Lines we keep on every boat — and why

The standard line kit we put on every managed boat. None of it is fancy. All of it is right.

Dock lines

Four 3/8″ or 1/2″ nylon, length = boat length + 5 feet. Three-strand nylon. Eye spliced one end, whipped the other. Twist nylon stretches under load, which absorbs surge — exactly what you want on a dock. Double-braided is fine but more expensive and not noticeably better for this purpose.

Two spring lines, longer than the main dock lines. Length = boat length plus 10 feet minimum. Spring lines do the real work in tidal slips and current.

Fenders

Six minimum. Standard size is boat length / 10 inches in diameter, minimum. So a 40-foot boat wants 4-inch fenders or larger. The two extra are for finger pier sides, raft-ups, and the fender that inevitably ends up in the water.

Fender lines: pre-cut and color-coded. Different lengths for bow, midship, stern. Black for bow, white for midship, red for stern. Five minutes to set up, prevents the rookie scramble of “which fender goes where.”

Anchor rode

At least 7-to-1 scope of capability. That means for a 10-foot deepest anchorage you cruise, you need 70 feet of rode. Most rode setups are short. Check yours.

Chain leader: minimum 1 foot of chain per foot of boat. A 40-foot boat wants 40 feet of chain ahead of the line. The chain weight is what sets the anchor in.

Throw line

75-foot floating line in a yellow throw bag. Mounted at the helm. Required by COLREGS and basic sense. Cheap. Lifesaving.

What we don’t keep

Synthetic 8-strand sailmaker line on a dock boat. Polypropylene anywhere except a throw line (it floats — good for retrieval, terrible for permanent setup). Bright-colored novelty lines. Anything Amazon-cheap.

If you’d like a kit audit on your boat, that’s part of the first-visit assessment for any management tier.

Gear from this post

What we actually keep aboard — from the B&B shop:

Some links are affiliate links — the boat earns a small commission at no cost to you.