Fairlead advice please - use when moored

[skyflyer]

The original owner of my boat kept it in a marina from new, so there is no fairlead at the bow for a mooring strop, which I need as I will be keeping the boat on a swinging mooring. The strop is planned to be 20mm anchor plait. (5 tonne 32ft boat)

Last year i used 10mm chain supplied with the mooring on the pickup buoy. It was a right pain as I had to remove anchor every time we moored up and left the boat, as there is only a single bow roller and no room for another.

So the plan is to fit a fairlead close to the bow and run the strop through that.

My concern is that if there is slack in the strop it could easily jump out the fairlead. I can't find ones that take 20mm rope (plus a chafe guard) which have a "reverse slot". Only ones where the slot is parallel to direction of the line.

Any bright ideas?

 

[MoodySabre]

There are some SS handed fairleads here that can be mounted for a reverse slot (down the page a bit)
http://www.theyachtshop.co.uk/items/deck-fittings/cleats~fairleads/list.htm

Loads here http://www.allenbrothers.co.uk/item_detail.asp?prod_id=147&id=1085

 

[Simes]

you might think about using the existing fairleads but rather than using one strop use two. With two strops, one to port and the other to (surprise, surprise) to Starboard, this saves you the problem of having a bow fairlead, or roller and also gives you a back-up safety margin. The two strops lead back to a swivel below the mooring ball. One of the strops had a pickup line and float attached to the end the other had a short line at its end, this was to enable it to be tied to the other after use to ensure that we could pick both strops at the same time.
We used this very successfully on a swinging mooring in Portsmouth Harbour with no problems or issues.

I hope that this helps

Simes

 

[VicS]

The original owner of my boat kept it in a marina from new, so there is no fairlead at the bow for a mooring strop, which I need as I will be keeping the boat on a swinging mooring. The strop is planned to be 20mm anchor plait. (5 tonne 32ft boat)

Last year i used 10mm chain supplied with the mooring on the pickup buoy. It was a right pain as I had to remove anchor every time we moored up and left the boat, as there is only a single bow roller and no room for another.

So the plan is to fit a fairlead close to the bow and run the strop through that.

My concern is that if there is slack in the strop it could easily jump out the fairlead. I can't find ones that take 20mm rope (plus a chafe guard) which have a "reverse slot". Only ones where the slot is parallel to direction of the line.

Any bright ideas?

How about closed fairleads. A bit of a fiddle but the strops cannot jump out!

 

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

Left- and right-handed fairleads are available (with or without rolled edges -- rolled edges are best).

Or you can get lock-down types --

And you can even get timber ones if you want --

You shouldn't have any difficulty finding something that suits.

Mike

 

[Len Ingalls]

you might think about using the existing fairleads but rather than using one strop use two. With two strops, one to port and the other to (surprise, surprise) to Starboard, this saves you the problem of having a bow fairlead, or roller and also gives you a back-up safety margin. The two strops lead back to a swivel below the mooring ball. One of the strops had a pickup line and float attached to the end the other had a short line at its end, this was to enable it to be tied to the other after use to ensure that we could pick both strops at the same time.
We used this very successfully on a swinging mooring in Portsmouth Harbour with no problems or issues.

I hope that this helps

Simes

I agree. I like the safety backup of two strops/pendants. Required by some insurance co.s & some mooring fields over here.
Plus,you don't have the constant side to side racking of your bow roller/anchor launcher.

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

you might think about using the existing fairleads but rather than using one strop use two. With two strops, one to port and the other to (surprise, surprise) to Starboard, this saves you the problem of having a bow fairlead, or roller and also gives you a back-up safety margin. The two strops lead back to a swivel below the mooring ball. One of the strops had a pickup line and float attached to the end the other had a short line at its end, this was to enable it to be tied to the other after use to ensure that we could pick both strops at the same time.
We used this very successfully on a swinging mooring in Portsmouth Harbour with no problems or issues.

