Mooring Pendant size

[JP]

Hi All,
For several years I have been dealing with a mooring pendant that barely small enough in dia to slip thru the eye of my horn cleats.
In fact it takes substantial wiggling and force to get the eye of the mooring pendants thru, pulling them out is not much easier. The Pendants are normal 3 strand nylon 5/8.

I just came across these babies:
New England Ropes Dyneema Cyclone Mooring Pendant with Chafe Guard

• Dimensions: 1/2" Diameter x 6' Long, Tensile Strength: 34,300 lb

• Material: 100% Dyneema Fiber, with two, 10" Eyes and Chafe Guard
• Function: Designed to be Coupled with a Nylon Mooring Pendant

I thought I would take off the current bridal and replace with these smaller and stronger.
What do you all think.
My boat is a Catalina 30 Disp roughly 11-12k.

John

 

[capta]

Dyneema has almost no stretch at all, less than Dacron and way, way less than nylon.
If you are happy with that idea, then go for it. I wouldn't be.
I rarely, if ever, put a line through the cleat.That is not how cleats are designed to work. I will drop the eye splice over the whole cleat or cleat the bitter end of the line off on the cleat with the proper cleat knot. If you are worried about the eye popping off the cleat, just make your eye splice a bit smaller so you must put it on one horn at a time.

 

[JP]

Thanks Capta,
I should clarify I would attach these to a nylon mooring pendant.
So I have been doing it wrong all these years by forcing the eye thru the cleat?

 

[PaulK]

Yup.

 

[jssailem]

John,
Wrong in the sense that it limits your ability to release the line quickly. A cleat when properly tied can be released even if under strain.

If you choose to use a loop over a cleat, you will need to have a way to cut the line in an emergency.

Thank you for sharing the idea.

 

[JP]

I am not sure I could sleep at night with just the eye loop on the end of the mooring bridal over the cleat. When its rough and the boat is burying the bow and dancing back and forth the thought of the eye loop slipping over the cleat seems like a possibility. I will check to see if the loop is small enough to only fit over one horn at a time. A few years ago I learned my lesson on leaving my Bruce anchor on the roller and finding one side of the bridal cut. I don't feel there is much margin for error when it comes to a sailboat on a mooring ball,especially when you are not on board. And it not just your boat but also the other boats in the mooring field if yours gets free. But I am looking for advice so I appreciate the imput.

 

[Capt jgw]

Dyneema has almost no stretch at all, less than Dacron and way, way less than nylon.
If you are happy with that idea, then go for it. I wouldn't be.
I rarely, if ever, put a line through the cleat.That is not how cleats are designed to work. I will drop the eye splice over the whole cleat or cleat the bitter end of the line off on the cleat with the proper cleat knot. If you are worried about the eye popping off the cleat, just make your eye splice a bit smaller so you must put it on one horn at a time.

Absolutely correct. The hole in the cleat is only there to save material and lower the cost. Passing an eye splice through the hole forces you to use too small a line and has a couple other downsides. First, it's very difficult to impossible to remove if there's any load on the line. Second, if the boat should surge against the line due to a wake or something while you're attempting to attach or remove the eye, you could easily lose a finger or two if they get caught between the eye and the cleat. That happened to my father years ago. As stated above, the eye should be spliced to a size that barely fits over the cleat, one horn at a time. That way it can't pop off, and you can pull in enough slack to attach or release without putting your fingers in harm's way.

 

[MikeO53]

I always loop the eye over the entire cleat but also have a 2-foot length permanently tied to the hole in the center of the cleat which I use to lash down the larger mooring line to prevent it from inadvertently slipping off the cleat.

 

[Tally Ho]

D

I always loop the eye over the entire cleat but also have a 2-foot length permanently tied to the hole in the center of the cleat which I use to lash down the larger mooring line to prevent it from inadvertently slipping off the cleat.

Do you have a photo of that? It sounds like a good idea.

Greg

 

[Tom J]

D

Do you have a photo of that? It sounds like a good idea.

Greg

I bought a mooring pendant years ago (West Marine?) that had the lashing permanently attached to the pendant.

 

[Timm R Oday25]

I've had Enigma on a mooring for almost 15 years . The eye splice is barely big enough to get over the cleat.
You can always lash it tighter .I would hesitate to go smaller with the mooring rope diameter . I was told three strand was the way to go and it has some shock (stretch ) .

 

[jssailem]

I was told three strand was the way to go and it has some shock (stretch ) .

You were given good advice from a wise and salty sailor. Strength and forgiveness wrapped in 3 strands.

 

[Hunter216]

A few other mooring items to consider if you are changing things around.

-adding a snubber would increase the “elasticity” of the system.

-adding a kellet would increase the “elasticity” of the system

-changing the size of the cleat(s) on the boat could alter the size of line your using. Best to keep these two factors in the same range.

-if you are going to over do anything this would be it, think redundancy and weakest point failure.