Mooring tackle

[cb32863]

So I am probably going to have my yet to be purchased boat on a mooring on my little lake. At a minimum I am assuming I am going to have to buy at least two pendants. I am not going to have to deal with tides or currents obviously and I will be in a pretty protected area but, the wind can get up there none the less, no hurricanes or anything. So what can you experienced folks recommend for mooring tackle? I am at the most, going to have a 25 foot boat around 4500# displacement.

Thanks.

[JimsCAL]

Some pretty good info on this site.

Whats needed for your Boat Mooring --

Check what the local requirements are, but a 250 lb mushroom, 1/2 inch lower chain, and 3/8 inch upper chain would be what would be recomended in my harbor on Long Island Sound.

[cb32863]

Thanks Jim, the city puts in the moorings, wondering what I need from my boat to the buoy. Do I really just need a couple of lines and that's it?

[JimsCAL]

Look at the pendants on the site I gave you the link for. A shackle and and a pendant or two sounds like all you need. Defender is another source for these.

[DwayneSpeer]

I wouldn't use chain at all. Rather, I'd use 3/4 inch three strand nylon with thimbles in each end. I've seen several mooring balls on shore because the chain wore in two as a result of the constant motion causing wear in the links.

However if you do use chain make sure it's high carbon steel and inspect it at least yearly.

[Barquito]

I like to have one slightly shorter nylon line attached to the base of the ball, and the longer attached to the top. If the first line fails, then you can see from a distance that the mooring ball is pulled onto it's side by the top. Some also add a coated steel cable (slightly longer than mooring lines) to discourage theft.

Learn to splice metal thimbals into the line for attachement to the ball. You will have to replace the lines every few years due to chafe.

[heinzir]

If your boat is trailerable, it probably has a bow eye. Make sure that the bow eye is bolted in securely and well backed up, then use the bow eye as the primary mooring attachment point. This will eliminate the number one cause of pendant failures: chafe. Then use a longer line as a back-up going to your bow chocks/cleats. I use different colored lines to make them easily distinguishable.



I use a 3/4" braided nylon line with a thimble spliced into each end as my primary pendant. It is attached to the chain at the bottom of the buoy with a regular shackle; I hook it to the bow eye with a 1/2" SS quick link. My back-up pendant is also braided nylon, 5/8" diameter, and about 3' longer than the primary. It has a thimble spliced in at one end and an eye for the bow cleat at the other. I slipped some sections of a "pool noodle" over portions of it before I did the splices so it would float. (Of course, you can buy purpose made mooring pendants that float.) This let's it serve as a pick up line. I grab this with the boat hook when approaching the mooring and slip the eye over the bow cleat. It holds the boat securely until I'm ready to go ashore. Then I hook up the bow eye pendant from the dinghy as the last thing I do.

This system has worked well for me for over 20 years. But then, I'm only a lowly lake sailor.

[billyruffn]

Yale cordage makes some excellent pennants. See Maxi-Moor \ Nylon Core Polyester Sleeve Double Braid Rope | Yale Cordage

They are available through Hamilton Marine in Maine at reasonable prices. See YALE CORDAGE #MPS05012B MOORING PENNANT 1/2"-12' POLYDYNE STAINLESS STEEL THIMBLE

If that one isn’t the right size hunt around on their site and you’ll find something that will work for you.

I’ve used the same two Yale Cordage pennants on BR over the last 10 years. They stand up well and this year went through 5 hrs of 50+ knots during Irene with no apparent damage (they were well protected with chafe gear). I may replace them next year due to the stresses they withstood in Irene.

If you’re going to use two pennants you will probably want to lash them together from the ball to the point somewhere below the bow. The first season I used the mooring I didn’t do this and after a few calm days the boat managed to drift around the mooring ball in such a way as to wrap one of the pennants around the chain. When the wind came up the wrapped pennant was the short one and took the strain -- rope against the chain = chafe. Lashing them together solved the problem.