Build a Better Boat Hook?

[Kings Gambit]

I have yet to own a boat hook that I can actually do with it what I wish. The aluminum telescoping varieties are not safe to use IMHO b/c they do not lock well enough when partially extended to hold what is being pulled (e.g., a BOAT!) w/o unexpectedly extending out more. I usually cannot pick up a dock line off of a dock finger or grab a dock cleat while standing on the boat b/f the boat hits something or blows off to leeward b/c the combination of the pike and hook make it nigh impossible to snag the line. If I do get the cleat, I cannot let it go easily. So then, my attention is diverted to that impending CF instead remaining on docking. Only with much effort and sometimes with more than one attempt can I recover something that has fallen overboard. As the aluminum telescoping ones also gum up with deposits I might not get it extended before passing the thing I might wish to recover, etc. The non-telescoping (wooden) ones are too long and unwieldy for most sailboaters to have aboard. The pike on those are even more ridiculous. They remind me of jousting poles of Medieval Fairs. Those things belong in a museum along with pictures of clipper ships from the Age of Sail!!

 

[jssailem]

There is a new years resolution in there some where.

1. To gain proficiency with a boat hook.
2. To throw all boat hooks off the boat
3. To invent a better mouse trap = boat hook
4. To stay away from docks and lines on them...

 

[Kings Gambit]

More--to seek further council from the greatest minds of contemporary sail boating @ SBO!

 

[Stu Jackson]

5. And bull rails, too. (grapnel hook - I even have one)

The "greatest minds" agree with you. I ain't got no solutions for ya, mon... I have the same issues with them. I recently inherited a fixed aluminum one, but it's too long for the locker, sits on deck by the handrails. OK when going forward, useless in the cockpit 'cuz i have to leave the cockpit to go get it!!!

 

[Kings Gambit]

I actually have 3 of those kludge devices aboard. One below, one attached to the radar post on the port stern, and the other, as you say, alongside the hand rails amidships. So, I can get to 'em; but it's what happens after that that's problematic. I sometimes take the one stowed at the rails w/me in the dink under the notion that it will aid landing the dink somehow. Same problem--cannot grab a dock cleat easily; a bull rail is only a slightly better target.

 

[Ron20324]

How about a genuine, official, Star Trek Tractor Beam? From K-Tell. You can find them on TV.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I've been trying to get those ST anti-gravs seen in the "Changeling" episode to work when carrying heavy stuff to the boat. No dice. Evidently, they do not work well unless in zero gravity already!

 

[Parsons]

I'm also frustrated by the twist-lock extendable things as well, from all manufacturers. The locking mechanism either jammed or will not hold. They will not stand up to any extension or compression force without slipping. Unfortunately, it's the price I pay to have something that fits in a small boat locker, is affordable, and potentially floats. Perhaps if we replaced the twist-lock with a button-in-holes, like a Shurhold brush has? Has anyone used their boat hook attachment? Alternatively, we could have a multi-part pole that screws together. Time isn't a problem as I usually have more than a half-hour notice that I'm going to dock!

On the good point, the hook designs are pretty good and I can grab or hold a line on both sides of the hook. I wish there was some clamping device like pliers operated from the handle as I occasionally have to grab a line that I cannot hook. A classic, embarrassing example is grabbing a 'skied' halyard.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Perhaps if we replaced the twist-lock with a button-in-holes, like a Shurhold brush has? Has anyone used their boat hook attachment? Alternatively, we could have a multi-part pole that screws together. Time isn't a problem as I usually have more than a half-hour notice that I'm going to dock!

I like this idea. No, I did not know about the boat hook attachment of the Shurhold but I'll investigate it. I have that pole already. I was just about to replace the brush which is shedding.

 

[Gunni]

Brian! We’re going to need your guitar and song-writin’ skills here: The Boathook Blues.

Woke up off Catalina,
Should be free as a Lark,
I got 4 days leave, but my mood is dark.
Yeah, I got them boathook blues...and my 10 year old rum is in the sea.

Boathook blues, boathook blues!

The Devil made this boathook, and he left it here for me.

I used to be happy.
I used to have a gal.
She was like the California sun,
and her name was Gail.
But when her daddy got boathook mean,
she said she had to bail.

I got the boathook blues, I got them boathook blues real bad.

My rum is off Avalon, and my gal lives with a guy named Tad.
I’m left here on the Gambit, feeling real sad!

Damn these boathook blues and the Devil who made this tool.
Lord knows I deserve better but I guess I’m just a bargain basement fool.

Copyright; Gunni

 

[jssailem]

My kayak paddle has holes and buttons that pop up to make the paddle secure. That sounds like it might work.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I like this idea. No, I did not know about the boat hook attachment of the Shurhold but I'll investigate it. I have that pole already. I was just about to replace the brush which is shedding.