I hope that this helps

Simes

+1, but cross the starboard one to the port cleat and vice-versa.

 

[skyflyer]

Sadly there are no existing fairleads! The 'toe rail', such as it is, is just a moulded ridge in the deck and this flattens to nothing at the bow. There are two cleats about 18 inches back from the bow that are used for mooring alongside but i wouldn't be able to get a 20mm rope loop through the gap! Even if I could there would be constant chafe between the strop and deck edge. Not sure which would wear quicker! A new fairlead forward of the pulpit fwd stanchion would lift the line just enough that it didn't touch the decking at all.

Here is a photo of my foredeck (it is very foreshortened due to being an enlargement)

 

[Tranona]

I would be tempted to put another bow roller to the left of the forestay and take the strop back to the central cleat. You would need a very big fairlead to take a 20mm rope.

 

[lw395]

Is it feasible to fabricate a second bow roller on the port side?
You need something which keeps the strop well clear of that anchor in wind vs tide conditions.
I personally would go for one massive strop port side, as the starboard one is so compromised by the anchor.
Back up strops are of little value if they are doomed to fail quicker than the main one, IMHO.
That central cleat is a long way back, so you will get a significant amount of stretch from there to the bow (a few mm is significant). So there is a possibility of chafe/fretting.

I've seen a few boats with cunning systems for lifting the anchor off the roller to clear a mooring strop.

 

[skyflyer]

This is my own boat, but beforehand I had a share in the same model. It had just the single large fairlead on the left. You could fit a strop in it but not any plastic tubing to prevent chafe. In the end we used a sacrificial length of woven sleeving (like fireman's hose I think?) which worked fine.

This system has done the old boat proud for the best part of ten years* in the same place that i am mooring so it seems to make sense to do likewise, which is - I think - pretty much where I started

But plenty of good links now to big chunky fairleads, thanks.

I did wonder about the narrwboat type that have a rounded lip that overlaps the edge of the deck, but can only find those in chromed brass which probably isn't ideal!

* the difference of course being that on a shared boat, it was rarely left more than a week before someone was back on board. Mine will be left for as much as five weeks at a time. Maybe I should stick with chain and to hell with removing the anchor!

 

[skyflyer]

actually the2nd independent bow-roller suggestion seems simplest - available quite cheaply, just fit and screw down!

 

[Tranona]

Think I would do more than just screw down, but through bolt where possible with a backing plate underneath

 

[Len Ingalls]

Sadly there are no existing fairleads! The 'toe rail', such as it is, is just a moulded ridge in the deck and this flattens to nothing at the bow. There are two cleats about 18 inches back from the bow that are used for mooring alongside but i wouldn't be able to get a 20mm rope loop through the gap! Even if I could there would be constant chafe between the strop and deck edge. Not sure which would wear quicker! A new fairlead forward of the pulpit fwd stanchion would lift the line just enough that it didn't touch the decking at all.

Here is a photo of my foredeck (it is very foreshortened due to being an enlargement)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6uy1umklfqgsf0t/Stormy-Aug 2011.jpg?dl=0

I wonder if you would need fairleads (chocks) to use those P & S fore cleats. They are very close to deck edge. Chafing your GRP?? maybe. There is a SS self adhering flexible strip available for stopping deck/hull chafe. I will look it up & post a link.

Here is a link to pics of my boat/mooring. My cleats are so close to my chocks that the splice of the strop eye is in the chock. This plus the closeness means no appreciable chafe. The strop (& my nylon 3 strand bow line when docked) have no space to stretch & "saw" on chock so little problem with chafe. Hope the link works-sometimes it doesn't / Len

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u9y4lcvkvsof9pp/Anchor & propane locker non-watertight hatch..JPG?dl=0

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

Sadly there are no existing fairleads! The 'toe rail', such as it is, is just a moulded ridge in the deck and this flattens to nothing at the bow. There are two cleats about 18 inches back from the bow that are used for mooring alongside but i wouldn't be able to get a 20mm rope loop through the gap! Even if I could there would be constant chafe between the strop and deck edge. Not sure which would wear quicker! A new fairlead forward of the pulpit fwd stanchion would lift the line just enough that it didn't touch the decking at all.

