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mooring bouys
- Thread starter Big Mac
- Start date
Capital Sea
New member
You may get some differing feedback in response to your question.
We have a bouy out in front of our house and like to run over to places like Jarrel Cove which is protected and tie up to one for lunch.
If you are in a strong tide area or at an exposed location and plan to leave the boat or sleep then most folks use two lines both running through the bouy ring and back to the boat.
In most situations though, I use one bow line (I think its 3/4"). I have it rigged so it runs back to the back of the cabin where it is secured. I have installed stainless line guides on both sides of the bow so when I am tied up, the line will not rub on the boat or the base of railing which eliminates ware. I use a marine grade, carabiner with a brass eye at the small end. I think this was around $30 at west marine, but if you are going to use a clip, you want it to have a heavier spring and an eye to keep the line in place. Some will use shock cords. I never have.
With straight line or if using a clip, you want the line to be long enough so you can pull along side the bouy and clip up or run the line through the bouy ring from the cockpit. I tie a knot at the end of the line which keeps the clip from slipping off and acts as a stop as I walk up to the bow.
If you start out with the long line secured in the anchor cleat and the line running around the railing posts, then you just walk to the bow and then bring the end you are holding under the rail on the other side and tie it off. I try to have the bouy about 6-8' away from the hull. This reduces stress if you are bobbing around.
We have a bouy out in front of our house and like to run over to places like Jarrel Cove which is protected and tie up to one for lunch.
If you are in a strong tide area or at an exposed location and plan to leave the boat or sleep then most folks use two lines both running through the bouy ring and back to the boat.
In most situations though, I use one bow line (I think its 3/4"). I have it rigged so it runs back to the back of the cabin where it is secured. I have installed stainless line guides on both sides of the bow so when I am tied up, the line will not rub on the boat or the base of railing which eliminates ware. I use a marine grade, carabiner with a brass eye at the small end. I think this was around $30 at west marine, but if you are going to use a clip, you want it to have a heavier spring and an eye to keep the line in place. Some will use shock cords. I never have.
With straight line or if using a clip, you want the line to be long enough so you can pull along side the bouy and clip up or run the line through the bouy ring from the cockpit. I tie a knot at the end of the line which keeps the clip from slipping off and acts as a stop as I walk up to the bow.
If you start out with the long line secured in the anchor cleat and the line running around the railing posts, then you just walk to the bow and then bring the end you are holding under the rail on the other side and tie it off. I try to have the bouy about 6-8' away from the hull. This reduces stress if you are bobbing around.
matt_unique
New member
I assume the mooring buoy and system is already setup and your question is about how to tie to a mooring.
If you're tying up for a few hours you can use any good line and you'll want to tie up securely around a bow cleat and the top ring of the mooring buoy. It's best to approach the buoy going straight into the wind. Have a buddy safely at the bow with a hook to reach down and grab the top of the mooring (or existing lines if already there).
If you will be leaving a boat on a mooring for a longer period of time you will want pennant lines. Pennant lines are regular lines with a metal thimble at one end (line is in the shape of a tear drop with the metal thimble inside the loop). There is a picture of a pennant line in my album. The pennant line is secured to the top of the mooring with a shackle. Regular line will chafe away quite quickly in strong wind or current.
I keep my boats (now Tomcat) on a mooring and I use two pennant lines off the same mooring buoy.
If you're tying up for a few hours you can use any good line and you'll want to tie up securely around a bow cleat and the top ring of the mooring buoy. It's best to approach the buoy going straight into the wind. Have a buddy safely at the bow with a hook to reach down and grab the top of the mooring (or existing lines if already there).
If you will be leaving a boat on a mooring for a longer period of time you will want pennant lines. Pennant lines are regular lines with a metal thimble at one end (line is in the shape of a tear drop with the metal thimble inside the loop). There is a picture of a pennant line in my album. The pennant line is secured to the top of the mooring with a shackle. Regular line will chafe away quite quickly in strong wind or current.
I keep my boats (now Tomcat) on a mooring and I use two pennant lines off the same mooring buoy.
I keep my tug on a buoy during the summer months... I have had trouble keeping the tug alongside a dock... and feel safer attached to a buoy...I use a pennant line..that I bought from West Marine...that is designed just for mooring..... I get large waves where she sits...so my line goes from the samson post over the anchor roller and down to the bow eye.... where I run it threw a chafe guard then to the top of the buoy....where it shackles to the buoy.... I don't trust snap shackles... that way in rough on coming seas it rides easily...
Joel
SEA3PO
Kea the tug
Joel
SEA3PO
Kea the tug
My goal is to keep the boat away from the buoy. Don't like the black marks and the clanging of fiberglass against buoy. I use about 30' of bow line secured to the bow cleat, then lead the end out, behind the bow rail stanchion, through the buoy, then back onboard, again behind the stanchion on the opposite side and secure onto the bow cleat. That way the bow line also doesn't hook on your anchor at night and wake you up. Anyone in the buoyed anchorages that doesn't use enough bow line will be clanging all night. Don't know how they can stand it.
lloyds":3ffwoh7l said:That way the bow line also doesn't hook on your anchor at night and wake you up.
The few times that I secured to a mooring bouy with my 16', I'd run a line from the bow eye to the mooring bouy. (That way there is no interference with your anchor). Additionally, the bow eye is "stouter" than the deck cleats unless you've reinforced the deck cleat backing.
To date, I haven't secured the 22' to a mooring bouy, but I'd do the same with it.
(For security purposes you can route a second (independant) line from your deck cleat to the mooring bouy, but keep plenty of slack in that line so it would only have "strain" on it if the "bow eye" line were to fail).