Centre cleats, lassoos and mooring.

[doug748]

It does not work, I have tried.

I should stick with it. A chum of mine singlehands his large AWB and always uses the fixed bow fender method when coming in to his home berth, even when fully crewed and hosting charter parties.

Last year I watched a Frenchman bring his boat into Treguier marina with no lines set and no fenders. Aha, I thought, how will he tackle this one? He pinned the boat on the bow and held it there, without taking the fag from his gob.... mind you his bow was in a right state.

 

[jason -and the arguenauts]

Our prefered technique onto normal pontoons or fingers is to drop the eye (which has some plastic pipe spliced into it to hold it open) with a boat hook over the best cleat for the task.

How big a diameter loop do you find best?

 

[jason -and the arguenauts]

I have fond memories of the first time I tried to moor on a club pontoon in a fast flowing river. until then I had either sailed in the med or moored in an inlet so I did what you've guessed - moored downtide and stepped off the boat. I was single handing at the time so the last people saw of me was being dragged, firmly gripping the stern rails, feet in the water through the other moored boats.

taught me never to try and fight the tide with even a 26 footer

 

[Blue5]

Our prefered technique onto normal pontoons or fingers is to drop the eye (which has some plastic pipe spliced into it to hold it open) with a boat hook over the best cleat for the task. On the present boat the line is made secure on a midships cleat but I have also used the sheet winches for the same task. This can usually be done with one or two people on board without too much hassle.

.

Tried this method for the first time yesterday, works a treat, I made up a fixed line from centre cleat to the back cleat on the finger, the plastic pipe to keep the eye open is the key

 

[maxi77]

How big a diameter loop do you find best?

The length of the eye is 12 to 18 inches. It just has to be big enough to drop over the cleat, it will be worth doing a little experimentation to get it right for you. Using the boat hook makes it a prescision job rather than a chuck it and hope thing.

 

[oxleaze]

A motor cruiser at Lymington berthed quite easily in a blow by rigging a large bow fender (the type which looks like a horse collar) and motoring into the berth so that the fender pressed against the main walkway (does that make sense). Leaving the engine in slow ahead he turned the wheel gently, the side of the boat moved into the pontoon and he stepped off to rig his lines. Simple.

 

[shmoo]

A motor cruiser at Lymington berthed quite easily in a blow by rigging a large bow fender (the type which looks like a horse collar) and motoring into the berth so that the fender pressed against the main walkway (does that make sense). Leaving the engine in slow ahead he turned the wheel gently, the side of the boat moved into the pontoon and he stepped off to rig his lines. Simple.

You do need to know the height of the pontoon above the water quite precisely for those fenders to work. I have always thought that pontoon height was one of the key figures missing from almanac descriptions of marinas.

 

[oxleaze]

You do need to know the height of the pontoon above the water quite precisely for those fenders to work. I have always thought that pontoon height was one of the key figures missing from almanac descriptions of marinas.

In fact, I copied his approach for when I am single handed (40ft yacht) and bought a one metre long bow fender from SBS last year. Its cross section is two legs at right angles (like a piece of angle iron) with each leg about 20cm long. I've rigged it so that its easy and quick to put on when I am setting fenders and shore lines, and being so long it copes with all pontoon heights - even the very low ones at Cherbourg two weeks ago. It is a real boon when single/short handed and being blown off the pontoon. Just don't ram the walkway too hard - a gentle push is fine.