Mooring on a buoy

RobMcClain

RobMcClain

Member
The last time we cruised the San Juan Islands we took advantage of a mooring buoy in one cove. It was easy, secure, and restful until the wind was calm and current slack. I then found the boat and buoy would occasionally drift together, often at 2:00 am. When this occurred the buoy would periodically bang against the hull. I noticed the large yachts moored nearby had their line(s) to the buoy pulled tight up thru the anchor roller to prevent this sort of thing, but the sweep of their bows was enough to naturally hold off the buoy from the hull. The C-dory hull doesn't allow for this. So how to keep some distance? Or, is there a method to tie closely to the buoy with a fender looped between? Doing some internet research on this matter I found one guy who uses a stiff pool noodle with the line to/from the buoy run thru the hole in the noodle. He said the stiffness of the noodle is enough to hold the boat at an ample distance. I know many of you often take advantage of the mooring buoys and I am curious if you have a method for preventing the periodic hull contact. I have little experience with buoys so I may well have been doing something wrong. What are the best practices and/or tricks? Thanks!

Rob
 
Rob, I had this exact same problem last year. And to make things worse, for security, I had two lines on the ball and a few times they got twisted around causing the mooring ball to hit us even more. I finally removed one line, but still woke up at one point with our line around the ball... :( Colby
 
When it's calm, I've had moderate success by removing the anchor and running the buoy line through the bow roller and pulling it tight enough so the line is vertical as shown below. This works pretty well when it's flat calm. But I've found that with some of the newer style state park buoys which are much taller than the one below, any wave action will result in the bow roller hitting the ring on buoy which is just as annoying as the buoy hitting the hull.

Many C-Brats will argue the best method to prevent this is simply to avoid buoys altogether and just anchor. It's true that nothing beats the peace and quiet of being on your own hook in a protected cove. And some will cite the horror stories of public buoys failing due to corrosion, wear-and-tear, high winds, etc. So it's probably prudent to run an anchor alarm even on a buoy. But I'm with you on the irresistible convenience of grabbing a buoy when available, especially in crowded anchorages. Plus, some coves like Eagle Harbor on Cypress, are voluntary no-anchor zones, to protect the eelgrass. Other spots, like Ewing Cove on Sucia, or Active Cove on Patos, might have strong currents or poor bottom conditions which make anchoring difficult.

036g_1500x1125.sized.jpg
 
Well folks, I'm going to try something that might work next time I use a mooring buoy. It might be a colossal failure but then again maybe it will work. I read a post on another boating forum in which the author mentioned using a pool noodle to run the mooring line thru and the noodle then helped hold the buoy off the hull. Based on the light weight of our boats that idea intrigued me. I've thought about the concept a bit further and have tweaked it. I have not yet been able to test this, but thought I'd pass along the concept for what it might be worth, if anything. And further tweaking from folks is appreciated...

So here is my idea... Pool noodles are fairly flexible so I've run a piece of 1/2" gardening grade pvc pipe thru each noodle. The pipe is available in 2 thicknesses, roughly 1/8" and 1/16". I think some flexibility is still necessary so I've opted for the thinner 1/16" pvc. Slipping it thru the 5 foot noodle length took some time but I was happy to have the tightness.

My plan is to use 2 noodles when I come up to a buoy. I will slide my mooring line thru the first noodle, then thru the eye on the mooring buoy, then back up thru the second noodle. I'll then cleat both ends of the line on the bow with the noodles held relatively tight between the foredeck and the buoy. The noodles should minimize any line chaffing on the pvc. Having the lines tied relatively tight to the bow cleat should minimize unnecessary movement in the noodles. And then the noodles, strengthened with their pvc inserts, should help to hold the buoy off the bow. Thus, no significant banging against the hull (especially at 2:00 am).

So what do you all think? Might this work? I'm hoping to try this when we tow up north later this summer...

Rob
 
the PVC pipe idea has been used for many years, with both rope and chain. Probably only one line would be necessary, with a hook on the end of the line thru the ring on the top of the mooring buoy,. There are hooks, which attach to the boat hook and then are easily put thru the ring.

