Dumb Mooring Question

sinnettc · Jan 16, 2012

That's what I did in the San Juans, only there were no pennants, just a steel ring. I looped through and hoped the wind wouldn't come up and cause chafe. The first night the wind did come up and we were bouncing around a bit so I looped a second line through as an insurance policy.

One thing that makes me think the looped through the middle and cleat to both cleats approach isn't a good long term solution is the fact that as we swung around the mooring with the tide & wind the bow line twisted around itself.

Sailm8 · Jan 16, 2012

Most of the pendents that I have moored to have had a loop that I could pass a line through and make a bridle.

Tom J · Jan 16, 2012

When we pull up to a mooring without a pennant, we will pass a dock line through the ring, loop it back to the bow cleat, and secure both ends of the line to that cleat. Then, we take another dock line, and using the first line to pull us close, we push the loop of the dock line through the ring and pass the bitter end of the line through the loop and cinch that up tight to the ring. We then remove the first line. The main thing is to prevent any movement of the line secured to the ring. Any movement will chafe through the line in no time. When we leave the mooring, we reverse the process. Having the line passed through the ring and secured at both ends allows us to drop one end of the line and pull it through the ring, allowing us to time leaving the mooring so that the bow is pointing in the right directiion.

Maine Sail · Jan 16, 2012

I always put my own line through a "guest" mooring pendants eye. I use an eye to eye so there is no chance of chafe. Why? It keeps my decks clean...

Guest/rental pendants often have lots of snot & growth from being in the water more than hooked to a boat.

AtlanticAl · Jan 16, 2012

I once had a boatyard put my boat onto a mooring. When i went out to the boat, they had not only put a docking line from the boat, onto the mooring, tied to a cleat on the boat, they had taken another line, tied it round the mast, and then tied that onto the mooring ring. It was a much much heavier line, that they had supplied themselves. When i asked them about it, they said, the normal sized line, can get shredded so quickly, and the fittings can be pulled out of the deck, but they have never had a problem with putting a line round the mast, and onto the mooring ring.

higgs · Jan 16, 2012

An anchor hitch would be the way to go, I think. It will greatly reduce the chafe problem. When cruising, I used to carry a mooring penant with a thimble and a shackle for this very situation. My cruising grounds now don't include moorings so I have stopped doing that.
http://www.apparent-wind.com/knots/anchor-hitch/

Fogg · Jan 17, 2012

One concern to be aware of is that not all moorings are meant to be secured at the top loop. That loop is often meant to keep the mooring from sliding off the chain from the mushroom. Taylor makes a mooring ball which has the chain pass directly through the ball and is held in place by a collar and shackle larger than the hole in the ball. (Taylor Sur-Moor T3C) It is worth checking out the difference and could save your boat in a blow. Good luck.

Maine Sail · Jan 17, 2012

Fogg said:
One concern to be aware of is that not all moorings are meant to be secured at the top loop. That loop is often meant to keep the mooring from sliding off the chain from the mushroom. Taylor makes a mooring ball which has the chain pass directly through the ball and is held in place by a collar and shackle larger than the hole in the ball. (Taylor Sur-Moor T3C) It is worth checking out the difference and could save your boat in a blow. Good luck.

Nearly ever rental or guest mooring in Maine is a "pendant" type of mooring. The mooring pendants are attached directly to the chain or nylon top rope whether a "pass through" ball or bottom ball mount. We don't generally use the foam "ring" balls up here as they are usually suited for just a 14' Glastron at best.

Most moorings in Maine are "soft ball" (Scanmarin or Polyform) with the pendants attached under the ball to a swivel... The ball's only purpose in life is to keep the pendant and mooring rode at the surface of the water.

Pass through "hard shell" balls can cause sever scratching of the top sides if not installed correctly and also have a tendency to cause pendant wrap if they float incorrectly. They are also VERY annoying when they bang against the hull in calm weather.

This is a typical mooring rig in Maine: (Image courtesy Hamilton Marine)

Joe11688 · Jan 17, 2012

dscribner said:
I've spent many an hour dangling from a assemblage of galvanized steel stuck in the mud, but not much time using a mooring. How is this done? What I did was pick up the ball, pass my anchor line (1/2") thru the ring and cleat both ends to the bow cleat. I hear reference to using the pendant line to pick up the mooring line then attaching THAT to the bow cleat, but the ones that I used were were just too big for my cleat. Anybody?

Most of the new mooring balls have a PVC pipe in the center for the mooring chain to go through. Usually, a large shackle with a piece of rubber under it is all that is needed to keep chain in place on the ball. A pendant line consisting of a splice on metal thimble is then attached to the large shackle on the ball.
The older type mooring balls have hardware inside the ball that consists of a thin metal rod with a large loop on top of the ball. This is more of a handle for raising the ball to check the ground tackle and should never be used for a pendant line.
The chain and the pendant line attachments on this type of mooring ball are always made to a smaller loop of this thin rod under the ball.

With that said, I used to use one of my dock lines to moor my boat to our empty club moorings years ago before I started renting my own mooring. What I would do is run my line through the chain shackel twice and bring the end back several feet and tie a large looped bowline into the standing part of the line. The line was then adjusted and tied off to one of my bow cleats. There was less chance of chafe at the mooring shackle with a round turn of the line and when it came time to release this line, I just pulled on it enough to reach that large looped bowling to untie it and let it all slip through the shackle.
I did this for a number of years and got away with it, but I don't trust old moorings and pendant lines. I prefer to anchor when I can.

Dumb Mooring Question

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Attachments