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Salutary reminder or why you use 2 mooring lines

3K views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  Zarathu 
#1 ·
I picked up my mooring ten days ago. The weather has not been anything unusual 20 kts max I suppose.

Anyway I came back from a spell ashore today to find this.

I guess there must have been some fouling on the loop which chewed through my primary line. Just as well I had a backup.
 

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#6 ·
That cut does look like out was done with a knife, but still could be a sharp edge or barnacles. I see boats in our mooring field with two lines, and the lines have looped around and under the ball, and rubbing on the chain. It acts like a knot tied around the chain and won't pull free by itself. We don't have barnacles here, but we do have zebra mussels and their shells are like razor blades. They will cut the line pretty quick. I run my lines through pool noodles to keep them out from under the ball and it works great. They're about a dollar at WalMart and usually last two seasons before the sun eats them up. Makes the lines easier to pick up too. I use the bright yellow green ones for visibility but the dark blue would probably resist UV better.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Two lines can get tangled on each other. Here in Northern Maine we only have moorings. Only the very rich have slips.

The key is not to connect the nylon mooring pendant directly to your boat. That part of the line(that is conencted to the chain) has one purpose: to stretch thus giving protection to pulling or dragging the mooring in gusts.

But its stretch that it the biggest danger in connection to the boat particularly where it goes through the bow chock. This is where it usually fails. The chaff is not rubbing against the bow chock, its the heat build up inside the line which causes the line to melt due to stretching and un-stretching. So to make this work, you need an additional mooring pendant that does not stretch to connect from your bow cleat through the bow chock to the nylon mooring pendant which connects to the chain which connects to what ever in on the bottom.

The section that goes through the bow chock must not stretch since its the stretching that causes chaff in the pendant. You need to use a Cyclone Endura pendant:

https://shop.hamiltonmarine.com/products/mooring-pendant-cyclone-endura-12-braid-44575.html

http://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/-10842-1.html

or this discussion here: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/190826-cyclone-mooring-3.html

They are expensive but they are worth it. In addition you can connect to any mooring even its 1.5 inch thick nylon. In Hurricane Sandy, which hit the northeast, not one boat that was connected with a Cyclone Endura pendant failed due to chaff. Some broke loose at the chain. Some had the nylon line break, but none died due to chaff on the Bow Chock of the boat.

I'm a big fan of making things myself, but in the area of having my boat break out of its mooring and crash against a rocky shore, I'd rather got with a product that was made professionally, not something I cudged together to save 50 bucks.

Two nylon lines are not the answer. One Cyclone Endura IS. Mine is 1/2 inch, andf good for 37,000 lb tensile strength on a boat that is only 1300 pounds in displacement. It would have to rip the cleat out of the deck, which is unlikely to say the least.

You can also research Cyclone Endura in Google and see what other people have to say about the system.
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
Regardless of the cause, or the remedy, the OP's point is still valid. Good to have two mooring lines for when things go wrong.

One small note about chafe from heating caused by stretch: Boats that have cleats that are close to the chocks will reduce the amount of movement over the chock due to stretching.
 
#11 ·
Regardless of the cause, or the remedy, the OP's point is still valid. Good to have two mooring lines for when things go wrong.

One small note about chafe from heating caused by stretch: Boats that have cleats that are close to the chocks will reduce the amount of movement over the chock due to stretching.
The stretching is something that is inherent in the fibers of the pendant, and the point of the stretching that is most significant is where it bends at the chock on its way to the water. Explain to me what you mean. The stretching that is the most significant is at the bend at the chock. That where it breaks.

If the elongation back and forth was in inches each way WITHOUT A BEND IN THE MIDDLE, I could understand that, and it seems to make sense, but somehow it also seems like a false sense of security for using stretch nylon line to connect to the boat.
 
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