Correct length for mooring warp

[WildWeasel]

As a complete newbie I put my boat a 19' Cruiser out on a swinging mooring in the Medway on 8 April
I had two mooring warps made up and secured them to the bouy top eye with shackles

First time out today I found both warps wrapped around under the bouy . One was 2/3 destroyed !
I believe that this was because they were too long and as the boat swings with the tide & wind they got trapped underneath & were worn by the chain.
I noticed that other boats on the same trot have very short warps obviously to prevent this happening. As a temporary measure I shortened the remaining good warp by tying a loop in it and passing this back over the sampson post. I moused this up with shock cord so cannot see how it will slip in the next few days.
Needless to say this is worrying !. 50 % of my moooring has been comprimised in 5 weeks... We have had some very rough weather which should not re-occur but this does give me cause for concern
I will get a new shorter warp made up & fit it next weekend.
My question is what is the optimum length for a mooring warp on a swinging bouy ?
Too long & you get the problem I suffered.. but too short & the boat will surge against the bouy in a swell..
Any advice on the lenght of a warp between the Sampson post & the Eye would be greatly appreciated.

BTW the boat is a Seawych. Mooring is deepwater on the North bank of the Medway off Gillingham. Tidal with prevailing NW's
BTW Please email me at cdforduk@yahoo.com
I will be in Italy from Mon-Thu on business so cannot be sure of web acess but get email on my cellphone

RGDS

Chris D Ford

 

[jonjo]

Last time I was on a swinging mooring for a season in Poole Harbour there was a chain loop attached that I pulled onboard over a samson post on the foredeck.

 

[Guest]

Taking the average boat and buoy .... if such a beast exists !! The warp normally averages about 2x the freeboard of the boat. Think of it like a right angled triangle ..... opposite side is vertical mooring post to waterline, adjacent is horizontal distance to the buoy, hypotenuse is the line from bow to buoy.

I would also suggest that a chain might be better with a rope insurance line. You can have a chain up to just short of the bow roller, then a rope over and onto samsom post. This will be kinder to the boat. A small riding buoy will keep all afloat and handy for pick up. The riding buoy should be pickled up and a small lashing used to hang it off the pulpit and not bang against boat when moored.

I always like to have 2 or 3 lines to the mooring buoy as insurance .... 1 main to the mooring post, 2nd to another strong point such as mast base or strong cleat .... just in case first carries away. I have had a mooring post break on a previous boat and the pulpit lashing to riding buoy saved her !!
I also do not like making mooring warp fast to top of buoys .... means trusting the bouy ... I prefer to connect to the base of the buoy shackling to the chain under .... that way buoy is only a marker and not part of the weight bearing system.

I would hazard a guess that your lines are far too long if the boat has suffered so..... and possibly too light a size ...

You will hear that multi=plait / braided is morte hard-wearing than old fashioned 3 stranded rope - that is not true and for hard-wearing and abrasive areas - such as moorings etc. - good stout 3 stranded is best ... it can be spliced easily, it is more apparent when wear is happening, has better resitance to any abrasion etc.

Another trick is parcel the rope .... that is wrap it or pass a hose over the line so that it cannot fold back to the buoy .... an old trick was actually pass a wire down through the lay of the rope to give it a bit more stiffness to stop it wrapping up / extra strength.... but you don't hear or see that anymore ! except on tugs etc.

 

[William_H]

my penant to top of the bouy is only 2 ft long. The boat is a trailer sqailer with an eye half way up the bow normally used for winching onto a trailer. I put a hook through this onto the pennant to the buoy. I have a longer rope on which I attach the dinghy when saiing and which is initially picked up and attached to the mooring cleat on deck. This gives me dual ropes but the direct rope to the eye takes the load so no chafing.
A long mooring rope means a greater swing radius and hence danger of hitting other boats so shortest is best. Bear in mind that mostly the chain ewill lay on the bottom and provide some spring effect except at top of spring tide. Regards olewill

 

[dmayes]

Depends on the weight/size of your mooring buoy. I had a Kingfisher 20+ and I used to pull the mooring buoy up to the bow roller and put the mooring warps through the shackle (no top ring). Now I have a bigger boat and I have a short chain from the mooring buoy (twice the freeboard) that I can bring aboard leaving the mooring buoy floating. There are two short ropes spliced to this chain that I use to secure the boat and I also padlock the end of the chain to a secure U bolt to deter theives. Since my boat got stolen once I decided that I would padlock it so anyone wanting to steal it would have to have some tools with them to undoe the shackles. It deters the casual theif.

