Mooring problem

[Witzend]

I moor my C310 on the Elk River in Maryland. We have a 2.5 knot current that is tidal. As a result if the wind is in opposition to the current the boat will sail up on the mooring ball and want to ride up against it. This also causes the chain to want to rub on the hull. I had been setting the ruder strait and locking the wheel. I'm wondering if it would be better to put the rudder at a ~15deg. angle to try to prevent it from sailing up on the ball. Does anyone have any other ideas on how to prevent this from happening?

 

[Ross]

If you set out a drogue from the stern then the boat will follow the tide and not the wind.

 

[Tim R.]

And someone motoring past your stern will foul your drogue.

 

[Maine Sail]

I moor my C310 on the Elk River in Maryland. We have a 2.5 knot current that is tidal. As a result if the wind is in opposition to the current the boat will sail up on the mooring ball and want to ride up against it. This also causes the chain to want to rub on the hull. I had been setting the ruder strait and locking the wheel. I'm wondering if it would be better to put the rudder at a ~15deg. angle to try to prevent it from sailing up on the ball. Does anyone have any other ideas on how to prevent this from happening?

It sounds like you have a hard ball and you need a soft ball with a below the ball connection. Hard balls, with a chain pass through, are horrendous in too many ways to list.. You should not have any metal that can come in contact with your hull.

 

[Chuckbear]

That is a tough call and difficult to deal with. Some folks use a riding sail with limited success. Letting something drag behind the boat is a poor choice for obvious reasons. I would try and find another place to park the boat. Chuck

 

[sailingdog]

Another solution I've seen is to have a section of chain run through a PVC pipe and then tie the boat to the mooring via a shackle at the end of the chain. The PVC pipe keeps the boat a minimum distance off the mooring.

However, I think that Maine Sail's solution, with a soft mooring buoy and the pendant attached at the base of the buoy makes the most sense in the long run.

 

[Chuckbear]

A question would be, Is this a public mooring or is this your own private mooring? If it is yours , change the ball, if you rent it then not much can be done about that unless the owner is willing to make a change for you. Chuck

 

[Ross]

That drogue need not extend very far and could be weighted.

 

[sailingdog]

One problem is if none of the other boats in the mooring field are using a drogue, you'll be swinging differently than them and may hit them.

That drogue need not extend very far and could be weighted.

 

[Witzend]

Thanks so much for all of your input; this is such a wonderful forum with very knowledgeable participants.
This is a private mooring with polypropylene pendant, a soft inflatable ball with 12’ of 5/8 ” chain off a shackle to the bottom turnbuckle with 50’ of 1” chain to a 200lb mushroom. I'm thinking of encasing the 5/8” chain in a flexible tube to provide scratch protection, but the ball still gets dirty and can become abrasive. I like the idea of a drogue on a short line, but it will collect lots of weeds making it a pain to deal with. I already have a landing line for my jet ski that is attached to the stern with a float that would provide some visibility to anyone coming too close. We use the Jet Ski for transport to and from our dock. I see how a rigid PVC pipe could keep the boat from getting on top of the mooring, but I don't see how it would be effective in keeping the boat off the mooring ball. It may help to keep the boat away from the mushroom, a real problem in the ELK with big tides and shallow waters. I have tried to mitigate this risk of damage by wrapping the mushroom bell edge with a motorcycle tire cut in half and bolted back together again, that way if the shoal keel gets on top it will just hit rubber. I’m still worried about the ruder hitting it. Thanks for your input.

 

[zeehag]

try using your whisker pole to keep ball away from boat----there is no really goood solution--i use a bungee from sprit to top of ball, but i see your boat hasnt a sprit--we have a 4 kt current and winds from hades on occasion and have this allll the time--my mooring ball is tore up--i am going to place a huge t shirt opn mine--i see some neighbors do that--keeps hull cleaner---but there isnt tooo much to do other than use whisker pole for your boat to stand off the ball....goood luck.....

 

[rpwillia]

Are you using swivels

Witzend, On the Potomac I was on a mooring for several years and don't recall having a problem like you have. Are you using any king of swivel? One configuration I used a lot was to have my chain come up to the bottom of my ball and then run a pendant to that. Both the ball and the pendant were connected to one end of the swivel with the chain on the other side of the swivel. On a couple of moorings we have also put swivels at the bottom where they left the car engines (we would use old engine blocks) to help prevent the chain from kinking up. After having my boats sit through several hurricanes I never had a problem.

