Mooring line holder

Abstract

A mooring line holder for holding a mooring line at a dock in a raised position for ease of access to the mooring line from the deck of a yacht, cruiser or other watercraft, the mooring line holder having a foot by which it is attached to the dock and an upright pole or post rising from the foot and having a pair of support arms extending laterally from the pole or post at or near the upper end of the pole or post, each support arm having a respective detent/cradle for said mooring line, the detents being spaced apart so that a loop of the mooring line may be held spread open between them, thereby enabling a boat hook or other lengthy tool to be used to reach between the detents and hook the open loop of mooring line.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A mooring line holder for holding a mooring line at a dock in a raised position for ease of access to the mooring line from a yacht, cruiser or other watercraft, the mooring line holder comprising:
 a) a foot by which it is attached to the dock; and   b) an upright pole or post rising from the foot to an upper end;   c) a pair of support arms that extend laterally from the pole or post at or near the upper end of the pole or post, wherein each support arm has a respective detent for said mooring line, the detents being spaced apart so that a loop of the mooring line may be held spread open between them, thereby enabling a boat hook or other lengthy tool to be used to reach between the detents and hook the open loop of mooring line.   
     
     
         2 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein each detent is an open-topped cradle or hook to receive said mooring line therein and passing therethrough. 
     
     
         3 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein each detent projects upwardly from the respective arm. 
     
     
         4 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pair of support arms are bifurcated from the upright pole or post. 
     
     
         5 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pair of support arms collectively define a V or U shape formation at the top of the upright pole or post. 
     
     
         6 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the V or U shape formation is plane parallel or co-planar with the pole or post. 
     
     
         7 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the detents are at the upper extremities of the V or U shape formation. 
     
     
         8 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the detents are open-topped cradles that are substantially U-shaped, with vertical sides that do not converge at the open top of the cradle. 
     
     
         9 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the mooring line holder has a modular construction, the support arms and uppermost extremity of the pole or post being molded or cast as a head module and a main length of the pole or post being formed separately and assembled together with it. 
     
     
         10 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 9 , wherein the head module couples onto the top of the main length of the pole by a collar. 
     
     
         11 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pole or post comprises two or more lengths that can be telescoped to lengthen or shorten the pole or post. 
     
     
         12 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a basal/lowermost end of the pole or post has a spring to allow deflection of the pole or post if knocked. 
     
     
         13 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the spring is a coil spring wrapped around the basal/lowermost end of the pole or post. 
     
     
         14 . The mooring line holder as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the spring has a looped basal projection at its lowermost end that functions as the foot/base plate of the pole or post and allows a screw, bolt or the like fastening means to be passed through it and thereby used to anchor the mooring line holder onto the dock