A Question of Seamanship (June)

[Guest]

I'm not so sure about the answer using a line to lassoo the bouy considering there's a hard blow. The photo was taken on a calmer day than in the scenario.

Why not a length of chain, say about 2 metres, joined to a heavy rope tail of a few metres either end? This works well for me as then your loop has planty of weight, it positively drops over the bouy, and when rove throught the eye later means there's no chafe to see you quietly dpeart during the night. The rope ends make it easy to tie to your bow cleats or samson post too.

For me, it's just a little trick to sleep soundly when tied to a mooring in a blow, with zero noise from any chain taken all the way to the boat.

Humperdinck

Email: HJ@Seacracker.org
Website: www.seacracker.org

 

[Mirelle]

I thought that, too.

I suggest bringing the buoy alongside at the cockpit, rather than trying to stop the boat with the bow at the buoy, because the bow will blow off fast. Traditional, and it works.

 

[vyv_cox]

Much too early for me, my subscription YM won't be here for best part of two weeks.

If I understand the question correctly from your post, I can confirm that lassoing buoys is a very hit and miss affair. When we kept our boat on a mooring on the Menai Strait we often returned after a weekend sail to find that the pickup buoy had wrapped itself around the riser and could not be lifted. This required us to catch the buoy by some other means until the pick-up could be released.

Our experience was that trying to drop an unloaded line over the buoy was very difficult indeed, especially in any wind. We sometimes used Humperdink's method of lowering a length of chain and we have also had some success with leading the free end of the warp around the buoy with a fully-extended boat hook. As someone else has said, working from the side of the boat instead of the pulpit makes it easier for the helm to see what is happening and approaching upwind keeps the warp relatively stable. Our favoured method, was to pick up another mooring and take the tender across to sort out the problem first. If the tender is attached to the yacht with a long warp it is usually possible to tie this off to the pick-up buoy and haul the yacht to it when the tangle is sorted out.

 

[jimi]

I have often wondered in that situation whether it is not best to reverse up to the buoy, with the boat stern boring into the wind thus giving you perfect control. As far as I can see the only risk is getting the prop caught in the mooring gear,particularly with wind opposing tide, but a careful look & approach should avoid that. I'd be interested in people's thoughts.

 

[jeanette]

Ditto the question.

I have been thinking of picking up the buoy from the stern and making it off there to avoid frolicking on a long and slippery deck when single-handed.

Is this easier? I admit I haven't tried it. I assume, that it would then be a simple matter to run a line from the bows to the buoy and transfer it from the stern.

Has anyone tried this? What are the pitfalls?


Jeanette

 

[bedouin]

That's the technique I use when picking up a buoy single-handed.

Reversing (up wind) up to the buoy means that you can keep your eye on the buoy while still steering the boat, and there is not the tendency for the head to fall off. Once the buoy is alongside the quarter you can leave a little sternway on the boat while you retrieve the buoy at you leisure and walk the line up to the bows.

It's certainly much better than constantly dashing up and down the deck trying to retrieve the buoy from the bows.

 

[Chris_Robb]

Lassoing the bouy when you are to windward of it may mean that you override the bouy and the lassoo may fall off, so I am not sure its practicle.

I always have loads of trouble with my Victory 40 as the bows are very high and they blow off very quickly, so I always approach down wind which is the only direction a long keeled boat is stable, and pick up amidships using a long warp from the bows to loop through the moring line. We then walk this line back to the bows (which gives a 2 to 1 advantage) and finish the job. Using this method, you never have to use brute force.

 

[NigeCh]

Wrapping stops (Menai Strait)

My solution to this problem (y Felinheli) is when casting off is to temporarily fit a slip to the buoy (prior to casting off) so that the strop could be shortened and looped through the buoy top shackle so that the trailing part could not wrap round the riser. (Note: no trailing pick up buoy required)

I haven't seen YM's 'A Question of Seamanship' about lassoeing buoys, but I wouldn't do it - there's an easier way: Sail very slowly upto the buoy using tide and wind and then drop a previously cleated off loop over the bouy (assuming of course that the buoy is large enough to stop the keep the loop taught at the riser head without slipping over the bouy ... etc) before slowly dropping back with either/both tide/wind to ensure that the slip works.

 

[dickh]

I have sucessfully thrown a loop of anchor chain over a mooring buoy which was impossible to pick up in a F6/7 - crew kept the boat up to the buoy on the engine and lasooed the bouy - and put a permenent line on later - mind you I couldn't get the chain over the fairlead and it hung over the rubbing strip, which got dragged off... "look, someones lost their rubbing strip... AAGHHHH... too late..."
dickh

 

[Mirelle]

As I said below, and as Vyv has endorsed, get the buoy alongside the cockpit. Matters not how. Indeed, a very good method in vile weather is to drift down onto the buoy broadside on - then you have it in your lee and hard up against the boat for a few moments, long enough to secure it.

This can be done under sail, incidentally.

 

[Twister_Ken]

First you need a boat which you can steer when going astern!

Twister owners need not apply.

 

[bedouin]

I gather Mr Charlesworth is offering reversing lessons if you're interested in learning.

I can't imagine the Twister is any harder to reverse than the Centurion (or even the Rustler). A bit of a pain in a marina but fine as soon as you have steerage way.

 

[Guest]

Likewise

That too. It's easier and gives you more time.

Humperdinck

Email: HJ@Seacracker.org
Website: www.seacracker.org

 

[incognito]

Here speaks a man...

who just hasn't tried steering boats which don't ever acquire steerage way.