Can anyone recommend

claymore

claymore

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a boathook that makes it easy to hook into the loop on a pick-up buoy?

I seem to have started bumbling and as a result am getting the harsh edge of Dear Heart's tongue when I fail to pick up the buoy first time after herself has got us to the blasted thing first time around in any weather condition.
The hook bit seems to be a bit chunky for the loop and so I can touch the buoy, tickle it, belt it, but not lift it...
thanks
 
The trick is to ignore the loop - it's there to tie your dinghy to - and instead to catch the rope under the pick-up. The other solution is to enforce your prerogative as skipper and send Dear Heart forward to do the deed.
 
awol said:
The trick is to ignore the loop - it's there to tie your dinghy to - and instead to catch the rope under the pick-up. The other solution is to enforce your prerogative as skipper and send Dear Heart forward to do the deed.
Click to expand...
+1
One of these might help

http://www.exebuoyhook.co.uk/

Another trick is to get a pickup buoy with a big loop on top.

Why are you sending your dear lady to the front to do the hard work? Let her drive and you go and do the grunt work.
 
I tried a Happy Hooker, but the navigator declared it useless as she said the mooring buoy moved away under the impact rather than the clip opening, even worse when trying to pick up welcome line. Might be better with heavier buoy with bigger hoop. Same with my detachable hook on pole.

As before the navigator grabs front buoy with boat hook, I grab and tie onto stern buoy, the run like mad up for'd to get rope on front buoy before Navigator loses grip on hook
 
oldmanofthehills said:
I tried a Happy Hooker, but the navigator declared it useless as she said the mooring buoy moved away under the impact rather than the clip opening, even worse when trying to pick up welcome line.
Click to expand...

This was my concern - I can see how well they work on a pontoon but perhaps not on a wee floaty bouncy up and down pick-up buoy
 
I made a big snap hook in ss, that fitted onto a slide in the boathook. The 'gate' was held back until one pulled the hook free of the boathook. Worked a treat, except I lent it to some friends (of a certain age..) on the river and they managed to forget to tie the tail and missed the ring. My creation is somewhere on the bottom of the Charente. C'est la vie..

Oh! Just remembered. I saw something in a recent PBO.. Bit of plastic that held a safety line type hook with the gate open on the end of a pole (clip for a torch too..) Within the limits of the width of the opening, looked quite good.
 
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IF you have a bathing platform, take a long line from the bow and stand at the back to pick it up. Makes it easy even if there is no pick up buoy and the helm can see exactly whats going on.
 
awol said:
The trick is to ignore the loop - it's there to tie your dinghy to - and instead to catch the rope under the pick-up.
Click to expand...

Exactly this. You get the hook end nice and deep into the water and sweep it past under the pickup buoy, then when you lift it up the pendant and buoy come with it. Stabbing at the pickup buoy itself is a newbie mistake.

Ignore all the people waffling about snap-hooks and pokey-throughers, they didn't read your post :p

Pete
 
Come on Claymore you have been at this for ever, get yourself 3mtrs 25 mm of ally tube, I have loads of plastic boat hook ends you can have one, it's the length that counts. On your but perhaps you need 4 mtrs your topside is quite high, do you get to BFyc these days I could drop one off for you. I enjoy picking up a mooring with my three mtr hook and I have to sail on my own, nobody will come with me. I am going back to Jersey and Brittany in April.
Regards Mike
 
prv said:
Exactly this. You get the hook end nice and deep into the water and sweep it past under the pickup buoy, then when you lift it up the pendant and buoy come with it. Stabbing at the pickup buoy itself is a newbie mistake.

Ignore all the people waffling about snap-hooks and pokey-throughers, they didn't read your post :p


Pete
Click to expand...
For some strange reason, i seem to fail to hook the riser as well as the loop of the pick up - I do think its the boat hook that is too stubby so an L shape or a curve might help.
I dont have a boarding ladder.
If I'm on my own I just go alongside and chuck a loop of rope over the mooring - one end of which is secured to the bow cleat and the other on a cleat amidships then we just drift backwards, the pick up ends up at the bow and I can faff about getting the mooring tackle over the bow roller - Dear Heart likes me to earn my crust by using the boathook. She also enjoys it when I look a bit of a chump...
 
If I buy many more expensive devices - which still don't work on trots in a 1 kt tideway where a boat doesn't actual come to rest for more than 5 seconds - then I may have to sell boat to pay for them :ambivalence:
 
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