Mooring ball

Larry Patrick · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:07 am Post subject: Mooring ball

Guy on dock where boat is,said if we want to overnight on a couple mooring balls ,he told us where they were. My question is ,do you just take extra 50ft of line ,tie a bowline boland knot to mooring ball and then tie off to anchor cleats? Maybee just 25ft of line out or so. Guess you could have a certain line with an a snap spliced in for ball? Just wondering whats the norm thanks.

Aurelia · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:29 am Post subject:

We keep a dedicated 15ft dockline with spiced eye handy and just pass one end through the loop on the mooring ball then pass the end of the line through the loop on the line and we have a slightly less than 15ft, 3/8in line that we tie off to the bow cleat. We do often run it up through the anchor roller just for a bit of "standoff" to minimize bumping the buoy overnight. There are all kinds of special aids to threading lines to buoys but on our little boats it is an easy enough reach from the cockpit and do it by hand.

You could use a longer line but minimal is best if the buoys are closely positioned and you have neighbors. A 25ft dockline would probably be ideal and that is what I will replace the 15 with, when it wears out.

Greg

ghone · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:46 am Post subject:

You don't need a long line. Just a dockline, come alongside, tie a bowline to the top ring of the ball and walk it forward thru your anchor roller to a cleat
What's more important than tie up technique is what condition is the mooring at the seabed and to the ball and where is it? Is it properly designed, maintained etc? In fair weather likely no problem
I rarely if ever use moorings as I trust my ground tackle more
George

westward · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 11:35 am Post subject:

Our cabin is in a mooring buoy community, so we have a dedicated mooring line with SS snaps spliced into both ends; one for the bow eye and one for the ring at the mooring buoy. I invested in HQ captive snaps and use a 3/4" poly rode. You'd be amazed how quickly a 3/8" nylon line can chafe through when rubbing against a galvanized ring, or a less-than-smooth bow eye. 15' is enough and 25' in our community wouldn't fly due to the proximity to other buoys/boats. Keys to remember are not to trust a mooring unless you know its maintenance history, not to use a mooring without permission from its owner, and only attach to the bow of your boat. We keep our line snapped to the bow eye and run back to/secured in the cockpit to make hooking up an easy matter of pulling up slowly alongside the buoy. Boats are safer on a (sound) buoy than tied to a dock if the wind kicks up or changes direction at night: they will stay bow to the wind and ride it out. Some recommend a brisk "tug" on the mooring in reverse to stress test it but I'm not sure that's a guarantee. Cheers! Mike.

Larry Patrick · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 1:24 pm Post subject:

Fifteen feet sounds like plenty,wouldnt want to swing into anyone. They have a club that maintains mooring balls $15 dollar a year midway up the lake,figured it would be some new scenery.

bridma · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 2:00 pm Post subject:

My mooring buoy line is 18' of 5/8" rode. At each end I have a heavy duty stainless snap-on shackle. About a foot below each shackle I have a rubber snubber (takes out any whiplash if the weather deteriorates). I come along side the buoy, and from the cockpit pass one end of the line through the buoy eye. I then walk it forward to the bow and clip on both shackles to the bow eye that you haul the boat out of the water with. This avoids any contact with your anchor or other gear as the boat swings in the wind/current. My method is absolutely fool proof, the best I have seen, and only takes seconds to execute.

Martin.

westward · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 8:09 pm Post subject:

Martin,
Not sure I followed your method. Do you end up with a loop of line where the contact with the buoy ring is directly to your rope? Also, what is your method of hooking the clip to your bow eye for the final connection? I'm imagining you laying on your belly on the foredeck and reaching down to make the bow attachment. What I'm imagining is far from foolproof, especially if you were hooking up in foul weather or in choppy water. Why wouldn't you simply snap onto the buoy ring from the cockpit and be done? Mike

journey on · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 8:32 pm Post subject:

If you haven't used that mooring ball before, check to see if it'll hold you. As you would do with an anchor, back down and see if it holds.

Last summer, off Lummi Isle, we tied up to a friends mooring ball, which he had just set and told us it would hold. Judy tied off and we drifted back past our friends boat. Turns out the "new" mooring wasn't set and hadn't been checked. Luckily for us, it broke loose as soon as we picked it up. Kissed the mooring goodby and used our anchor.

If you've never used the mooring before, test it, just takes a few seconds. And they're still our friends.

Boris

Larry Patrick · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 9:31 pm Post subject:

Good tips,going for 2 nights on boat on at slip other first time using mooring ball.

bridma · Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:51 pm Post subject:

drbridge · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:42 am Post subject:

We have had our boat for a year and are very new to cruising. We have over nighted on Washington state park mooring buoys several times since we have had the boat. We have experimented with a number of different ways to hook up to the buoys and this is what I have come up with so far.
We have a 25'x1/2" dock line with the loop connected to our foredeck cleat. we keep the rope laid out on the port gunnel and tied of in the cockpit.
I pull up to the buoy and thread the end through the ring and then while holding the line I have Susan engage the motor in reverse to back away a tad and then back in to neutral. She will then grab the line through the port window and hold on to it. I will then access the fore deck by standing up in the hatch. She hands me the line and I tie it off to the fore deck cleat. The line ends up going over the top of the rail and is held in place by a bow chock that I have installed on the railing. When it is time to leave I can simply untie the rope from the cleat and back away from the buoy. All of this can be done with out having to be on top of the fore deck or gunnels.
It seems to work pretty good and should be doable in foul weather. Like I said, we are very new at this, so if anyone sees any flaws in this method please let us know.

Doug & Susan

SEA3PO · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 12:49 pm Post subject:

With my tug, I always use a mooring buoy.... it is much safer in a storm than a dock.... I have a heavy duty mooring line setup that I bought from West Marine...it is at least 5/8" and is probably 18' long... I never ever use a snap shackle.... (not strong enough).. but use a regular shackle (a really large one) at the buoy end....then run the line up thru the eyelet midway down the bow.... where your trailer winch clips onto.... then up thru the bow roller and strong secured on a deck cleat.... that way if the sea gets rough the bow will rise against the waves, not be pulled down by the mooring line..
I have ridden out some huge storms this way...it is strong and much better than being beat against some dock...tearing up you sides...

Joel
SEA3PO
KEA (the tug)

Foggy · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 6:16 pm Post subject:

A line is a line is a line.
But, some lines are called rodes.

For a mooring buoy, you want a 15' -20' nylon rode
attached to what snarly ends you may have work with.

Mooring buoys are not always safe. Once, in the Bahamas,
I got onto a mooring buy only to find, on inspection, the
underwater chain to the submerged anchor was frail (rusted
through).

I put out an anchor for redundancy and by morning,
don't you kno', the mooring chain was lying on the bottom.

Aye.

Grandma used to say, "Redundancy may save your hams."