[ScottyG24]

This is our third season with our Oday 272 which we are using as a "pocket" cruiser on Long Island sound costtal Conneticut, Block Island etc. In all our cruises we have used marinas or anchored. Our boat lives on a mooring. My.question and it seems silly is we are planning to pick up a mooring on a trip to Essex Ct in early July. Can we expect lines on the mooring to attach to our bow cleats or are we expected to bring are own mooring lines and connect them to then ball we rent. sorry seems silly but ( i like to always be prepared)the only mooring we have been on is are own so far.

 

[FSMike]

Most mooring balls have lines on them. About the time you start thinking they all have them you run across a place like Key West, Fl, which doesn't.
Also, sometimes the lines are so nasty you don't want them on your boat so you loop your own line through the mooring lines.
Best to bring your own lines, if you don't use them it didn't cost you anything.

 

[bacampbe]

I've found mooring balls in different areas may have different setups. I haven't cruised your area, but for example balls in the BVIs usually have a single pendant. I run a pair of dock lines through it. The Abacos (Bahamas) often have a pair of crazy-long pendants set up for catamarans. The Grenadines have no pendants at all, but you can expect a local entrepreneur to help you tie up. (for a small consideration.)

If you have your own lines ready to go, you can handle most any situation.

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

Every place i have been to has a totally different mooring ball set up.

If I was made King of the World I would make a standard mooring and shoot anyone without it.

You cant tell untill you are right up close to is, sometimes not even then, so just do a close drive-by and have a look

 

[ScottyG24]

thanks for the responses

 

[Minnewaska]

I've not come across a rental mooring in LIS or the New England coast that did not have a pennant of some kind. That's not to say I've seen them all or there are any. However, some have a loop you can put right over a cleat, while others have a thimble you much put your own line through. Some are lying in the water, others have floats on them and still others are held above the mooring by a plastic tube. We always approach with our own line tied to one forward cleat and wrapped around the bow, ready to thread the mooring pennant. If not necessary, we just drop the pennant on the other cleat.

 

[vega1860]

Always bring your own. What ever it is. You can never count on someone else to provide, nor can you be assured that if they did provide it has not been stolen, vandalized or rendered unusable in some way.

 

[Minnewaska]

By the way, do not use modern double braid docklines for this purpose. They chafe through in no time. Best is nylon 3-strand. It still chafes, but we typically get a couple of season of heavy use out of ours.

This year, we actually sewed a sleeve of anti-chafe at the spot where there thimble rubs. We'll see how it works. It's been on once so far and seemed to work well. We have two more sleeves that are not sewn on to align to the chocks on deck.

 

[bacampbe]

We use two lines, one doubled back from each bow cleat. This cuts down on chafe (but dos not eliminate it) quite a bit because you get less sliding through the thimble.

 

[Minnewaska]

We use two lines, one doubled back from each bow cleat. This cuts down on chafe (but dos not eliminate it) quite a bit because you get less sliding through the thimble.

And a natural backup. It's a good technique that is taught in cruising classes. However, I like to use line diameters that are too large to tie both ends over the same cleat.

 

[Zarathu]

Even if there is already a pendant on the mooring chain...How big is it? What kind of chaffing protection does it have? How old is it? How long has it been sitting in the water?

There is a mooring pendant on the mooring I own provided is by the maintenance company that puts it in and maintains it for me(us...in the yacht club), but I can never get anyone either in the yacht club or the company to tell me anything about the condition of the line.

I use my own.

I know how old it is; how thick it is; the condition of the shackle at the bitter end; and the condition of the chaffing protection. One of the worst things to happen to you at an achorage is to drift into another boat or the rocks. Why take a chance?