Protecting Mooring Pennants

[Northstar1014]

Hello,

My cape dory 27 is on a mooring (north shore of massachusetts).

For my pennants, I presently have followed MaineSail's method of 2 Yale Maximoors lashed with toggle buoys along the way. Unfortunately I have found that one or both of the pennants wrap on occasion, which I believe is due to the fact that the mooring ball is a top ball chain connection, not an under-ball connection. As this is a rental mooring, I cannot change the configuration and I also dont know if there is a swivel in the chain setup

Last summer, an instance of chain wrap damaged one of my pennants, so this year I am looking for a solution to protect them. I have found surplus canvas firehose in a few different diameters. My proposed solution is to thread the pennants through firehouse, either both through one big hose, or individually through their own smaller hose, then lash the toggle buoys on as usual.

I have included photos below -- should I go with both pennants through the same hose, or thread them individually through their own hose? I am leaning towards both through the same, on the grounds that this would make it unlikely that one pennant would wrap around the mooring chain. Thank you for any help.

 

[Ron20324]

... either should I go with both pennants through the same hose, or thread them individually through their own hose?....

Since you are betting the boat on what you do, why not do it both ways, if you can?

 

[Brian S]

Don't know if these two articles from MaineSail will help...

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/mooring_pendants

This second one will scare ya':

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/mooring_prep

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Skip the toggle buoys, and float the pennants in a way that prevents them from sinking at all. Toggles leave sections that can sink:

Condition 1: Talk to your mooring provider and ask for a ball small enough so that it floats with no more than half the ball above water. (If that's not possible, ask about a cylindrical float instead of a ball, or offer to buy your own so that you have what you need.) When the boat overruns the ball (as in calm weather when the current is against wind) your pennants must be able to slide over the top of the ball when the wind comes up again, and they are no longer slack (not under).

Condition 2: Go to your nearest home center -- buy split closed-cell foam pipe insulation that has an ID to match the diameter of your individual pennants. Attach the insulation to completely cover the pennants from the buoy attachment to near where the pennants will ascent to the bow when they are fairly slack (calm weather). You can use 3M electrical tape or tie-wraps about every 2 feet to keep the foam insulation in place. For more flexibility if desired: You can also cut the insulation into (many) 2-foot sections and leave no more than 6 inches of bare pennant between them.

If both conditions exist, your pennants will never sink or wrap the chain.

 

[danm1]

My two cents. I don't know why you would have a pendant attached to a ball if you have a choice. I was taught to run the mooring line directly to the pendant and attach the ball separately to the mooring line so it floats above both the mooring line and pendant to avoid chafe. Also, I belonged to a club that lost several boats way back during Hurricane Gloria. Someone on the mooring committee did a survey, along with all the nearby clubs and marinas, to see if any of the boats that broke free had anything in common. The overwhelming majority had double bridles. Turned out that barnacle growth on the lower ends of the pendants themselves chafed each other and cut the lines.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

My two cents. I don't know why you would have a pendant attached to a ball if you have a choice. I was taught to run the mooring line directly to the pendant and attach the ball separately to the mooring line so it floats above both the mooring line and pendant to avoid chafe. Also, I belonged to a club that lost several boats way back during Hurricane Gloria. Someone on the mooring committee did a survey, along with all the nearby clubs and marinas, to see if any of the boats that broke free had anything in common. The overwhelming majority had double bridles. Turned out that barnacle growth on the lower ends of the pendants themselves chafed each other and cut the lines.

My experience is opposite from what you wrote: I used to have a pennant attached below the ball, as you described, very close to your home waters (New Rochelle, NY). Always barnacles on the rope and always wrapped around the chain.
As for double pennants being a primary cause for failure? If you follow my advice above you will have ZERO hard growth on the pennants (any hard growth would be on the outside of the insulation) and zero chafe anywhere along the pennant (unless it occurs at the bow hawse pipes or from rubbing the bow anchor, as illustrated in MaineSail's excellent photo essay referenced by a post above).

BTW -- chafe at the bow attachment or anchor is where at least 80% of failures happen, in my experience.