Are Mooring Hooks any good?

[Thepipdoc]

When coming alongside would one of these things (or similar) be any use in getting a line from the bow to a cleat? I'm aware that a "lasoo" technique can be used to get a hold on a cleat but I just wondered if one of thse hooks might help when my John Wayne impersonation fails!



http://www.seamarknunn.com/acatalog/info_PBKG-MH20.html

Thanks

 

[Cymrogwyllt]

Sounds like the precurser to "Oh Bother! I should have let go earlier" shortly followed by a splash to me. I once tried to grab a branch as an aid to stopping in a river. The sign on the bottom of my kayak (Oh S**t, other way up) was there for the world to see. I should have known better.

 

[Firefly625]

When coming alongside would one of these things (or similar) be any use in getting a line from the bow to a cleat? I'm aware that a "lasoo" technique can be used to get a hold on a cleat but I just wondered if one of thse hooks might help when my John Wayne impersonation fails!



http://www.seamarknunn.com/acatalog/info_PBKG-MH20.html

Thanks

Most cleats on pontoons are not really shaped well enough for one of these to be used, we do have one, great to use on mooring buoys, the ones with big metal loops at the top, but IMO for pontoon mooring you will need to master your John Wayne technique...

 

[Firefly625]

BTW I got mine of feebay, paid £10.

Just had a quick look and there's one on there, actually there are a couple.

.....for a tenner worth getting one and see if it works for you....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Boat-mooring-pickup-hook-/330535957633?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item4cf57a7481

 

[Thepipdoc]

BTW I got mine of feebay, paid £10.

Just had a quick look and there's one on there, actually there are a couple.

.....for a tenner worth getting one and see if it works for you....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Boat-mooring-pickup-hook-/330535957633?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item4cf57a7481

Thanks for that. Must be worth a punt!

 

[Poignard]

I have one, it's a St Vaast hook, so-called because it is big enough to clip onto those loops of steel tube that many marina pontoons in France have at the end, e.g. St Vaast!

It does work but it's a bit cumbersome.

I bought it years ago after my first never-to-be-forgotten arrival in Cherbourg at dead of night when The Old Guvnor leapt nimbly onto the pontoon with a stern-line to act as a brake ( the only vacant berths being downwind). I can well remember her plaintive cry of 'There's no cleat!', immediately followed by the sound of crunching gelcoat as the bow bumped the angle-iron edge of the walkway. We had arrived at our first foreign port.

 

[fireball]

SWMBO just uses the normal boathook to put a big loop over the cleat ...

 

[PetiteFleur]

I had one that I used for catching onto the metal loop on the top of mooring buoys but only used it a couple of times - the problem? You still had to get down to the top of the buoy to unclip it and and thread through a rope and with a high freeboard that was a PITA. Sold it on ebay and got the type that automatically threaded a rope through the loop - works a treat.
I can see it being useful for a pontoon mooring though as you can easily replace with a rope easily.

 

[Watson47]

Thepipdoc .... I use two of the KONG Mooring Hooks that you highlighted & find them excellent. (I am single-handed on a 47 ft boat) They are really good quality - solid. I have fixed one of the mounting bracket to a painters, telescopic roller pole, which extends to 5 metres. Normally, I leave the KONG hooks pre-fixed to mooring lines fore & aft, with a D-shackle. When approaching a mooring/pontoon/pier rings, etc I attach the hook to the telescopic pole & secure the forward line. Then quickly back to the stern attach the second KONG.

In theory it works 10 out of 10 ... though with spectators this 'average' can decrease notably ...

Overall though a very good piece of kit & worth the money, though if i remember correctly I paid about £35 each for them a few years ago - Mailspeedmarine I think. I opted for the KONG hook, having examined the technical details of quite a few hooks - principally due to their strength as my boat is 25 tons.

 

[Salty John]

Ours is similar but has a narrower opening than the Kong. 1500 lbs safe working load:
http://www.saltyjohn.co.uk/mooringmate.htm