Build a Better Boat Hook?
- Thread starter Kings Gambit
- Start date
I found this Starbrite product at the Marine Exchange in San Diego yesterday. Smaller than the WM hooks; will (or should) fit (snap on) fixed or extendable handles of the Shurhold brushes, etc.
Description
Fits all Extend-A-Brush Premium Handles.
Features
Description
Fits all Extend-A-Brush Premium Handles.
Features
- Constructed of unbreakable glass reinforced nylon for years of trouble free use.
- Special design makes for easy rope handling and pick up.
Here is how I stow our boat hooks. Hunter 42 Owner Modifications and Upgrades
We've had Garelick brand poles for years. Earlier ones had cast aluminum tips, which broke while trying to hold our anchor at the toe rail in order to untangle the chain. The company replaced it with a plastic one. Broke two other plastic ones due to over exertion, again at no charge.
Really like these poles. They do not come apart. One time I tried to hold onto a mooring ring in a blow, but alas it pulled out of my hands. Since it floats, I recovered it a short while later.
We've had Garelick brand poles for years. Earlier ones had cast aluminum tips, which broke while trying to hold our anchor at the toe rail in order to untangle the chain. The company replaced it with a plastic one. Broke two other plastic ones due to over exertion, again at no charge.
Really like these poles. They do not come apart. One time I tried to hold onto a mooring ring in a blow, but alas it pulled out of my hands. Since it floats, I recovered it a short while later.
Whenever I find myself complaining about something to do with my boat, I remind myself these are “First World Problems”.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.
We use the “standard” ball and hook model to push off and grab stuff.
But our go to hook is The Boat Loop. My wife loves it because she can loop it around a dock cleat when we stop to pump out or take on water and she doesn’t have to try to hook the cleats. Which for some reason, seem to get smaller and smaller each year. Why is that?
The large loop let’s you just grab the cleat and hold.
A word of caution though, make sure the hook part is screwed on tight to the pole. That loop don’t float. Don’t ask how I know.
But our go to hook is The Boat Loop. My wife loves it because she can loop it around a dock cleat when we stop to pump out or take on water and she doesn’t have to try to hook the cleats. Which for some reason, seem to get smaller and smaller each year. Why is that?
The large loop let’s you just grab the cleat and hold.
A word of caution though, make sure the hook part is screwed on tight to the pole. That loop don’t float. Don’t ask how I know.
I have been looking for something similar to this but would want it to connected to a dock line and detach from the pole. I use a single line to dock with it looped over the stern most dock cleat and to the primary winch. With that one line and the engine in forward, the boat is held against and parallel to the dock.
If you watch the movie Midway you get a good demonstration of how boat hooks are meant to be used. A sailor standing on a ship's landing platform using a long one to hold a gig alongside the platform while the Captain or Admiral debarks the gig. Not really designed to retrieve docklines lying on a dock. So no, they don't work well for that; my 1st-world frustration. Just another marginally useful product of constrained function sold in boat stores.
Now I have a short, telescoping, aluminum one that I use to hook the boat (i.e., boat hook) when returning in the dinghy. Works much better for that. Can also hook a bull rail when coming up to a dinghy dock, but it's still not worth a s**t if trying to hold the dink by a dock cleat for debarking. Cleats are functionally awkward at dinghy docks, or any type of hot dock. Rarely, if ever, positioned for best use at one. Really dumb, IMHO. Don't see them in Canada; always bull rails at hot docks.
Now I have a short, telescoping, aluminum one that I use to hook the boat (i.e., boat hook
) when returning in the dinghy. Works much better for that. Can also hook a bull rail when coming up to a dinghy dock, but it's still not worth a s**t if trying to hold the dink by a dock cleat for debarking. Cleats are functionally awkward at dinghy docks, or any type of hot dock. Rarely, if ever, positioned for best use at one. Really dumb, IMHO. Don't see them in Canada; always bull rails at hot docks.
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The boat hook design has not changed much since WWII, so it's intended function likely has not. Your point is like saying that because the basic mechanics of the Diesel engine (i.e., fuel combustion from compression heat) was worked out near the turn of the 20th century, they should no longer apply in its use.
My original thread was posted in 2018. I don't know why it was revived yesterday. Just reporting what I've learned since then.
BTW. The quick way to tie up to a bull rail of a dinghy dock is to make one turn around the rail with 3-strand polypropylene painter, end spliced, then pass the end twice through the weave of the strands, which are easily twisted open for that. You're done! Now leave 6 to 8 ft of slack in your painter, which is floating as it poly, to permit later access to the rail.
One of two common arguments against polypropylene as painters. The other is that it does not hold knots well. The solution to that one is described above by passing the end splice twice through the weave. As far as deterioration, don't leave it out. But, where are we? Not in the tropics. I've been using the same polypropylene painter for many years. Deterioration just not that severe at our latitudes (seasons). Nylon also will deteriorate given enough time and exposure.
