mooring pick up buoy from leaning over in current?

[chrisyse]

The current runs 3 knots or more in the area where my mooring is located. The pickup bouy leans so far over that's it's difficult to reach. The fiberglass rod on the bouy's end jumps around quite a bit.
Any suggestions of either a way to reduce the amount of lean, a less difficult method of the grabing the fiberglass rod on the bouy with a boat hook? I don't feel more weight is the best solution, so I'm considering moving the attachment pendant away from the heavy metal end to up near the float and adding a stabilizing aluminum blade to the rod just above the weight.

It can be very trying after a long day on the water, and unsafe if windy.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Brian D]

Get one of those hand grabber from WalMart or Target or Home Depot. You can use that the grab the fiberglass pole.

 

[Tarditi]

Is it your mooring or one you're just hooking up too periodically? I ask, because the ideal solution is to give the mooring a keel weight making the buoy float more upright. The longer the keel stem the less weight you'll need, as it's a matter of changing the moment and COG.
Otherwise, a different way to hook to it is what you're after (ring-eye, different hook, etc.)

 

[SG]

Is this your rig up there in CT?

As others suggest, are you using a 'pick-up stick' buoy and then the mooring buoy itself. I've picked-up some these in 3 knot current. They did lean a bit, but not badly. I'd be careful with too log a pendant to the line under the mooring buoy itself. It can wrap badly around the chain, then you have a mess to deal with.

 

[Tod]

Perhaps you can extend the wand below the float and put the counterweight at the end of it? Then the mooring line is attached close to the float as shown in SG's drawing, so that the current drag is a little less lopsided...

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Chris

Hi Chris
With 3 knots near Bridgeport, I assume that you’re moored in the Housatonic River? Been there many times. That’s a challenging situation.
Two options to consider: Talk to your mooring contractor about each.
1) Some mooring buoys can be rigged with a PVC pipe that extends upward about 3-4 feet, with a hook mounted at the top for your pendent lines. You can hang them from the hook so they’re in reach from the bow. The weight of the heavy chain below keeps it upright. A variation of this is to have a short pendant that runs through the pipe and hangs from the top, but is short enough to be out of the water.
2) Get a cylindrical mooring buoy that has a socket in the top for your pickup stick. This might be more challenging to insert the stick when you depart the mooring, compared with option 1.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Is this your rig up there in CT?

As others suggest, are you using a 'pick-up stick' buoy and then the mooring buoy itself. I've picked-up some these in 3 knot current. They did lean a bit, but not badly. I'd be careful with too log a pendant to the line under the mooring buoy itself. It can wrap badly around the chain, then you have a mess to deal with.

View attachment 149472

That mooring diagram you posted is a horrible setup.
1) Mooring balls that have rods running through the center should be banned. The rod is never removed for inspection, rusts inside and is a frequent failure point. Chain should run through a center pipe, secured by a through bolt. The chain is removed and visually inspected every season during winterization and Spring commissioning.
2) pickup stick should be attached to dual pennants, and pennants should be attached to top chain, at top of mooring ball. Mooring ball should be sized so it floats at or slightly lower than midpoint, with weight of chain used. If the pennants are also rigged with flotation they will not sink when slack - so they won’t move under the ball to wrap the chain.

 

[ToddS]

Mooring balls that have rods running through the center should be banned. The rod is never removed for inspection, rusts inside and is a frequent failure point. Chain should run through a center pipe, secured by a through bolt. The chain is removed and visually inspected every season during winterization and Spring commissioning.

Captain Larry... While you're right that the rod is an uninspected point of failure... many/most moorings in the harbors around me (and mine included) are set up this way. The way I see it, it's only really "horrible" as you stated, if you hook your pennants) onto the top eye of the mooring ball (I've seen them rigged that way!). THAT could result in the vessel breaking free from the mooring in the failure case. However, if (as in the diagram) the rod is only holding the ball itself onto the chain, then when the rod fails, the only thing that might be lost is the ball itself (which is now broken/useless anyway). If a vessel is moored there, it is still moored, but now in need of a replacement ball. So the only "horrible" part is that plastic ball can now float around as pollution... but in sailing around, I don't tend to see lots of those mooring balls floating around the places I go, so the problem can't be THAT big. Right? I suppose it is also possible that the rod could break when there is no vessel on the mooring, which would be a hassle (but also really not a safety issue) since it might necessitate diving to recover the chain/pennants still attached to the mooring... or maybe some really lucky fishing around with a boat hook depending on the harbor depth.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I assume that the pennant/pick-up buoy is stretched out away from the mooring buoy by the current while being leaned over. If so, you could grapnel the intervening line with a small, light-weight grapnel hook and pull the pennant up that way. It would take both hands, however; but you might be able to "hang" on the grapnel line briefly while working to make fast the mooring line.

