Boat docking assembly and method of use thereof

Abstract

A boat docking assembly for docking a boat in a slip alongside a dock comprises a catch adapted for attachment to a boat, an arm adapted for pivotable attachment to a dock at a pivot and connection with the catch, and a dampener adapted to resist movement of the boat away from the pivot. The assembly preferably includes a support line along the side of the boat upon which the catch slides. The dampener preferably provides progressive resistance against movement away from the pivot and reduces the boat's velocity before pulling the boat toward the dock for debarkation or embarkation.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A boat docking assembly comprising: 
 a catch adapted for attachment to a boat;    an arm adapted for pivotable attachment to a dock at a pivot and providing for connection with the catch; and    a dampener interconnected with the assembly and adapted to resist movement of the boat away from the pivot after connection between the arm and the catch.    
     
     
         2 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 1  further including a support line along the side of the boat, the support line having two ends, each end being attached to the boat, and wherein the catch slidingly engages the rope.  
     
     
         3 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 2  wherein the support line includes a stop, the stop adapted to prevent the catch from sliding after contacting the stop.  
     
     
         4 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 2  wherein the dampener is positioned between the pivot and the arm, the dampener comprising a piston connected with respect to the arm and a tensioning device for resisting movement of the piston away from the pivot.  
     
     
         5 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 2  wherein the dampener is positioned on the support line, the dampener comprising first and second clamps attached to the support line and an elastic line extending between the first and second clamps such that the elastic line resists movement of the boat away from the arm after connection between the catch and arm.  
     
     
         6 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 1  wherein the arm is adapted for universally-pivotable attachment to the dock and is adapted to retain a specific position relative to the dock until moved by contact with the catch.  
     
     
         7 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 1  wherein the arm includes a hook and the dampener includes a piston housing having distal and proximal ends, a piston positioned within the piston housing, a rod having a first end connected with respect to the piston and a second end connected with respect to the arm, and a tensioning device adapted to resist movement of the piston toward the distal end.  
     
     
         8 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 1  wherein the dampener provides progressive resistance to the movement of the boat away from the pivot after connection between the arm and the catch.  
     
     
         9 . A boat docking assembly for allowing a single boat operator to attach a boat to a dock, the assembly comprising: 
 a support line adapted to connect to and extend along a side of the boat, the support line including a stop;    a catch adapted to attach to and slide along the support line;    an arm adapted to pivotably attach to a dock at a pivot and providing for connection with the catch during docking; and    a dampener adapted to resist movement of the boat away from the pivot after connection between the arm and the catch;    whereby, as the boat moves toward a slip alongside the dock:    the catch and the arm are connected;    the catch slides along the support line until contacting the stop;    the support line becomes taut after the catch contacts the stop;    the catch pulls the arm toward the catch after the support line becomes taut; and    the dampener resists movement of the boat away from the pivot.    
     
     
         10 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 9  wherein the support line has at least about three feet of slack.  
     
     
         11 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 9  wherein the support line has a first end adapted for attachment to the boat at the midship cleat and a second end adapted for attachment to the boat at the aft cleat.  
     
     
         12 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 9  wherein the arm is adapted for universally-pivotable attachment to the dock and is adapted to retain a specific position relative to the dock until moved by contact with the catch so that, upon departure from the dock, the operator may place the arm in a position facilitating connection with the catch upon return of the boat to the dock.  
     
     
         13 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 9  wherein the catch includes a loop and the arm includes a hook.  
     
     
         14 . The boat docking assembly of  claim 9  wherein the pivot is on a substantially vertical piling on the dock.  
     
     
         15 . A method of docking a boat comprising: 
 extending a support line along a side of the boat;    attaching a catch to the support line so that the catch is adapted to slide along the support line;    pivotably attaching an arm to a dock at a pivot;    associating a dampener with the arm or the support line to resist movement of the boat away from the pivot;    moving the boat toward a slip alongside the dock; and    connecting the catch to the arm while the boat moves toward the slip, the catch sliding along the support line and pulling the arm, the dampener resisting movement of the boat away from the pivot, thereby reducing the velocity of the boat.    
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the dampener pulls the boat toward the dock after reducing the velocity of the boat.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising: placing the arm at a specific position relative to the dock so that connection between the arm and catch is facilitated.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the connecting action is performed using a pole which supports the catch until the catch connects with the arm.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the support line includes a stop and during the connecting action the catch slides from a forward end of the support line to the stop where the catch pulls the support line taut and pulls the arm.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the dampener provides progressive resistance to the movement of the arm away from the pivot, thereby progressively reducing the velocity of the boat.