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OK... we've had to do a little clean up in aisle 4. No need to pull out the rulers to measure. We each have our own way to do things. So, let's respect that. List how you would do it but do not challenge how someone else will do that.
Now, I am going back to bed. Don't bother me anymore today
.
Now, I am going back to bed. Don't bother me anymore today
.
I wrote a review once for a mag, testing and breaking many.
- For pushing you want a non-telescoping pole. If you are close enough to push, it doesn't need to be very long. I never used the telescoping pole on my cat, since the slip was a good fit. Didn't need the length.
- A small tip. The main use, for me, is snagging lines off the dock. The only modern pole I found with a hook small and agile enough that it doesn't just push them around is Davis Instruments. My tri is in a huge, oversized slip, so I have the longest, 3-section one. 4 years of weekly use, so far. Big padded tips are a total waste. If you need to push off a boat, you should place it on a metal part that won't be damaged.
- I like a simple head without features. Placing a loop over a piling with a standard hook is boating 101. "Features" just increase snags.
- Keep the pole on-deck. Find a place.
- The threaded tips, so you can use it with a brush, are a total waste. The hook keeps snagging lines. If you need a brush, use a fixed broom handle.
- Telescoping poles are fine for pulling. But fully extend the section you are using! That way it can't slip. No problem.
I would love to have one of those old navy 12-foot x 2-inch hickory poles with a bronze tip, but what I really need is the healthy, muscular 20-year old boat crewman that can swing it around!
What on earth does "Midway" have to do with recreational boating, or my needs as a singlehander? Not on thing I can think of. On my boat, there is no shore crew, so it should be designed to pick up the lines I left. I don't think I ever used one to "hook a dinghy." On my cruising cat with had swim platforms and the dinghies were inflatable, so you just manuvered into the space between the hulls, easy peasy, no boat hook wanted.If you watch the movie Midway you get a good demonstration of how boat hooks are meant to be used. A sailor standing on a ship's landing platform using a long one to hold a gig alongside the platform while the Captain or Admiral debarks the gig. Not really designed to retrieve docklines lying on a dock. So no, they don't work well for that; my 1st-world frustration. Just another marginally useful product of constrained function sold in boat stores.
Now I have a short, telescoping, aluminum one that I use to hook the boat (i.e., boat hook
This is an example of one tool not being suited to all jobs, and not all sailors having the same needs. On my last boat I had a stout non-telescoping pole for certain uses, but I still used it to snag lines off the dock--how else would I get them? On this one a long light pole is more desireable. I don't fault either one. Horses for courses.
I was puzzeld by the guy who kept breaking hooks horsing and anchor around. I'd use rope for that.
A thread I started 4 years ago on wishing for a boat hook that I could find useful has led to this somewhat nonsensical series of posts, mostly out of context. The reason the boat hooks I had were not satisfactory is because IMO their basic design is copied from those of “legitimate” uses of days past as exemplified in the movie I mentioned. Not specifically for my uses. The term “boat hook” now is hardly a description of the thing’s purpose or function. Yes. How used in the movie has nothing to do with recreational boating. So, let’s move on.
I broke a telescoping boat hook by pushing with it. Bent the pole so badly it would not retract. After a bit of thought, I removed the hook and threw the rest into an aluminum recycling bin.
Went to the big box hardware store (can't remember if it was blue or orange) and bought a wooden 8 foot closet rod, a roll of binder's twine and a quart of SparVar. I drilled a hole in one end of the rod to accommodate the old hook and through bolted the hook to the rod. I used the binder's twine to cover up the bolts on the hook end and created three hand holds on the other end such that the Admiral could grip it comfortably at the end or up a body width. Then put three coats of SparVar on everything but the hook to weather-resist the pole. It hangs from the spinnaker pole attachment on the mast with the butt inside of the halyard attachment at the base of the mast. (Doing pain meds this morning and can't remember the true names of the mast parts.)
It's always ready when we are sailing and when we aren't the mainsail cover fits over it, also. Yes, it's still a boat hook but the Admiral likes it and that's good enough for me.
Went to the big box hardware store (can't remember if it was blue or orange) and bought a wooden 8 foot closet rod, a roll of binder's twine and a quart of SparVar. I drilled a hole in one end of the rod to accommodate the old hook and through bolted the hook to the rod. I used the binder's twine to cover up the bolts on the hook end and created three hand holds on the other end such that the Admiral could grip it comfortably at the end or up a body width. Then put three coats of SparVar on everything but the hook to weather-resist the pole. It hangs from the spinnaker pole attachment on the mast with the butt inside of the halyard attachment at the base of the mast. (Doing pain meds this morning and can't remember the true names of the mast parts.)
It's always ready when we are sailing and when we aren't the mainsail cover fits over it, also. Yes, it's still a boat hook but the Admiral likes it and that's good enough for me.