 

[chrisyse]

Thanks all, I'll consider your comments and suggested options.
Yes, this is our own mooring in the Housatonic River.
All set for now.

 

[Tom G P-21]

Chrisyse,
I know you are all set for now but I thought of a couple of things. I thought maybe a larger pick up buoy with more weight would keep the stick up. Then I remembered even seeing nuns and cans leaning over in strong current so that wouldn't help. Next I thought of Dylan Winter in England dealing with the currents from tides and rivers so I took a look and they have a different approach to pick up buoys. As well as a long fiberglass pole style, they a have a loop on top designed for a boat hook, see example below and there are many others. I took a look around and I can't seem to find anyone who sells this style in the US. I wonder if Taylormade has a lock on the market.

Tom

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Captain Larry... While you're right that the rod is an uninspected point of failure... many/most moorings in the harbors around me (and mine included) are set up this way. The way I see it, it's only really "horrible" as you stated, if you hook your pennants) onto the top eye of the mooring ball (I've seen them rigged that way!). THAT could result in the vessel breaking free from the mooring in the failure case. However, if (as in the diagram) the rod is only holding the ball itself onto the chain, then when the rod fails, the only thing that might be lost is the ball itself (which is now broken/useless anyway). If a vessel is moored there, it is still moored, but now in need of a replacement ball. So the only "horrible" part is that plastic ball can now float around as pollution... but in sailing around, I don't tend to see lots of those mooring balls floating around the places I go, so the problem can't be THAT big. Right? I suppose it is also possible that the rod could break when there is no vessel on the mooring, which would be a hassle (but also really not a safety issue) since it might necessitate diving to recover the chain/pennants still attached to the mooring... or maybe some really lucky fishing around with a boat hook depending on the harbor depth.

Sorry if I overdramatized by using the judgemental term “horrible”. I thought it was horrible when I walked among the splintered wreckage of a Hans Christian yacht that had come ashore on the rocks in New Rochelle NY during a nor’easter. It was over 30 years ago but the memory is quite vivid.
As for the moorings in your area, they could be better.

 

[JimInPB]

You might consider the option of rigging lines to both the top & bottom of your pick up buoy to prevent it from leaning over. The red lines in the picture below show what I am describing.

Or you could just use a boat hook to grab the line before the pick up buoy.

 

[SG]

Double lines to pickup stick?

Would that encourage Knotting in reversing currents and wind conditions?


I visited a friend in Maine who said, “Pick up my buddy’s mooring. He’s coming up first the first time this season a couple of days from now. “

When I arrived the pick up stick had been wrapped into a knot and around the chain leading down from the ball. That made picking it impossible. I tried to unwind the line by untreading the stick and it’s buoy through the knot. After about an hour, I gave up that stupidity. Tied a line to the mooring chain below the knot. Secured the boat to the chain, lifted the whole thing up with The windlass. With the strain off, I took the buoy and disconnected it. Then, after about 10 minutes more, I unknotted it. A couple of my tea later, I re-rigged it it.

The reversing current and wind had cause the problem.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Double lines to pickup stick?

Would that encourage Knotting in reversing currents and wind conditions?


I visited a friend in Maine who said, “Pick up my buddy’s mooring. He’s coming up first the first time this season a couple of days from now. “

When I arrived the pick up stick had been wrapped into a knot and around the chain leading down from the ball. That made picking it impossible. I tried to unwind the line by untreading the stick and it’s buoy through the knot. After about an hour, I gave up that stupidity. Tied a line to the mooring chain below the knot. Secured the boat to the chain, lifted the whole thing up with The windlass. With the strain off, I took the buoy and disconnected it. Then, after about 10 minutes more, I unknotted it. A couple of my tea later, I re-rigged it it.

The reversing current and wind had cause the problem.

pickup stick should be attached to dual pennants, and pennants should be attached to top chain, at top of mooring ball. Mooring ball should be sized so it floats at or slightly lower than midpoint, with weight of chain used. If the pennants are also rigged with flotation they will not sink when slack - so they won’t move under the ball to wrap the chain.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Chrisyse,
Next I thought of Dylan Winter in England dealing with the currents from tides and rivers so I took a look and they have a different approach to pick up buoys.

https://www.aquafax.co.uk/product/6-110660-fo-norfloat-pick-up-buoy-pb1-florange

Tom

On that subject here's a buoy in one of the rivers in the Carolina- I forget which one, but I think I was probably making barely a knot.