 

[BobM]

You could try putting a spring line on your pendant so the boat will ride at a slight angle. That will increase drag and perhaps help prevent her riding the wind.

 

[Witzend]

Not sure how you would rig a spring line to a mooring ball? Elaborate...

 

[Chuckbear]

Not sure how you would rig a spring line to a mooring ball? Elaborate...

I think what he is referring to is a line run from your stern cleat and attached to the bow line near the mooring, You then let out more bow line so you are hanging on an angle to the mooring ball instead of bow on. We use this technique all the time in anchorages where the swells are coming in on the bow and causing the boat to roll. Not sure how well it will help your situation. Chuck

 

[Witzend]

I may have thought of a way to solve the problem by putting together a rigid bridal, like what they use to pull a farm cart. The base of the bridal would be a threaded stainless steel pipe attached across each bow cleat creating the base of the triangle. The bridal would be made of 2" PVC attached to the bar by Tees that can slide over the threaded ends of the pipe and held in place with threaded caps against a colar. This would captate the bridal but allow for up and down rotation. I will have to work out the design carefully so it can be retrieved and re-attached easily. This will not replace the pendant but to suplement it, thus still retaining the tensil strength needed during high pulling loads.
See attached, I am currently windsurfing at OBX and don't have a suitable program to create a professional drawing with the proper detail so please excuse.

 

[Witzend]

OK, here is Rev 1 of the Boat Rigid Harness. It is made of 1.5" PVC. The pivot rod is 1" Stainless with threaded caps with lanyards. These caps act as the pivot bearing when the boat moves up and down. The unit is loaded to push out on the caps keeping the harness in the bearings. This bar will be mounted across the top of the two bow cleats with hose clamps. It also has a re-enforcing inter pipe insearted bridging the mid cross tees to provide extra longitudinal strength. The Mooring ball will float on the inside of the tapered end attached by the shackle. Instead of the boat riding up on the ball it will now pull it until the lead runs out on the chain, then the boat will have to turn. I also don't believe there can be much lateral force on the harness, the boat will just turn. That's the theory anyway. The pendant will still be used for pulling force and will be snug enough to keep the rigid harness from pulling into the mooring ball. I will be installing the crazy rig this coming weekend.

 

[zeehag]

pvc breaks..i am on a mooring with the round and round and up and down action--i use fire hose on m y lines and chain so as to protect my boat, many of my neighbors use whisker poles for keeping the ball off their boats....i use my bowsprit...works great.....i have watched the pvc take the current and wind ands break right in half--i i have kept boats on moorings for 10 years--with the only relief from ball vs boat hull being found in use of whisker pole and / or sprit and using fire hose to protect the lines from chain and growth of mussels and other lovely creatures of the sea that tend to grow and destroy the lines.gooo dluck to ya and i hope you find a good solution to your problem...

 

[sailingdog]

I don't think that a polypropylene pendant is a good idea. Polypropylene is fairly weak as lines go, and quite vulnerable to both chafe and UV damage. Are you sure it is polypropylene??

Thanks so much for all of your input; this is such a wonderful forum with very knowledgeable participants.
This is a private mooring with polypropylene pendant, a soft inflatable ball with 12’ of 5/8 ” chain off a shackle to the bottom turnbuckle with 50’ of 1” chain to a 200lb mushroom. I'm thinking of encasing the 5/8” chain in a flexible tube to provide scratch protection, but the ball still gets dirty and can become abrasive. I like the idea of a drogue on a short line, but it will collect lots of weeds making it a pain to deal with. I already have a landing line for my jet ski that is attached to the stern with a float that would provide some visibility to anyone coming too close. We use the Jet Ski for transport to and from our dock. I see how a rigid PVC pipe could keep the boat from getting on top of the mooring, but I don't see how it would be effective in keeping the boat off the mooring ball. It may help to keep the boat away from the mushroom, a real problem in the ELK with big tides and shallow waters. I have tried to mitigate this risk of damage by wrapping the mushroom bell edge with a motorcycle tire cut in half and bolted back together again, that way if the shoal keel gets on top it will just hit rubber. I’m still worried about the ruder hitting it. Thanks for your input.

 

[tommays]

I got the soft ball this season and it is so much BETTER