Ok so I bought an O'Day 22 last year I grew up on 17's so I was wondering what should I use to moor my boat? The bollard on the bow has some cracking around it I know the last owner tied off to this I'm going to rebed it and put a bigger backing plate under it and then seal the gel coat. Should I use this to tie off to the mooring I'm buying? Their is also a bow eye on the front of the boat but I'm not sure if this is strong enough for the stress? How do I keep the line from chafing on the deck or smashing or rubbing up against to fore stay? Yikes I know this sounds pretty ignorant I'm greatful for any help and advice. Don
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You should be able to use either the Bollard or the bow eye if
they are properly backed with a load distributing plate. When using the bollard, your line should lead through a chock to keep the line reasonably captive. Take a walk around your closest marina and look at how the bigger boats do it. Sometimes a manufacturer of trailerable boats think they are always going to be put back on the trailer, so they leave off those little items to save a few pennies. Have fun Joe S
they are properly backed with a load distributing plate. When using the bollard, your line should lead through a chock to keep the line reasonably captive. Take a walk around your closest marina and look at how the bigger boats do it. Sometimes a manufacturer of trailerable boats think they are always going to be put back on the trailer, so they leave off those little items to save a few pennies. Have fun Joe S
Bow eye
Bow eye should work fine, but not as a pickup. Once you've got the boat cleated, shift to the bow eye. Less pressure, no chafing. Big lesson in picking up a mooring is NOT to use your hand but rather a boat hook. Ideally the mooring should have a floating line of six feet that's easier to snare. If not, put one in yourself.
Bow eye should work fine, but not as a pickup. Once you've got the boat cleated, shift to the bow eye. Less pressure, no chafing. Big lesson in picking up a mooring is NOT to use your hand but rather a boat hook. Ideally the mooring should have a floating line of six feet that's easier to snare. If not, put one in yourself.
Both
Don: What I like to do on my C22, is to have a ca. 12 ft. strong supple line attached to an anchor shackle by a spliced thimble. Then I attach the shackle to the bow eye and wire it so it cannot unscrew. The other end is curled and temporarily fixed to the deck harware, all this done at the dock. When anchoring, I set the anchor and attach it's rode to the bow cleat, then attach the shackled line to the rode with a rolling hitch, with a little slack in the rode so the pressure is all on the well-backed bow eye, and if that method fails it would fall back to the bow cleat. At a mooring I connect the short line direct to the mooring, sometimes tying off back at the bow cleat so it can be secured and released while on deck. If away by dingy, I'd omit the tie back to the deck as that could lead to possibility of chaffing. I suppose if one was away for long periods, you could use both the short shackled line on the bow eye, backed up by a "lazy" line to your bollard. And in a big blow, hope the mooring anchor holds! RK
Don: What I like to do on my C22, is to have a ca. 12 ft. strong supple line attached to an anchor shackle by a spliced thimble. Then I attach the shackle to the bow eye and wire it so it cannot unscrew. The other end is curled and temporarily fixed to the deck harware, all this done at the dock. When anchoring, I set the anchor and attach it's rode to the bow cleat, then attach the shackled line to the rode with a rolling hitch, with a little slack in the rode so the pressure is all on the well-backed bow eye, and if that method fails it would fall back to the bow cleat. At a mooring I connect the short line direct to the mooring, sometimes tying off back at the bow cleat so it can be secured and released while on deck. If away by dingy, I'd omit the tie back to the deck as that could lead to possibility of chaffing. I suppose if one was away for long periods, you could use both the short shackled line on the bow eye, backed up by a "lazy" line to your bollard. And in a big blow, hope the mooring anchor holds! RK
Deadline suggested a floating line to pick up with a boathook
But you might consider one of these instead. I always called it a pickup whip Mast Buoys An Essential Part of a Permanent Mooring Perfect as a pick-up buoy. Retrieve your mooring pennant from deck level without the need for a boathook. Also ideal for all diving applications. Features: Sealed PVC float Vinyl coated metal weight offers superior scratch protection for your boat Fiberglass mast The fiberglass whip floats straight up on a small float with a weight tied to your mooring line. Joe S
But you might consider one of these instead. I always called it a pickup whip Mast Buoys An Essential Part of a Permanent Mooring Perfect as a pick-up buoy. Retrieve your mooring pennant from deck level without the need for a boathook. Also ideal for all diving applications. Features: Sealed PVC float Vinyl coated metal weight offers superior scratch protection for your boat Fiberglass mast The fiberglass whip floats straight up on a small float with a weight tied to your mooring line. Joe S
You say you are mooring, not docking.
