buoy catcher

Almanach du marin breton, 2001 edition :)
You may know it, it's a sort of French Reeds (annual tide tables, light signals, colregs, weather bulletins timetables, very succint pilotage notes, etc, in those years they also had a section on astro navigation), sometimes they insert a cooking recipe, a couple of pages about geodesy or past weather phenomena, or little drawings like the above.
Actually, most renowned for the short sentences written on top of many pages, sometimes with very hidden meanings, loosely translated:
From the hand to the mouth, some soup is always lost
Best to take water from a friend, than wine from a traitor
The best pilots are on land
The master of his thirst is master of his health
What the flow brings, the ebb takes away
A liar must have a good memory

What book is that illustration from?
 
I have never found the need for anything like the buoy catcher but I do find that as a frequent visitor to the dutch canals it is not possible to easily lasso bollards that are inset into lock walls.
I made the item as shown below. I also use it to drop my stern line over posts when mooring between poles in places like Willemstad & Middleburg. I can just drop the line over & release the pole. I can also use it for cleats on pontoons if I wish although I tend to lasso those
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Heath Robinson would be proud. Function has triumphed over form. :D
 
Almanach du marin breton, 2001 edition :)
You may know it, it's a sort of French Reeds (annual tide tables, light signals, colregs, weather bulletins timetables, very succint pilotage notes, etc, in those years they also had a section on astro navigation), sometimes they insert a cooking recipe, a couple of pages about geodesy or past weather phenomena, or little drawings like the above.
Actually, most renowned for the short sentences written on top of many pages, sometimes with very hidden meanings, loosely translated:
From the hand to the mouth, some soup is always lost
Best to take water from a friend, than wine from a traitor
The best pilots are on land
The master of his thirst is master of his health
What the flow brings, the ebb takes away
A liar must have a good memory
Thanks, I'll look out for an old copy when I'm next in France.
 
Ordered a Buoy Catcher which arrived today. It was quite expensive but I appreciate that short run engineering costs a lot of money (I just bought a rope cutter so know).

A bit disappointed that I opened the bag to find it wrapped in used bubble wrap and the catcher itself looks like it's already been used. I guess someone returned it for a refund and they sent it to me instead :mad:

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Ordered a Buoy Catcher which arrived today. It was quite expensive but I appreciate that short run engineering costs a lot of money (I just bought a rope cutter so know).

A bit disappointed that I opened the bag to find it wrapped in used bubble wrap and the catcher itself looks like it's already been used. I guess someone returned it for a refund and they sent it to me instead :mad:

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I could sell you two excellent Moorfasts for less than you paid for that one!
 
Given the year this thread started and 'Buoycatcher' has not posted since then ... maybe the 'used' item supplied is clearance stock ??

I have the plastic version (not Moor-Fast - "Jolly Hooker" its another but same principle) ... and its now well over 20yrs old ... only thing that broke is the spring clip to hold it onto pole end. Because I don't need to unclip it anyway - I mounted it permanently to the pole. Cost me about a tenner I think ..
 

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Oh come on!

If he's paid for a new one he should get a new one.
Exactly, if I wanted used, I would have looked on Ebay. I appreciate it will get scratched on first outing but I would have still liked a new one in a plastic bag with basic instructions.

Sending out returned stock as new to customers is sharp business practice in my book hence my warning here.

I'll accept a 50% refund from the supplier then report back here if it works well or not.
 
Exactly, if I wanted used, I would have looked on Ebay. I appreciate it will get scratched on first outing but I would have still liked a new one in a plastic bag with basic instructions.

Sending out returned stock as new to customers is sharp business practice in my book hence my warning here.

I'll accept a 50% refund from the supplier then report back here if it works well or not.

Have you tried PM to him .. Buoycatcher is still listed as a member but last posting from him 1st Sept 2021 !!
 
Anything that gets delivered either in not so new condition or broken (but fixable by me)...I judge my two criteria...how much emotion have I invested in this object....and how long will it take for a replacement.
 
Compare to experience of buying other similar products, eg rope cutter. The Darglow Hydroaxe (rope cutter) came mounted with a bolt in a lovely wooden box with excellent instructions on glossy print foldout, new fixing bolts, anodes etc.

The packaging and follow up support made the purchase a rewarding experience and I'd recommend them. To send something out that looks like it's done the rounds in the parts bin, wrapped in second hand bubble wrap with no instructions, not even a QR code to their videos is poor.

We sail short handed and my partner suffers from rotating shoulder issues so she baulks at the idea of any lassooing and picking up buoys. Although expensive, the Buoycatcher looked like it might be a relationship saver and remove a barrier from partners enjoyment of sailing. To me, the purchase was a lot more than a piece of metal but I would have liked it looking shiny when I opened the £99 package.


Hello all it has been very interesting and great for us to be able to read the comments and feed back on the forum & I mean that genuinely as it is hard sometimes to think the same about something you have been involved in since conception as someone who first sees it and compares with other items with similarities or bad experiences.

I am not posting to to try and convince , promote or sell you anything as its all personal to ourselves but am happy to answer any questions regarding anything to do with the buoycatcher product anyone in our community has. We all all have something in common the love of boating & the sea. I look forward to reading any further posts on the topic as it helps me understand where if anything we have got it wrong.

Mr Buoycatcher (Adrian Haylett) signed up here in 2021 but didn't stay more than six months but is present on Facebook. He clearly got the measure that the forum is full of OFs who moan about spending tuppence on a new fangled devices :ROFLMAO:
 
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Adrian Haylett responded to my email and criticised my use of social media to complain. He claims the product is new and the marks are from assembly and testing. He's offered a full refund, swapping the head for one less scratched or a trade in against a better model.

I don't have time prior to our cruise for any of these options so will put this down to experience. I do get pissed off when products are hyped and don't live up to marketed expectations. Let me see how it performs and I'll report back.
 
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