[PaulinVictoria]

So, are chocks on the bow of a boat:

1. To guide a mooring line from an inboard cleat as cleanly as possible in order to cut down on chafe.
2. A shock absorber to protect an inboard cleat, an essential part of any mooring system
3. Another point to chafe through a mooring line because the boat designer/builder couldn't figure out, or couldn't be bothered, to put a cleat on a rail
4. Something that could, and should be eliminated by putting a cleat on the rail instead.

Answers on a postcard. Or here.

 

[RobGallagher]

So, are chocks on the bow of a boat:

1. To guide a mooring line from an inboard cleat as cleanly as possible in order to cut down on chafe.
2. A shock absorber to protect an inboard cleat, an essential part of any mooring system
3. Another point to chafe through a mooring line because the boat designer/builder couldn't figure out, or couldn't be bothered, to put a cleat on a rail
4. Something that could, and should be eliminated by putting a cleat on the rail instead.

Answers on a postcard. Or here.

Actually, I think they are primarily for dock lines. More like a fairlead, if you will. You can always add a bow roller and use that for your mooring line.

I couldn't find a postcard so I'll write these answers on a US$50 bill. Will that suffice?

 

[PaulinVictoria]

Not if you are mooring to a mooring instead of an anchor. A US$50 would be quite acceptable

 

[RobGallagher]

Not if you are mooring to a mooring instead of an anchor. A US$50 would be quite acceptable

Why couldn't you use a bow roller? A mooring is just a big anchor.

 

[PaulinVictoria]

I don't know, why couldn't I? Seriously, I have no idea whether that is a good idea or not.

 

[RobGallagher]

I don't know, why couldn't I? Seriously, I have no idea whether that is a good idea or not.

It's seems to be an excellent place for a mooring pendant. Unless I've been missing something all these years, there are plenty of folks who use it for one.

After all, it will be sitting there all lonely with no anchor hanging on it....You won't have an anchor on it, will you?

 

[PaulinVictoria]

Nope. Anyway, back to the original question, which was to settle a discussion and somewhat unrelated to my other mooring questions

 

[Jd1]

The anchor roller is generally not meant for heavy loads. Sure, it can be abused as such but in reality it shouldn't have any direct loads on it other than raising or lowering the anchor.
You should always be taking the anchor load off the bow roller. Leaving the load on the roller is fine for a lunch stop but not for overnight and certainly not for mooring.
As for the original question ... I would say #1
A bonus answer - I would not trust a cleat that is right at the edge of the boat where the toe rail is. Gut feeling (and that's all it is) tells me that the edge is not a good point for severe loads. Much better to have the load nowhere near a seam and spread out over a larger area.

 

[Minnewaska]

Bow rollers can take some load, but are not typically meant to take the potentially extreme shock loading of a choppy anchorage or the whipsawing of a bow that sails back and forth across the wind. That's why a snubber is recommended.

I confess, I will sometimes send the snubber down the bow roller, but only when I know the anchorage will be fairly smooth and I'm just trying to unload the windlass.

As for the chock, a simple piece of chafe protection at that location and you're good to go. I believe they are designed to keep your lines from sawing over your toe rail. I don't think you can get sufficient backing plates under the cleat, if it was immediately on top of the toe rail.

Some use old fire hose for chafe protection. Companies like Chafe Pro make neat alternatives for different size lines. You can either let them run free to be adjustable or put a few stitches through the line to secure them in a permanent location.

 

[PaulinVictoria]

Technically, if a cleat was on top of the rail, it would have a 26' long aluminium backing plate, bolted through the hull/deck join every 3-4"

 

[SVTatia]

I’ll vote for a cleat (or a bollard) on the edge at both sides and a clear fore deck with just the windlass. On a fiberglass boat the edge most often is where the lips of deck and hull meet, therefore should be plenty strong for sheer loads, and should have room under the deck for substantial backing plates.

I’ll take the OP question one step further: should the chocks be open or closed?

