Bobstays, buoys and chafing

[LeonF]

Just wondered if any of you have a boat with a bowspprit on a swinging mooring. I had a problem with my previous boat chafing when wind against tide caused it to surge forward on to the buoy. I overcame this very succesfully by changing to a soft inflatable buoy. Will still keep the inflatable but am concerned that I may have problems with the mooring lines chafing the bobstay. Someone has suggested a block on the lower bobstay attachment point to lead the lines through but I am not convinced. Any thoughts appreciated.

<hr width=100% size=1>L.A.R.Ferguson

 

[snowleopard]

option 1: set up the bobstay with a tackle at the outboard end. when moored ease the tackle and pull the bobstay up to the stemhead.

if you can't do that because your bobstay is fixed, attach your mooring to the bobstay lower fitting or a special one just below it. it's also a good idea to have a nylon strop attached there with a chain claw/hook, the hook is attached to your anchor chain as you lower it so the strop acts as a shock absorber, keeps the chain clear of the bobstay and provides a lower angle of pull so you need to veer less chain, a win-win-win situation!

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[Mirelle]

Quite so. We have a tackle on the bobstay and trice it up on the mooring; but when leaving a friend's boat with a fixed bobstay on a mooring I took a second line from the buoy to a cleat aft to give her a bit of a sheer and thereby keep the buoy clear of the bobstay.

This worked for three weeks, but if the tricing line gave way the mooring warp would have parted. Not ideal, but a good temporary lash up.

We have a very beefy bobstay fitting with a big bronze backing plate inside the boat and this has two holes - upper one for the bobstay and lower one for anchor snubber, which is a length of nylon line. To get rid of the line when niot wanted it snaps onto the traveler, which by definition is at the stemhead if you want to anchor!

I have not been able to find a really satisfactory chain claw, so I use a Wichard s/s snap shackle which goes through the links in the chain. Breaking strain of this and the nylon rope is about a ton whilst the chain breaks at 4 - this gives me pretty exactly what I want as in the event of a huge strain coming on it the load would be taken at the stemhead.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?