Many mooring buoys have a pickup and floating pendant,, which attach to chain below the float--no ling on the tip. Some have use "whisker" poles or "Spinaker Poles"--on sail boat for many years to keep the buoy from hitting the boat.

Your idea will work, but I wonder about the difficulty of threading the second line thru the PVC pipe / pool noodle, especially when there is some strain on the lines.
 
The only time this is going to happen is when it is calm. I would take a bungie cord and attach it to the ball and the other end to the anchor roller. If the wind picked up enough I would remove it or if got so windy I could cut it away. Not elegant but it has worked for me. The Cory is light enough to keep it of the ball.
 
To hold the buoy away from the boat, I fabricated an extension pole out of 1" fiberglass tubing and affixed a hook to one end. The pole was fed through the anchor roller and tied off to the anchor chain. The tube (old garden tool handle) allowed some flex and worked quite well. See picture 118 in the Sea Skipper Album. I'm using the same system on my present boat a Rosborough RF-246 "Alpine Mist", but because the bow is mostly straight up and down, a longer pole is required. Link to Sea Skipper picture below showing moored to a very unfriendly logging buoy:

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php

Hank Brooks
 
This does not answer the question on how to stop banging on a buoy. But while we are talking about mooring to a buoy, I'll add in what I used to do.
My mooring buoy rope was 16' or 18' long. At each end was a large super strong stainless steel snap hook. When along side the buoy (at the cockpit) I would pass one snap hook through the eye of the buoy and walk forward with both hooks in my hand to the bow. I would lean over the bow and snap both hooks on to the trailer tie down eye. It is an easy reach. I preferred this method over using both bow cleats. You get no friction rub on the rope against the anchor when the boat swings. Also I placed a couple of snubbers at strategic points on the rope to avoid 'whiplash' if the wind picked up.

Martin.
 
I appreciate the responses... I must say, one of the things I love about boating is the ability it provides to consider and create personal fixes to perceived problems. I'm one for puttering, even when nothing really needs it. Some additional tweaking is now in store for my mooring plan based on the comments received. Once I've tried it I'll let you know if and/or how it worked - and how I may tweak it further....

Rob
 
On this Alaska Inside Passage trip with Blue Days, we found the perfect method for tying off to a buoy so that it couldn't rattle us all night by bouncing off the hull. We rafted up first, and then we each ran a line from our bow cleats to tie the buoy between our bows. Worked like a charm! :lol: So find a buddy boat, raft up, and share the buoy! 8)
 
colbysmith":i1hymkov said:
On this Alaska Inside Passage trip with Blue Days, we found the perfect method for tying off to a buoy so that it couldn't rattle us all night by bouncing off the hull. We rafted up first, and then we each ran a line from our bow cleats to tie the buoy between our bows. Worked like a charm! :lol: So find a buddy boat, raft up, and share the buoy! 8)
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Not wishing to sound negative but........Rafted up with another boat would be more worrisome to me at 2am if the wind picked up than the odd bump into the buoy. Also, as I recall,buoys in the PNW do not allow 2 boats to a buoy.
Martin.
 
bridma":1qm4t5vb said:
Also, as I recall,buoys in the PNW do not allow 2 boats to a buoy.
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This might vary by region or jurisdiction, but WA State Park and DNR buoys will have the rafting limits posted on the buoys. For example they'll say something like up to 3 boats 24' and under, 2 boats from 25' - 36', and 1 boat up to 45'. I can't find the limits on the websites, so it might vary depending on the anchorage system and location of the buoy. Maybe in some places there is a one boat limit, although I've not ever seen that strict of limit in WA parks.

-Mike
 
I'm sure you are right Mike. Come to think of it, all the limitations (one boat to a buoy) I have seen, have been in BC waters.

Martin.
 
hardee":3803ysxi said:
Colby, Super idea. Great trick, and good advice.

Thank you,

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
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No doubt,

That's the one I actually can visualize

Keeping the buoy between the boats

Creating a triangle, yep

Just tie the sterns together cooltu.gif
 
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