How to tie up to a mooring

[SloopSailor]

If you are leaving your boat on a mooring, please use 2 lines. one main and a backup if it fails. Even with my little 1700lb boat I use 2 mooring lines. One is 1'' longer than the other. I know the boat isn''t going anywhere.

[pirateofcapeann]

All right, I’ll get in on this one too. First of all NEVER hook yourself to an eye on top of a mooring buoy. I’ve often wondered why more law suites weren’t filed against the manufacturers of those balls anyway. The steel 3/8 inch thick rod used in those buoys was never intended to hold the strain of a cruising sailboat! Fortunately, I’m seeing more of the type where the chain is passing up through the center of the buoy through a PVC tube, and the smarter ones are placing their swivels there, on top of the buoy where they can be seen. If all that is available is the eye on the top of the buoy and you don’t want to get your hands dirty fishing for the bull ring, then move to another mooring, by gar!

When I find the appropriate mooring that I’m going to lay to over night, I put a bight in the middle of my 40-foot dock line and fish that through the mooring’s bull ring. Then I lead the bitter ends under the bight and haul it up to make a “cow hitch” on the ring. This can be done on an eye in the mooring pennants as well but it may be better here to take a round turn around the eye too.

Now, I have a bowsprit complete with a bob stay and whiskers, but even if I didn’t, I’d still lay both ends of my mooring line over the same rail and through the same chalk. This is going to cut down on the alternating strains and chafe on the pennant at the bull ring. It also means that the boat is going to lie slightly cocked to the wind and dance around a bit less. And yes, if I’m expecting a blow, I’ll lash on another pennant or better still, if possible, lie to my own anchor.

In the morning, it’s usually easy enough to work the cow hitch with the end of the boat hook and pull it free to cast off. This system has worked well for me except when picking up one of those CG moorings like the ones at Seguin Island, the converted “nun” sea buoys. These things start rocking on their own and take tension on the pennants which, in turn pulls the boat into the buoy! The only way to get any sleep up there is to make the shackle of the storm rode to the patent thing and pay out about 50–75 feet or so!

Oh, yea, PS. The best knot to lash to that eye would be a sheet or beckett bend. It might behoove you to make a double turn around it and finish it with a hitch on the standing part.

[Crispi]

I have a 20 foot sailboat(1800lb/disp.) moored in 10'' at high tide/4'' at low tide that pulls straight down on the bow when there are waves. I''ve got 45'' of 3/8" chain to a 200lb mooring. Is it possible to have too much or too heavy a chain? Does this set up sound odd to anyone?

Thanks,
Bob

[gstraub]

I''m a little confused by the description. Normally, the chain is supported by a float of some sort. The float usually has a ring to which one can tie a line or lines from the bow of the boat. In this way, the mooring float supports the weight of the chain and the boat is tied to the float.

Gerhard

[Crispi]

Gerhard,

Right. I forgot to mention that I have a mooring ball which supports the chain and painter. In my situation, a six foot tide and 4 feet of water at mean low tide, the chain ends up sitting on the bottom. Even during fairly wavey times the chain doesn''t lift off the bottom all the way to the mushroom, so the pull is just about straight down.

[gstraub]

Now I think I understand the question. Well, I''m not sure how much chain should be on the mooring. I''m sure someone on here knows better than me. The pull being straight down isn''t a problem, it just means your boat isn''t putting any strain on the mooring system. The mooring mushroom or whatever depends on its weight and being buried in the mud for its holding power. It is not like a typical anchor, such as a Danforth, where you need a shallow angle pull to keep it dug in. Even if it were an anchor, the fact that the chain is dropping straight down means there is no strain on the system so there would be no danger of breaking out. I don''t know if I''ve even come close to addressing your questions!

I''ll let someone else jump in here with opinions on how much chain there should be.

Gerhard