Switching from marina to mooring

[ylop]

Ok it looks like we might be about to switch from marina storage to mooring. What are we likely to have not thought about?

• there's a pontoon with sufficient depth for loading crew or suppplies, it has water and waste collection.
• the pontoon has space for dinghies - i'm thinking we probably need to upgrade the dinghy, is there a sensible self draining option? (it could be 2-3 weeks between use)
• would we be better getting a bigger (hard?) dinghy that can squeeze 4 people and leave that on the mooring and retain small "2.5 person" inflatabe for anchorages etc
• would you add two pennants so they work like a bridle, and redundancy?
• will probably add "small" solar panel as no shore power
• the bilge pump is not automatic (the boat doesn't leak); will that leave me paranoid and wishing I had an auto one?
• will likely add some sort of monitoring - but we will be >2hr drive away so not going to be that helpful!
• do the downsides of using a mooring offset against the faff of fenders and setting up springs etc - feels like the ready to sail and ready to go home time will be similar in each case?

 

[Graham376]

In our limited experience of marinas, arrival and departing far quicker and less trouble than on a mooring, particularly in bad weather. We've had moorings for 30 years and the main worry is security of dinghy when away. In N Wales we had a tatty hard grp tender which was left (without outboard) padlocked to a chain close to a house on a fairly remote beach but I wouldn't have left an inflatable there. Where we are now, local boatyard lock it up in a shed for us when away for some time.

Suggest you add a float switch to your bilge pump, insurers may want that anyway and check if they will allow wintering on mooring, many won't.

Certainly have two strops/pennants.

 

[RogerJolly]

• the pontoon has space for dinghies - i'm thinking we probably need to upgrade the dinghy, is there a sensible self draining option? (it could be 2-3 weeks between use)

Is self-draining a thing outside racing dinghies? Wouldn’t worry – stored on end or upside down on land. Maybe get some rain water left on mooring over two week cruise - just bail out.

• would we be better getting a bigger (hard?) dinghy that can squeeze 4 people and leave that on the mooring and retain small "2.5 person" inflatabe for anchorages etc

Yes.

• the bilge pump is not automatic (the boat doesn't leak); will that leave me paranoid and wishing I had an auto one?

I don’t worry. Are you worried, vs marina, there’s no one to notice it sinking?

• do the downsides of using a mooring offset against the faff of fenders and setting up springs etc - feels like the ready to sail and ready to go home time will be similar in each case?

Not for me. Can take a surprising time to reach the boat – looks to be no great distance from ashore but might be ten minutes in tender. Manhandling the tender a pain.

What’s access like? Wish I had a sugar scoop/open transom – clambering over pulpit and transferring kit/provisions etc. over is a pain.

 

[Graham376]

What’s access like? Wish I had a sugar scoop/open transom – clambering over pulpit and transferring kit/provisions etc. over is a pain.

We usually board by step fender through gate close to shrouds, sugar scoop not fun if pitching in a chop.

 

[MontyMariner]

Is there onshore secure storage to keep a hard dinghy on site?
If not, then use your small inflatable to get to mooring to pick up the boat then bring boat into pontoon to pick up crew and bags.
Your choice then, depending on your planned trip, whether to leave inflatable on mooring, tow or bring it onboard.

 

[doug748]

Ok it looks like we might be about to switch from marina storage to mooring. What are we likely to have not thought about?

• there's a pontoon with sufficient depth for loading crew or suppplies, it has water and waste collection.
• the pontoon has space for dinghies - i'm thinking we probably need to upgrade the dinghy, is there a sensible self draining option? (it could be 2-3 weeks between use)
• would we be better getting a bigger (hard?) dinghy that can squeeze 4 people and leave that on the mooring and retain small "2.5 person" inflatabe for anchorages etc
• would you add two pennants so they work like a bridle, and redundancy?
• will probably add "small" solar panel as no shore power
• the bilge pump is not automatic (the boat doesn't leak); will that leave me paranoid and wishing I had an auto one?
• will likely add some sort of monitoring - but we will be >2hr drive away so not going to be that helpful!
• do the downsides of using a mooring offset against the faff of fenders and setting up springs etc - feels like the ready to sail and ready to go home time will be similar in each case?

* The pontoon is excellent, even better if you can store the dinghy out of the water
* As above.
* Don't get a hard dinghy they clatter the topside and are a general pain in the bottom.
* I use a single mooring strop with a very large stainless swivel. The strop would hold a trawler and I mouse the shackle with monel wire, cable tie and a split pin. A single strop means no problems with twisted strops.
* A 10 watt panel is all I use and it's fine for general leisure use ( + normal engine hours)- as long as you have a simple boat. Fridges and electric toilets are another matter.
* I have never had an electric bilge pump.
* Can't see that monitoring assists much but some sort of auto bilge alarm may help the wary esp at first.
* Yes. A swinging mooring is much easier, you can sail on and off if you like, even singlehanded. There is hardly any prep either leaving or arriving. You will probably sail more as you are already "out", drop one line and you are away.

If you have easy parking for the car and good, safe tender storage and you are young and fit enough to take gear and crew in a dinghy, easily - then a swinging mooring wins every single time.
You have to decide if you will have a single tender for the boat or a separate one to get out to the boat and another onboard ready for cruising use. Rigid tenders left at a pontoon will get filthy and the bottom will foul, left on the mooring they will still get full of water and covered in bird crap into the bargain.
Consider an old 10ft Avon or similar which can be stored on the hard without fear and left on the mooring can be flipped so the gulls crap on the bottom. It's clean, dry and ready for use when you get back

PS
Other downsides:

Bird fouling can be a problem at certain times - worth thinking about. Also in a popular dinghy sailing area you could get the odd bump. At slack tide the boat can be driven over the mooring, depending on the design, an apron at the bow can be used to protect the topsides

.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Always always have two penants to a mooring buoy. In plymouth sound about two boats a year are washed ashore and wrecked by single warp failure. Tie them together with their pickup buoy on departure if any current as reduces warp round chain risk on return

A small inflatable for cruising use is desirable unless you can hoist a the bigger one on boat inflated. I prefer hard tenders as they may sink while we are abroad but yanking them to surface it a damn sight easier than emergency repair to get ashore - and easier than going ashore in small inflatable to tow the big one thus leaving a surplus of dighies ashore.

Buy two auto bilge pumps if away from boat for more than a few weeks at a time or if boat bilges wet. Failure to have an auto bilge working is main reason for boat sinkage. If you have two you can set one a bit higher and drive it from engine battery instead. Better the inability to start if it flattens than boat underwater if primary one clogs - and they can

 

[johnalison]

Much depends on your situation. We had a mooring for many years with our then Sadler 29. In the end I got fed up with dealing with an inflatable and got an 8' pram which would just about take 3 persons of good behaviour. It was very light and had built-in buoyancy. It was easy for me to drag it across the pontoon to its stowage place with other dinghies and I took no action for security. It made the 10-15 minute trip to the boat much more pleasant and leaving it on the mooring actually made picking up easier. A decent white fender strip seemed adequate protection, and if sleeping at the mooring the dinghy would sit quietly on the boat's quarter just tied fore & aft with a couple of fenders. I always left one mooring pennant slack, so that the length would be more or less the same even if twisted by tides.

Moorings do involve more time and effort but have the advantage of peace and privacy, and I always delighted in the outward dinghy trip at which I was immediately on holiday.

 

[Daydream believer]

Moorings do involve more time and effort but have the advantage of peace and privacy, and I always delighted in the outward dinghy trip at which I was immediately on holiday.

I have never noticed any problem on the "peace & privacy" front apart from the odd yapping dog. In fact having the occassional chat to others is better. But I have had a mooring & would never go back to it. Much nicer to go down & sit on the boat & do any small tasks without any hassle. Loading/unloading gear so much easier. Quicker to ger sailing. Easy to get in & out of a berth single handed, no faff trying to catch a buoy then having to row ashore. No concerns about finding the tender missing on return. No having to lift the outboard on & off the dinghy every time one leaves the thing. No worries about the outboard not starting.
. If one has one's regular berth the lines are left ashore, so it is only fenders to worry about. Easy to charge batteries, fill water tanks, get fuel & scrub the decks etc. Less chance of theft & normally someone to keep an eye on the boat in a decent marina..Less chance of mooring failure & boat going adrift.
I think that unless cost is an issue, one should think carefully about giving up a proper berth.

 

[steveeasy]

A pontoon is much easier and far more expensive. A swinging mooring avoids having to deal with miserable yard owners which is a massive positive. No boat politics either. Not so much fun rowing in the rain but good excercise.

I’m getting a smaller dinghy which is lighter to carry. Where I am in Scotland is fab as it has a pontoon to tie up too and my piled mooring on the Hamble is perfect too 50 yards from pub and slipway. Save £500 per month. That means I can treat myself every month to new bits and bobs.
Steveeasy

 

[Daydream believer]

A swinging mooring avoids having to deal with miserable yard owners which is a massive positive.

I have been to dozens of different marinas & ports round the Uk & abroad. Yes there is the odd difficult HM in foreign ports who are anti British. But apart from those, I do not recall any marina staff who I can say have been difficult, or unhelpful, if one was equally polite to them. So I would respectfully suggest that perhaps your comment is unfounded. It certainly would be at our marina. Yes, the owners have rules. but it is their marina & one just has to respect that.

 

[Sandy]

I did the same move as you a few years back, it is a mooring connected to a club.

There is a WhatsApp group with mooring holders, we look out for each other's boats.

Save your beer tokens, see below, and just use the inflatable. You can always pop out to the mooring and bring the boat over to the pontoon to load up with crew and stuff.

The beer and craic is better in the club bar than the old marina.

 

[johnalison]

I have never noticed any problem on the "peace & privacy" front apart from the odd yapping dog. In fact having the occassional chat to others is better. But I have had a mooring & would never go back to it. Much nicer to go down & sit on the boat & do any small tasks without any hassle. Loading/unloading gear so much easier. Quicker to ger sailing. Easy to get in & out of a berth single handed, no faff trying to catch a buoy then having to row ashore. No concerns about finding the tender missing on return. No having to lift the outboard on & off the dinghy every time one leaves the thing. No worries about the outboard not starting.
. If one has one's regular berth the lines are left ashore, so it is only fenders to worry about. Easy to charge batteries, fill water tanks, get fuel & scrub the decks etc. Less chance of theft & normally someone to keep an eye on the boat in a decent marina..Less chance of mooring failure & boat going adrift.
I think that unless cost is an issue, one should think carefully about giving up a proper berth.

I can’t say that peace is usually a problem at my marina, though I have occasionally had to apply corrective measures to other boats’ halyards, but the outlook, at dozens of other similar boats, is bleak compared to the variety at our one-time mooring. I’m not saying that moorings are better, because in many ways they aren’t, but they have many good features as well for those with sufficient vigour to take advantage of them. In any case, going sailing without a basketful of worries wouldn’t be the same thing at all.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We have both the best or worst of both worlds, depending on your viewpoint. A non walk ashore pontoon, just under half a mile from the slipway. We love it. Bird life, a degree of solitude, but other owners nearby, just not right next to you. It’s 1/4 the price of the marina, we keep a mini RIB to zip up there painlessly. That would be my tip. Get a good tender, one to get you, the crew and your kit and food in.

 

[steveeasy]

I have been to dozens of different marinas & ports round the Uk & abroad. Yes there is the odd difficult HM in foreign ports who are anti British. But apart from those, I do not recall any marina staff who I can say have been difficult, or unhelpful, if one was equally polite to them. So I would respectfully suggest that perhaps your comment is unfounded. It certainly would be at our marina. Yes, the owners have rules. but it is their marina & one just has to respect that.

Trust you to start up again!!!!. What on earth are you rambling on about this time.. you might need a lesson or too but I can assure you I don’t. Now back to something more interesting I suggest.
Steveeasy

 

[Daydream believer]

Trust you to start up again!!!!. What on earth are you rambling on about this time.. you might need a lesson or too but I can assure you I don’t. Now back to something more interesting I suggest.
Steveeasy

You really hate it when someone corrects your generalised biased unproven comments - in this case about yard owners being miserable-don't you

 

[steveeasy]

You really hate it when someone corrects your biased unproven comments don't you

I’m right in the middle of stripping varnish and quite frankly I’m not in the slightest bit bothered by your comment hence the smiling emoj.

I’m not going to get in to. Anything on this subject cos it was such a small trivial remark I made with absolutely no detail whatsoever.

However how do you know it was biased and unproven?. You don’t know anything at all. Now I enjoy your posts even though you like to pick a fight which is exactly what your trying to do. May I suggest you don’t as the forum is a good place. If you want a fight go elsewhere to pick one. Ok
Steveeasy

 

[Snowgoose-1]

I liked swinging moorings when I had to work for a living. Getting one's feet wet and rowing to the mother ship you felt part of the natural scheme of things. The nature was nice and the odd time you sailed on and off the mooring made you pretend that you were the equal of the old timers. I'm sure I was half a stone lighter at the end of the season due to dragging loaded hard loaded tenders up and down the slipway.

Being retired and a marina dweller suits me fine . I can do the odd job at my convenience and a natter and coffee with like minded layabouts most other times.

You are under more pressure docking in marinas than picking up moorings with always a guaranteed audience. As Charles Stock used to say, cock up's are less frequent as time goes by but are usually more intricate when they do.

 

[ylop]

I don’t worry. Are you worried, vs marina, there’s no one to notice it sinking?

Yes thought it’s probably misplaced - but I assumed that if she was taking on lots of water the marina staff might notice and either call us or investigate. Obviously if a seacock failed or similar it might be too late anyway!

Is self-draining a thing outside racing dinghies?

I had assumed some of the hard dinghies would have that as it seems obvious! I guess something like a takacat solves the issue but probably at the expense of storage/staying dry during use. Now I’m saying this I’m realising I need to better understand the “ashore” dinghy storage.

What’s access like? Wish I had a sugar scoop/open transom – clambering over pulpit and transferring kit/provisions etc. over is a pain.

there’s a small bathing platform/sugar scoop

I did the same move as you a few years back, it is a mooring connected to a club.

There is a WhatsApp group with mooring holders, we look out for each other's boats.

yes ok joining the nearby club seems to be order of the day as people with better personal hygiene habits than me would “like a shower when we get back”

 

[gregcope]

Ok it looks like we might be about to switch from marina storage to mooring. What are we likely to have not thought about?

• there's a pontoon with sufficient depth for loading crew or suppplies, it has water and waste collection.
• the pontoon has space for dinghies - i'm thinking we probably need to upgrade the dinghy, is there a sensible self draining option? (it could be 2-3 weeks between use)
• would we be better getting a bigger (hard?) dinghy that can squeeze 4 people and leave that on the mooring and retain small "2.5 person" inflatabe for anchorages etc
• would you add two pennants so they work like a bridle, and redundancy?

We have a decent sized bridal. Works well. If you have a chain consider placing it in a hose (screwfix sell cheap ones).

• will probably add "small" solar panel as no shore power

You might want to add more as there is no shore power…

• the bilge pump is not automatic (the boat doesn't leak); will that leave me paranoid and wishing I had an auto one?

Yep. Make it auto for peace of mind.

• will likely add some sort of monitoring - but we will be >2hr drive away so not going to be that helpful!

There are often WhatsApp groups.

• do the downsides of using a mooring offset against the faff of fenders and setting up springs etc - feels like the ready to sail and ready to go home time will be similar in each case?

I find ours quiet and nice. Trade off is more of a faff to get out there. Been using a mooring for 14 years…