Have you reached your berth in Genoa, are you mooring and the situation requires timing and speed? For example, securing the line to the cleat quickly to grab the other one being thrown from the boat or securing a spring line around the cleat? It is therefore necessary to perform a mooring knot quickly, securely, even if temporarily: let’s see how to make a quick knot for mooring.

Mooring tips: a quick knot for mooring

In this case, you need to create a clove hitch horizontally. It’s the same knot we use to secure fenders to the guardrails or anything else that exerts tension or weight on the knot.

In the demonstration images, taken among the berths of our marina in Genoa, the knot was executed around the winch: naturally, it should be made around a mooring cleat.

To begin, you need to take the working end, which is the free end of the line, and pass it under the standing part, which is the part coming from the boat.

Then, using the working end again, make a loop larger than the size of the bollard (in our case, the winch) by folding the line back on itself.

Now you can tighten the knot. The line’s tension ensures it holds. This way, we’ve quickly created a mooring knot that allows us to focus on other tasks. Once the boat is secured and you’re certain of the final mooring position, you can replace this knot with a bowline and rest easy for the night.

However, if we’re not the ones receiving the line on the dock but need to jump from the boat with the line in hand, we can prepare the clove hitch at the size needed to pass around the bollard. Proceed by passing the working end first over the standing part, creating the first loop, and then under to create the second loop as shown in the photo above.

Finally, as shown in the photo, overlap the first loop over the second. We have now prepared the clove hitch this way, allowing us to jump onto the dock and slip it around the bollard, tightening it in just moments.

Now you know how to make a quick knot for mooring: we look forward to seeing you at our port in Liguria to practice this technique, and of course to discover the beauties of the Superba, practically all within walking distance of our marina in Genoa! Click here to book your mooring: