Attaching Mooring Strops to Chain below Mooring Ball

[wfe1947]

Thinking about my twice yearly task of removing and refitting mooring strops to the riser chain below the mooring ball. I find this very difficult in terms of tipping the mooring ball to gain access to the riser chain. The boat is on a Windermere mooring.
What I am thinking of doing is shackling two short lengths of chain near to the top of the riser chain below the mooring ball and then shackling the mooring strops to the free ends of these short chains. The mooring strops then go via fairleads to cleats on each side of the bow, this prevents the lines twisting, which occurs if I put the main strop through the bow roller.
To simplify future access I will connect a piece of rope from the loose end of each short chain to the loop on top of the mooring buoy.
Can I expect any problems with this?

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Some folks lift the whole lot, buoy and all onto the deck. Saves wind against tide bumping.

I've never done it , but have been happy using the hoop through the buoy for attachments .

Have you had problems with your current setup ?

 

[wfe1947]

Some folks lift the whole lot, buoy and all onto the deck. Saves wind against tide bumping.

I've never done it , but have been happy using the hoop through the buoy for attachments .

Have you had problems with your current setup ?

No problems in terms of performance but very difficult to lift the buoy. My son helped last year by hauling it up from the boat's bow but I could only just access the bottom of the buoy from the tender. Could even have been a high water level on the lake and not much slack on the riser chain.
Advice from the company that installs mooring buoys on Windermere is to never use the hoop at the top of the buoy although for last year I did use it for the secondary strop.

 

[coveman]

Thinking about my twice yearly task of removing and refitting mooring strops to the riser chain below the mooring ball. I find this very difficult in terms of tipping the mooring ball to gain access to the riser chain. The boat is on a Windermere mooring.
What I am thinking of doing is shackling two short lengths of chain near to the top of the riser chain below the mooring ball and then shackling the mooring strops to the free ends of these short chains. The mooring strops then go via fairleads to cleats on each side of the bow, this prevents the lines twisting, which occurs if I put the main strop through the bow roller.
To simplify future access I will connect a piece of rope from the loose end of each short chain to the loop on top of the mooring buoy.
Can I expect any problems with this?

Interesting - as with many things different people have an array of different answers to a similar question.

I used to have a mooring in Portland Harbour on the south coast which was quite exposed in a blow. Our sailing club based there never relied on rope strops and insisted the riser chain was taken direct to cleats on the boat.
This was relatively simple in that the mooring buoy was attached to the riser by a short length of chain but the riser went on board the boat without any shackles etc which could fail. The only failure point would be the shackle used to make a loop in the chain to go over the cleat. A rope strop was then attached to the riser a little above the buoy and again taken to a cleat. The rope/strop would take all the strain and the chain was left slightly slack. The cleated chain was there as backup should the strop wear through which can happen surprisingly quickly in inclement weather. A pickup buoy was attached to the chain to allow easy retrieval of it when mooring up.
I am not familiar with Windermere but with the extremes of weather that we now seem to get I wouldn't be very happy relying on ropes, but maybe you are in a sheltered spot!

 

[andsarkit]

When I had my own mooring I ran the riser up through the centre of a spar buoy with the swivel and connections on top out of the water. No corrosion of the swivel or shackles and easy to service.
My current Dart Harbour mooring has a rod through the buoy with connections to the ring at the top. This seems to work quite well for the thousand or so moorings on the Dart.
I use a main mooring pick up chain with a backup rope in case a shackle fails. No problem with twisting as the top ring rotates.

 

[FirstAway]

When I had a mooring on Windermere we used to shackle the mooring strops direct to the riser, at two different levels so one strop slightly longer than the other. We would pass a rope around and under the mooring buoy which we used to winch the buoy out of the water, then it was easy to attach the strops from the tender. If you can get the buoy high enough you can attach the strops below the corrosion level on the chain, about a foot if I remember rightly.

 

[Streaker1421]

My mooring on the Clyde is set up similar to that described by andsarkit at #5. The strops attach to a hard eye on top of the buoy making them easy to access with the added benefit of being able to visually inspect every time I slip and secure.

 

[Graham376]

I hoist the buoy up to the rollers with the strops then pass a line through the top of the riser, tie both ends to deck cleats and then release the strops.

 

[wfe1947]

All fine but no comment on my possible use of two short chains, which once in place, allow for easy access to strops for joining and removing.
Also, I'll be nearly 75 the next time I have to do it!

 

[Neeves]

All fine but no comment on my possible use of two short chains, which once in place, allow for easy access to strops for joining and removing.
Also, I'll be nearly 75 the next time I have to do it!

I'd thread the 2 short chains through slightly oversized clear flexible hose pipe to ensure you have maximum protection from the chains abrading your gel cote. The only 'danger' in what you suggest is that you need to ensure the longevity of how you secure the shackle pins (Loctite and mousing wire is good belt and braces).

The only query I have at the back of my mind is how you check the seabed integrity of the mooring. To complete this annually means physically looking at it and if you are approaching 75 then this probably means using a commercial mooring contractor. By using your own modifications you may negate any insurance cover the contractor offers for his services for his (or your) moorings.

Our moorings are a different arrangement to yours (amazing that to achieve the same result there are so many different nuances) but we wanted an extra strop - the mooring contractor said I was welcome to add anything I wanted - at my risk (ill defined) - he added the extra strop FOC. ( but then we get on well together)

Jonathan

 

[Graham376]

All fine but no comment on my possible use of two short chains, which once in place, allow for easy access to strops for joining and removing.
Also, I'll be nearly 75 the next time I have to do it!

I'll be 76 next time I lift ours this year . I see your chain idea as an over complication but, having a rope riser ours most likely doesn't weigh as much as yours.

 

[wallacebob]

Just a comment: if strops are replaced twice yearly is this due to wear, or Nat Park requirement? If it’s wear, then the design, spec or attachment is wrong. Who does the mooring belong to?
Regarding changing them, attach a rope to the riser chain 6-12” below strop shackle, then to your boat cleat to take the strain off. Then working in your tender should make attachment simpler?

 

[wfe1947]

Just a comment: if strops are replaced twice yearly is this due to wear, or Nat Park requirement? If it’s wear, then the design, spec or attachment is wrong. Who does the mooring belong to?
Regarding changing them, attach a rope to the riser chain 6-12” below strop shackle, then to your boat cleat to take the strain off. Then working in your tender should make attachment simpler?

No, I don't replace the strops twice per year. I take them off once anda put them back once each year.
I do trip the buoy by hooking a rope around the riser some distance below the buoy to attach/detach the strops. Even with mu din pulling frim the now of mu Boat, it is difficult.
If I use two short chains between the riser and the strops, the only additional failure mode would be the shackle between the short chain anda the strop, which is easily viewed each time I go to the boat.

 

[wallacebob]

Then I think your original idea is sound, with some tube fitted to chain.