I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to marine devices and, more particularly, to a device for retaining, carrying and making easily graspable a mooring line in an accessible position adjacent a dock, or mooring.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional docking facilities found in marinas and the like, the dock includes a plurality of piers which extend outwardly at spaced intervals and form a slip. A boat in the slip is then secured to the dock by one or more mooring lines. A conventional moorage includes a plurality of buoys anchored to the sea bottom so as to hold the buoy in position. A boat is then secured to the buoy with one or more mooring lines.
During the operation of securing the boat within the slip, or to the mooring, the boat enters the same while o the boater on the boat utilizes a boat hook to engage either the mooring line on the dock or ring on the buoy. Once engaged, the boater brings a free end of the mooring line from the dock onto the boat and secures the mooring line to the boat within the slip in the normal fashion or, in the case of a buoy, ties the mooring line onto the buoy ring. The other end of the mooring line is tied to the dock, or buoy.
In many cases, however, the free end of the mooring line is hanging down into the water as the boater enters the slip. This makes it not only difficult for the boater to engage the free end of the mooring line with the boat hook, but also extends the amount of time required to secure the boat safely within its slip or to its buoy thereby increasing the likelihood of sustaining damage to the boat, other boats and/or the docking structure.
There have been a number of previously known devices which are designed to maintain the mooring lines in an accessible position at the dock slip. These previously known devices typically comprise brackets of one sort or another which are intended to hold the free end of the mooring line out of the water and thus accessible to the boater.
These previously known devices, however, have not proven wholly satisfactory in operation. A primary disadvantage of these previously known brackets is that the free end of the mooring line frequently cannot be secured to the bracket quickly enough prior to departure or it falls from the bracket and into the water thus resulting in the same problems as occur without the bracket at all. Furthermore, many of these previously known brackets extend outwardly into the dock slip and thus interfere with the normal docking action for the boat. Further yet many mooring lines are attached to a dock many feet farther away than will allow reaching all remaining lines once one or more have been secured.