Puprise of line and clamp on tiller extension - NE Dory

Hello fellow forum people,

At the risk of asking a dumb question, what is the reason for the line and clamp that is on the tiller extension. My thought was so you can tie the line to a cleat. But it seems that with the NE Dory you really can't keep the tiller unattended for long enough to bother. So maybe there is another reason?

 

Drew 

   Should read "purpose". Sorry