It is still good to have a 'bow chock' on both sides to route dock and mooring pennants. http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10391|296896&id=593259 If you choose to use your bollard to tie off to on you mooring then it is also a good idea to use chafing gear where the pennant or mooring line passes through the bow chock: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10391|296895|321828&id=33358 As Deadline suggested, since a bow eye is closer to the water (therefore lower to the water) it is a somewhat better place to attach mooring lines (pennants) to as the height of your mooring rode is lower and allows better scope for less line. For anchoring (not mooring) the ideal scope is 7:1 or better. The '1' in the 7:1 is the depth of the water plus the height above water that your anchor line goes to. The '7' refers to the fact that your anchor rode (line, chain or whatever) should be 7 times as long as the height above the anchor. If your anchor or mooring is in shallow water (say 9 feet) then lowering the point at which the rode (anchor line) attaches to the boat by 3 feet (using the bow eye instead of the on deck bollard) you only need 49' of ground tackle to achieve a 7:1 scope. If you attach the pennants to the bollard on deck (adding three feet of height above bottom making the distance 12') you would need 84' of rode to achieve a 7:1 scope. All of this assumes that both your bollard and bow eye are up to the challenge. You don't say where you are intending on mooring but most moorings on the east coast have a lot of heavy chain attached to a mushroom or other anchor leading to a floating ball and pennants attached to the ball. The pennants then are attached to a pick up buoy like this: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10391|638271|321918&id=68419 I hope all my links work. Good luck.
It is still good to have a 'bow chock' on both sides to route dock and mooring pennants. http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10391|296896&id=593259 If you choose to use your bollard to tie off to on you mooring then it is also a good idea to use chafing gear where the pennant or mooring line passes through the bow chock: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10391|296895|321828&id=33358 As Deadline suggested, since a bow eye is closer to the water (therefore lower to the water) it is a somewhat better place to attach mooring lines (pennants) to as the height of your mooring rode is lower and allows better scope for less line. For anchoring (not mooring) the ideal scope is 7:1 or better. The '1' in the 7:1 is the depth of the water plus the height above water that your anchor line goes to. The '7' refers to the fact that your anchor rode (line, chain or whatever) should be 7 times as long as the height above the anchor. If your anchor or mooring is in shallow water (say 9 feet) then lowering the point at which the rode (anchor line) attaches to the boat by 3 feet (using the bow eye instead of the on deck bollard) you only need 49' of ground tackle to achieve a 7:1 scope. If you attach the pennants to the bollard on deck (adding three feet of height above bottom making the distance 12') you would need 84' of rode to achieve a 7:1 scope. All of this assumes that both your bollard and bow eye are up to the challenge. You don't say where you are intending on mooring but most moorings on the east coast have a lot of heavy chain attached to a mushroom or other anchor leading to a floating ball and pennants attached to the ball. The pennants then are attached to a pick up buoy like this: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10391|638271|321918&id=68419 I hope all my links work. Good luck.
