Midship Cleats
Here is a boat project I recently completed, cast bronze mooring cleats that mount to the side of the cabin/coaming. The concept is a midship cleat that won't bite our ankles as we pass on the narrow side decks. Until now we have been tying spring lines to the toe rails.
I modeled the cleat in SolidWorks CAD software. I grew the pattern from the CAD model in a 3D printer that I happen to have access to. I had 4 cleats cast in manganese bronze at a foundry in the Boston area. I put two midships and two at the stern to supplement the normal horn cleats. The finish work took about an hour for each cleat. Cutting and drilling the SS backing plates took another hour each. The hardest part was bringing myself to drill holes in the boat.
Here is how they look on the boat. Each cleat can hold one or two 1/2 inch mooring lines.
