Decent shore lines

To be able to do its job in any circumstances, a dock line on any but the largest cruising yacht should be at least the length of the boat. You need four of these, one for each function. A couple of even longer ones are useful for rafting up and all those odd contingencies you can’t predict. In marinas, full-length lines can be a nuisance, so chop the best bits out of an old one to use as short fore and aft breast ropes on tidy pontoons.