Here is a photo of my foredeck (it is very foreshortened due to being an enlargement)

Ok, a picture tells a thousand words. You have a big cleat in the middle for mooring/anchoring, and the two smaller ones are obviously for using with breast lines and springs when tied up alongside. If you agree that using two strops is a good idea, as advised by posters above, you can lead them in through the gap between the small cleats and the forward stanchion of the pulpit and secure them on the centre cleat. To avoid chafe you need to encase them in hosepipe, ideally rubberised fabric fire-hose such as you might see on fishing boats and small passenger ferries. You can come across some of this in boatyards where they service these vessels (and where these vessels go to die, that's what I did ). To prevent wear to the deck-edge what you need are 'Wear and Tear Pads'. They come in various shapes, sizes and thicknesses and the thinner ones are flexible enough to mould around the curvature of your toerail. They can be cut easily to conform with the shape of your stanchion base and the cleat. You can get them on eBay or at;
https://marinestore.co.uk/Wear_and_Tear_Pad_Small.html

To prevent your strops jumping off the cleat, make a few figure-of-eights over the top with the pick-up line.

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

actually the2nd independent bow-roller suggestion seems simplest - available quite cheaply, just fit and screw down!

With a hefty backing plate underneath!

 

[Len Ingalls]

Ok, a picture tells a thousand words. You have a big cleat in the middle for mooring/anchoring, and the two smaller ones are obviously for using with breast lines and springs when tied up alongside. If you agree that using two strops is a good idea, as advised by posters above, you can lead them in through the gap between the small cleats and the forward stanchion of the pulpit and secure them on the centre cleat. To avoid chafe you need to encase them in hosepipe, ideally rubberised fabric fire-hose such as you might see on fishing boats and small passenger ferries. You can come across some of this in boatyards where they service these vessels (and where these vessels go to die, that's what I did ). To prevent wear to the deck-edge what you need are 'Wear and Tear Pads'. They come in various shapes, sizes and thicknesses and the thinner ones are flexible enough to mould around the curvature of your toerail. They can be cut easily to conform with the shape of your stanchion base and the cleat. You can get them on eBay or at;
https://marinestore.co.uk/Wear_and_Tear_Pad_Small.html

To prevent your strops jumping off the cleat, make a few figure-of-eights over the top with the pick-up line.

+1 you beat me to it-wear pads and used fire hose.

You may need to tie your anchor to pulpit so it is up off the roller launcher. Strops will catch in anchor & chafe on anchor &/or upset the anchor.

 

[skyflyer]

Unfortunately the photo is very foreshortened so doesn't give a good idea of scale. The photo below, is the old boat, at anchor, taken from some way off to the side, which gives a better idea of distances. It also (just) shows the hefty fairlead that was fitted on the port side at the bow.

I think the problem with a double strop as suggested by Spirit'o'G is that as the tension comes on it the V will 'close' and the strop will move forwards until stopped by the pulpit stanchion that is forward of it. As you can see from latest photo, this is at quite an angle so the line will start to ride up and considerable pressure will be put on that stanchion - especially in a blow!

Whether I use fairlead or install a second bow roller, I did of course mean more than just "screw it in" (No8 x 1/2" will do, right?)

[/IMG]

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

I would replace the two tiny cleats with proper handed fairleads and take the mooring pendants to the large central cleat.

 

[Tranona]

I would replace the two tiny cleats with proper handed fairleads and take the mooring pendants to the large central cleat.

That would be a retrograde step as you would then have no mooring cleats for breasts and springs except the one cleat in the middle. Better to have a dedicated way of using a swinging mooring as already suggested.