Thanks for the info another question
Thanks for the info guys, I took Joe's advice and had a walk around some marinas looking at how others do it. Lot of guys seem to use the anchor ummm rollers? Being only 22 feet this isn't an option for me. Lots of the medium size boats, and a little O'Day 23 seem to use the chocks on either side of the bow to guide the line and prevent chafing. This is probably what I'll do. I had a look at the backing situation for my bow eye and it only has a large washer backing it on top and a smaller washer on the bottom.... this doesn't seem like enough to me to safely more the boat and sleep well at night. I was also wondering if you guys could give me some advice on what I should use to back the bollard. At the moment it seems like the previous owner used plywood which is now rotting away and causing the stress cracks to the gel coat. The backing is only 4 inches by 4 inches. What material should I use to back the bollard which will be taking all of the boats weight while moored? What would you use? Should I increase the size of the backing plate? I can't make it any longer as the forestay and the life lines are forward and aft of the plate but I could make it wider by about 4 inches and 2 inches forward is this wise to have a sort of triangle shaped backing plate to spead the load more? Does that make sense to you guys? Thanks for all the help. Don
Thanks for the info guys, I took Joe's advice and had a walk around some marinas looking at how others do it. Lot of guys seem to use the anchor ummm rollers? Being only 22 feet this isn't an option for me. Lots of the medium size boats, and a little O'Day 23 seem to use the chocks on either side of the bow to guide the line and prevent chafing. This is probably what I'll do. I had a look at the backing situation for my bow eye and it only has a large washer backing it on top and a smaller washer on the bottom.... this doesn't seem like enough to me to safely more the boat and sleep well at night. I was also wondering if you guys could give me some advice on what I should use to back the bollard. At the moment it seems like the previous owner used plywood which is now rotting away and causing the stress cracks to the gel coat. The backing is only 4 inches by 4 inches. What material should I use to back the bollard which will be taking all of the boats weight while moored? What would you use? Should I increase the size of the backing plate? I can't make it any longer as the forestay and the life lines are forward and aft of the plate but I could make it wider by about 4 inches and 2 inches forward is this wise to have a sort of triangle shaped backing plate to spead the load more? Does that make sense to you guys? Thanks for all the help. Don
Backing for bow eye
I would suggest an oak block shaped to back up the bow eye, extending a couple of inches above and below. Figure out how long the threads stick out inside and make the block that thick. A question for the experts, which is better on a 22' boat, a samson postor a 10" cleat in the center of the deck? The cleat would seem to exert less leverage on the deck, and be less obtrusive, but a samson post is supposed to be more secure. Tim
I would suggest an oak block shaped to back up the bow eye, extending a couple of inches above and below. Figure out how long the threads stick out inside and make the block that thick. A question for the experts, which is better on a 22' boat, a samson postor a 10" cleat in the center of the deck? The cleat would seem to exert less leverage on the deck, and be less obtrusive, but a samson post is supposed to be more secure. Tim
As for backing up the bollard
I would use a 1/2" thick cutting board made of plastic that will spread out the load; maybe even two pieces with a smaller piece on to. You can cut it and mill (shape) it just like wood and since it will be under the deck it does not matter if it is UV resistant or not. Just be sure to bed it well (with 3M 4200 or better) to the deck to help disperse the load. You could make your own backing plate out of cloth and epoxy or buy Starboard which is kind of expensive. Plywood will not hold up for long.
I would use a 1/2" thick cutting board made of plastic that will spread out the load; maybe even two pieces with a smaller piece on to. You can cut it and mill (shape) it just like wood and since it will be under the deck it does not matter if it is UV resistant or not. Just be sure to bed it well (with 3M 4200 or better) to the deck to help disperse the load. You could make your own backing plate out of cloth and epoxy or buy Starboard which is kind of expensive. Plywood will not hold up for long.
Cutting Board.....
As in the type you cut veggies on? Didn't even think of that I was looking at that super expensive plastic wood in WM..... Would you use that to back the bow eye and if you did would you prefer the bow eye it seems like I could make a much bigger backing plate for the sampson post than the bow eye. Don
As in the type you cut veggies on? Didn't even think of that I was looking at that super expensive plastic wood in WM..... Would you use that to back the bow eye and if you did would you prefer the bow eye it seems like I could make a much bigger backing plate for the sampson post than the bow eye. Don
how do you tie off?
Had another question if I was to use my samson cleat do I just tie off with a standard hitch knot? Don
Had another question if I was to use my samson cleat do I just tie off with a standard hitch knot? Don
mooring
I never use the bow eye as it would be difficult to attach and to sail off of. I instead have 2 lines similar in length but not the same, spliced with a thimble to the eye on the mooring and an open end with an eye on it,much the same as a dock line . I have 2 cleats forward ,so I attach 1 to each ,1 has the pickup stick attached to it so I can grab it as I approach the mooring. I usually am single handing the boat so I find this very simple to grab as I sail up to the mooring . I will also put on a small 1/8" line over the cleats after attaching the 1/2" mooring lines.
I never use the bow eye as it would be difficult to attach and to sail off of. I instead have 2 lines similar in length but not the same, spliced with a thimble to the eye on the mooring and an open end with an eye on it,much the same as a dock line . I have 2 cleats forward ,so I attach 1 to each ,1 has the pickup stick attached to it so I can grab it as I approach the mooring. I usually am single handing the boat so I find this very simple to grab as I sail up to the mooring . I will also put on a small 1/8" line over the cleats after attaching the 1/2" mooring lines.
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