Moved to a Mooring - and have never moored before

[CherylZZ]

Our marina was taken over by the county in a long court settlement about property ownership and I was lucky enough to get a mooring in a lottery. I have never moored before, the marina is new and the county has not provided much information. I have only had my Compac Horizon Cat for 3 years. Advice of how to set up a bridle, getting on and off....etc. We get a boat tender spot on the dock and have to provide our own tender/dingy. I have not purchased that. I am looking for some sage advice. Mooring is not common in Lake Macatawa, off of Lake Michigan. The goal of the county was to have more transient spots. Mine is a seasonal mooring. My mooring is essentially behind my old slip, when the new marina is done. I am anxious about this season. Welcome all well meaning advice. Cheryl ZZ and the PharmCat.

 

[Kings Gambit]

How is the mooring equipped? A single pennant w/a floating spar or absent the spar? Is there any kind of ring to grab w/ a boat hook when you come up to it?

 

[BarryL]

Hello,

I have had a boat on a mooring since 2004 and I'm very happy with it. Easy to get off the mooring to sail, to get back on at the end of the day, quiet, affordable, etc.

Who is responsible for selecting the mooring, dropping it in, hauling it out, etc? I pay a company to do all that for me. For my 36' boat I have 500 lb mushroom anchor, chain to the mooring ball and a Y bridle with two pendants. There is a swivel at the bottom of the mooring ball.

Some suggestions: Buy a mooring pick up stick, like this one:
https://www.defender.com/product3.j...inch&path=-1|2276108|2276142|2276143&id=68433
It makes getting back on the mooring a lot easier.
I tie a 5' line from one of pendant loops to the pick up stick. When you return to the mooring, you grab the stick and pull it up and that pulls up the mooring pendant, drop it over your bow cleat and then you are secure and go about tidying up the boat.
Make sure that there is nothing on the bow that can foul or chafe the mooring pendants. No anchors, bow sprit, etc.Imagine a storm and the bow of the boat going up and down 3 feet. Will the mooring line chafe on anything? If so you need to change it.

Regarding dinghy, will you be rowing or motoring? I spend about 10 years rowing, which I liked. Then I had to move my dink about 1/2 a mile from my boat so I bought a small (2.5hp) outboard. I have a Walker Bay 10 that is plastic and works fine. An inflatable would be more stable but a good one is expensive and requires more maintenance. My boat has a nice boarding step in the stern, so I take the dink to the stern, pull up behind the boat, take the dingy pendant with me, and climb aboard. It's not super easy to go from the dink to the boat and back, but it's not terrible. If I have guests I take the dink to the boat and then bring the boat to the dock to pick up guests, provisions, etc. If it's just my wife and I we both ride in the dink. Before my Walker Bay 10 I had a Water Tender 9.6 which was very stable (cathedral hull). It wore out from being dragged on the beach so I got the Walker Bay. The Water Tender was more stable but the Walker Bay rows better.

I have a small solar panel that I connect when I leave the boat. It keeps the batteries fully charged.

And that's about all I can think of now.

Barry

 

[Kings Gambit]

Some moorings I’ve hooked up to had two pendants, each meant to be slipped over a bow cleat. We used to board the sailboat from the dink via the stern ladder/platform. Now we board via the stb gate using a step that hangs from the stanchion base. This is much easier because you lift yourself vertically out of the dink onto the deck. Soon, I’ll be getting a “fender step.” Also, the rocking of the boat has much less effect on your balance when boarding amidships than at the stern, etc.

 

[CherylZZ]

Thanks for your input. The county is putting in the moorings, and I really don't know what they will do other than that. I have tried to inquire and the parks department and they know less than I do about mooring (wow). The new marina is being built right now. I am told I have 12 feet on the dock for a dingy. I want the minimum maintenance and it is not more than 150 yards. I don't want another motor to maintain. My boat is too small to haul a dingy so I will have to leave it on the ball. I was even thinking a paddle boat, I know it sounds crazy but is stable and would be fun. I have 2 nice kayaks and a stand-up paddle board, but think it will be too cold to use them most of the year. I was thinking I had to board from the ladder. it is not that easy when you don't mind getting wet. Coming on mid boat would be much nicer.

I am worried about chaffing on the front as the east winds there would lift my boat and drop it on the dock below the rub rail. That was a lesson I don't want to learn on the Ball, as if line breaks I will have lots of damage. I had always had two lines on the windward side of the slip as each year one would snap. I was thinking I should use Snubber(s). I have the bow pulpit and anchor and mid ship cleats and was thinking I would use all three. Welcome all advice. I hope they hire someone who knows boats and marina's to run this...as the park department folks are not ready. Cheryl

 

[Kings Gambit]

Equip your lines with chaffing protection; inspect regularly esp before and after bad weather, etc. Another possibility is to increase the scope of your lines. Not ride close to the buoy. Of course, that increases your swinging arc.

 

[CherylZZ]

Thanks, I have a 20 foot boat and the moorings are being put out with a 50' swing arch. Thoughts on Snubbers?

 

[Bob S]

This is a great read
https://marinehowto.com/mooring-pendants-thoughts-musings/
We rented a mooring for years. The pick up stick suggested by Barry is the way to go.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I think that chafe is very much different than the issue you had with dock lines that would "snap". My thought is that snubbers are useful on a dock where the lines more frequently receive those shock loads when stretched to the limits in wave action. Sailors also use snubbers with all-chain anchoring systems.

But on a mooring, you would not have shock loading on nylon rope pendants. Sized properly, the lines should never "snap". 3-strand nylon rope stretches very well and is used for that reason. Chaffing is a more real concern. Be sure that you protect the lines from rubbing on anything abrasive.