 

[Guest]

IMHO - using the trailer eye fitted to stem of a boat is not suitable for mooring. I would always have a second line to a proper mooring post or point. I think if the boat carried away from mooring and you made claim - it would be a point to not disclose how you made fast !! But I am sure they will ask ... so ??

 

[Lakesailor]

Most people up here use this method. Not my boat, but next to mine and has had no trouble in the last 3 years. he uses two warps. They do get twisted, you can't avoid it.

This is mine after the storms. This was about 30mph winds, but we had up to 120mph during the worst night.

As others have said use a shackle (moused) to the chain below the bouy. Use a chain and a warp. Have the warp slightly shorter to absorb shock loads. If you don't need an eye on the buoy don't have one as it bangs your topsides when there is no wind or tidal flow and the weight of the chain pulls your boat onto the buoy. The length in the pic is about as long as you want to go. I lead the chain over the bow roller to a stainless bollard on the foredeck and the nylon strop over a fairlead to the same bollard. I use a pick-up bouy connected to both chain and strop with light cord.
Single handed you can grab the pick-up from the cockpit and drop the loop on the strop over a sheet winch to let you get yourself sorted, then walk it forward to the bollard.

 

[VicS]

Welcome to the forum.

I would use chain espc. as the Seawych has a fitting designed for chain and I would keep it as short as reasonably practical, probably no more than 2m for the Seawych.

I am also sending you a PM

 

[VicS]

Re: Picture of the Seawych

What a nice picture of a Seawych. BUT the shrouds seem to be connected the wrong way round. The standard rig has swept back spreaders so the cap shrouds go to the aftermost fittings while the lowers go on the forward ones, which are in line with the mast. Some owners do modify the rig with more conventional squared off spreaders but then they fit additional U bolts and forward lowers as well. The arrangement in the picture is definitely wrong and possibly puts the rig in danger! Do you know the owner?

 

[Lakesailor]

Re: Picture of the Seawych

I do know him. I'll print out your post and tell him. He usually says "oh yes, I know about that" as when I pointed out his mainsheet track was coming loose.

 

[VicS]

Re: Picture of the Seawych

Also tell him about the owners association http://www.seawych.org/ it is well worth joining and now runs a message board that is just like this forum.

 

[ashanta]

Could you describe the set up a liitle more? I have a swinging mooring but the mooring chain is attached to riser by a swivel which needs annual maintenance including an anode. The mooring chain comes on board to my winch head and I remove the tension off the winch head by strops to port and starboard cleats. As long as the swivel on the mooring chain is OK I do not get any wrap round. I would look at this first to ensure it's rotating OK.

Regards.

Peter.

 

[William_H]

Interesting comment about using anodes on the mooring chain. I would suggest (but may be wrong) that sacrificial anodes would not do any good at all. Yes chain andf swivels need maintenance but assuming they are all the same iron then the corrosion is rust (oxidation) exacerbated by constant wear taking away the protective rust layer. Any comments?
Yes Nigel the original winching eye failed. It was a 3/8 U bolt but turned down to 5/16 at the skin with a oplate to hold on to the outside skin. The sideways jerking fatigued the 5/16 thread but ii is now a saddle with3/8 bolts. But is definitely backed up by normal warp. The advantage of low attachment is that you can have a shorter mooring line and so shorter turn radius and if any boat comes adrift it can not so easily chafe yo0ur mooring pendant because it is under the bow. And of course no chafe worries on the gunwhale. olewill

 

[ashanta]

I really don't understand your logic? The anode will protect the iron swivel and localised chain by it's presence as a sacrifice. The symptoms given by the poster related to the mooring warp., or in my case mooring chain becoming wrapped around the bouy.
This is purely a matter of maintenance and ensuring the mooring will "swing".

 

[Guest]

Moorings are best in galvanized .... all bits - swivels / shackles etc. etc.

Putting an anode ?? Surely there is no continuity of current anywhere to justify an anode ? The erosion of the anode is most likely due to natural wastage and NOT as an anode !!