a Cleat (or Piling) while Docking

As crew, if you want to be a docking hero, crazy acrobatics are generally necessary. Those acrobatics are very dangerous and I strongly discourage everyone from attempting them.

Instead, practice lassoing a cleat from a distance and you'll be able to save a docking attempt without even taking a step, let alone a flying leap!

My favorite anecdote about this technique, and the inspiration for this video, was coming alongside aboard a 60'er in Newport Harbor. There was nobody ashore to catch lines and we missed the dock by 6' or so and were getting blown further off. As I prepared the line for lassoing the crewman next to me, who worked for a charter operation and spent a lot of his summer docking boats and helping dock boats, started saying something about this being an impossible throw. Fortunately I had lassoed the cleat and started pulling the stern in before he could finish putting his foot into his mouth.

After we were tied off he grilled me on the finer points of the technique, lassoed a few cleats while we cleaned up the boat and said he expected to use this new trick daily at work for the remainder of the season.