Those hook attachments won't solve my problem for grabbing or capturing something. They look they are made to service those boaters that reside in slips that require them to secure to wooden cleats of pilings. That is a very common situation in FL where boats in the canals behind folks' homes have pilings on the outboard side of a seawall to which they must tie. The cradle finger design allows them to lift the dock line off the wooden cleat to attach to the boat when arriving, or put in on when leaving the slip so it doesn't hang into the water.

 

[TomY]

We need a good boat hook, often. Sailing with a family for a couple of decades, I'd hate to think how many times we've tacked to pick up a hat,...

We use it for picking up various moorings, many of which don't have pick up buoys(like ours, often).

We've lashed knives on to cut us free from lobster buoy warp, use it to pull down something that was pulled up the masts, catch the dinghy that someone didn't cleat, pick up floating garbage.

It needs to be stronger than we are, it's gone overboard more than once, when we were blown off trying to hook a mooring pennant.

It floats. But it does not telescope, obviously.

If you can find a place for it, a one piece wooden boat hook is handy. This one was mounted when the boat was built. You can still buy the bronze hook and supply your own handle. Maybe a slightly shortened handle would fit a locker?

 

[DArcy]

I've seen a telescopic boat hook that has button locks, like jssailem mentioned, and is also a bilge pump. Well, actually it is more useful for squirting water at people. I'm trying to find it online but I'm drawing a blank.

On my boat I have a fixed aluminum as well as twist lock telescopic boat hook. I like the fixed one better because of the reasons mentioned above. I made space for it in my cockpit locker so I can get at it fairly quickly but when docking I pull it out and put it on the cabin top hand rail. The one thing it really is not good at is retrieving skied halyards. I like Parsons' idea of the grabby hand attachment.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I suppose I could "convert" one of telescoping ones to "fixed length" by drilling through with it set at a desired length, then inserting a pin near the working end. That would stop the unwanted extending; two pins should keep it from "working" (i.e. yawing) when using it.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Just yesterday I was talking with co-workers about how badly my car handles in the snow, but it was fun driving to work as a result of the slip-sliding on the empty back roads that I travel ... we concluded that it qualifies as a "white people problem". Somehow, this discussion comes to mind.

 

[JamesG161]

We have 2 Telescoping and floating boat hooks from...
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west...ping-boat-hooks--P005_158_003_009?recordNum=2

The telescoping is for storage only. You fully extend it, twist lock for pushing, otherwise you are normally using it in tension.
It can't over "telescope" because it is locked.

I have used the hook to extend a helping hand to a recreational swimmer.
_________
We have a bimini normally up. There are 2 elastic storage band under the bimini. We stow the hooks and a telescoping small "fishing net" for retrieve floating stuff dropped in the water.

_____
BTW I insist on using the boat hook to try "push" off a bollard, instead of using your hand or feet.
My 13 ton boat will crush hands and feet.

Jim...

 

[JamesG161]

two pins should keep it from "working" (i.e. yawing) when using it.

The shorter length version I linked [above] does not Yaw. It is just one extension.
The "pushing" functions is more for the "helpers" concerns. They think they are protecting my boat. I aways tell them... Relax.. the Captain has the control and nice rub rails.

If fact, when trying to back in docking in a 20 knot side wind, I have "gunned" the engine to enter the slip and bounced off a Bollard. No damage to boat or "hands and feet".
No way a boat hook PUSH would stop the 13 ton moving boat.
Jim...

 

[thinwater]

I did a bunch of testing and broke many intentionally in the process. And in fact, I did find a line of boat hooks I really like. Yes, it is surprising how many fail basic tests:

• Good lock.
• Withstand seawater.
• Slender hook that can pick line off dock. The bullnose or multi-hook versions are cumbersome, to me.
  
• Light enough to one-hand at full extension.

On my last boat I left two on the tramp; a 5' fixed pole for regular dock use, and a long one for that occasional odd requirement, such as placing a loop over a distant piling. Both lasted a long time (sold the boat), in spite being left on deck 24/7.

https://www.practical-sailor.com/is...Search-of-the-Ultimate-Boat-Hook_12110-1.html

 

[thinwater]

I did a bunch of testing and broke many intentionally in the process. And in fact, I did find a line of boat hooks I really like. Yes, it is surprising how many fail basic tests:

• Good lock.
• Withstand seawater.
• Slender hook that can pick line off dock. The bullnose or multi-hook versions are cumbersome, to me. A slender hook is also better at snagging floating hats etc.
  
• Light enough to one-hand at full extension.

On my last boat I left two on the tramp; a 5' fixed pole for regular dock use, and a long one for that occasional odd requirement, such as placing a loop over a distant piling. Both lasted a long time (sold the boat), in spite being left on deck 24/7.

https://www.practical-sailor.com/is...Search-of-the-Ultimate-Boat-Hook_12110-1.html

It also takes practice to learn how to use a hook. For example, any clean, simple hook will put and take lines if they are looped and tensioned properly. Docking a boat is more about spring lines and calculating the effect of wind, tide, and prop walk than boat hooks. The hook should only be needed for fetching shore lines. We never used them much for fending.