My take is Open (fairlead): Pros: convenient to just drop the line, rather than having to feed it thru. Cons: Line may jump and chafe - that applies to dock lines and anchor snubbers.
Closed chock or cleat: Pros: Line will never “jump” and stays within, especially when tied to a harbor wall with any kind of tide. Cons: Line will always need to be either tied to the cleat or fed thru the chock.

 

[SVAuspicious]

1. To guide a mooring line from an inboard cleat as cleanly as possible in order to cut down on chafe.

Yes. This applies to dock lines and anchor snubbers as well.

2. A shock absorber to protect an inboard cleat, an essential part of any mooring system

No. A chock is a fairlead. It has no shock absorption capacity.

3. Another point to chafe through a mooring line because the boat designer/builder couldn't figure out, or couldn't be bothered, to put a cleat on a rail

Possibly. Good design is always important.

4. Something that could, and should be eliminated by putting a cleat on the rail instead.

A direct lead with no fairleads or other chafe points is always (I think - what exceptions could there be?) the simpler, more elegant, and more effective choice.

A bonus answer - I would not trust a cleat that is right at the edge of the boat where the toe rail is. Gut feeling (and that's all it is) tells me that the edge is not a good point for severe loads. Much better to have the load nowhere near a seam and spread out over a larger area.

Why not? A well designed mount would be fine at the deck edge. In fact, it is easier to transfer stress into the hull than from a cleat inboard. On my boat with toerail mounted cleats you could easily lift the boat using the cleats.

That's why a snubber is recommended.

A snubber is recommended to reduce shock loading. Routing is dependent upon what is available. Many boats with combined rope/chain rodes (on which the rope section provides the snubbing function) run their rodes over the bow roller all the time. Given a properly designed bow roller I can think of no reason to do otherwise. The stem is among the strongest portions of a boat.

Some use old fire hose for chafe protection.

Which should be stripped of the inner rubber to avoid heat build-up and line failure.

 

[jeremiahblatz]

I vote 1, 3 and 4. The J/24s at my sailing club have the chocks, and they're more trouble than they're worth. We, in fact, tell people not to use them, and just run the lines around the forecastle. Some larger boats (e.g. Oceanis 50) just have a couple cleats, and I can confirm that they work great for moorings.

 

[Minnewaska]

..... Many boats with combined rope/chain rodes (on which the rope section provides the snubbing function) run their rodes over the bow roller all the time. Given a properly designed bow roller I can think of no reason to do otherwise. The stem is among the strongest portions of a boat.

I may not follow. Are you saying you can see no reason not to run a snubber over the bow roller?

I've seen plenty that wouldn't take a good side load from shifting winds very well, let alone a serious fetch.

 

[Stumble]

This is how cleats should be installed. Chocks are just friction inducting annoyances I wish I could eliminate from my world.

 

[aloof]

So, are chocks on the bow of a boat:

....

They are a useless and misguided effort to make a boat look like a ship. Heavy, costly, chafe-causing...etc.

 

[SVAuspicious]

I may not follow. Are you saying you can see no reason not to run a snubber over the bow roller?

I see no reason not to run a snubber over a properly designed and built bow roller.

I have seen a lot of boats, particularly those with rollers part or all the way out on a bowsprit, on which that configuration is unwise.

I've seen plenty that wouldn't take a good side load from shifting winds very well, let alone a serious fetch.

Which is an indication of a poor design and/or construction.

 

[SVAuspicious]

This is how cleats should be installed. Chocks are just friction inducting annoyances I wish I could eliminate from my world.

The cleats in your photo look oddly familiar. *grin*

 

[aeventyr60]

Something like this:
SUNCOR Bow Chocks | West Marine

Think you could get jiggy with your grinder and open up your toerail a bit?

 

[Capt Len]

If the only time you need this is while moored, consider again the plastic (or metal) popped over the toe rail . 3 or 4 ft on each side should cover all the angles of snubbery and completely eliminate abrasion . I remember all the old wooden fish boats from Scandiahoovia had posts built into the bow bulwarks for easy mooring dockside. Many just pulled the assembly apart ,sheer plank and all from the tug and jerk of snubbing an anchor .May have something to do with how forces are distributed thru a structure., but fiber glass is fairly strong so probably not to worry.