Get the buoy!
First, have a dockline or other piece of rope tied onto a cleat at the bow in advance, and have the bow hook out and handy (I've found out the hard way how silly it looks to get all set up to grab the mooring and then just watch it float by because the boathook was still stowed below...) If you have a crew, post them at the pulpit and approach the mooring from dead downwind. If singlehanding, I aproach at an angle and put the bow slightly upwind of the mooring, so that the wind blows the bown down to it - this gives me time to run from the cockpit to the bow and snag the mooring with the bow hook. If the mooring ball has one of those buoys with the "antenna" on it, you grab that and use it to pull up the mooring eye, then leave the buoy attached and put it back in the water. Otherwise, fish around with your bow hook to get the little float. Put a bight of your pre-positioned dockline through the mooring eye and tie it to you other forward cleat, creating a "bridle" for the mooring ey to ride on. In some cases you can just drop the mooring eye over your cleat, but most of them are pretty grody with stuff growing on them, and you don't want them sliming all over your deck. Dont forget to back down a bit and test the mooring, especially in the spring - sometimes they are less secure than you expect! - Andy26M
