hanging off a swinging mooring

[Bosun Higgs]

Have booked a swinger for the summer season and whilst I have stayed on such moorings many times overnight, I have never left my boat on one for several weeks before. So I need advice, particularly since the mooring in question is open to weather and the yard emphasise the wisdom of using the chain pennant right to the boat's cleats. I think they have swinging room in mind as well as security

I'm uneasy. Chain is OK until taut when serious snatch could ocurr, So I need to find a way of connecting to the buoy equally securely but with shock absorbing properties

Advice please from those whose boats live on swingers. Not from swingers who live on boats

 

[Poignard]

Have booked a swinger for the summer season and whilst I have stayed on such moorings many times overnight, I have never left my boat on one for several weeks before. So I need advice, particularly since the mooring in question is open to weather and the yard emphasise the wisdom of using the chain pennant right to the boat's cleats. I think they have swinging room in mind as well as security

I'm uneasy. Chain is OK until taut when serious snatch could ocurr, So I need to find a way of connecting to the buoy equally securely but with shock absorbing properties

Advice please from those whose boats live on swingers. Not from swingers who live on boats

I think what I would do is put a nylon spring on the chain near the buoy and belayed to a cleat. Then slack off the chain so the nylon spring takes the load but if it should fail the chain will hold her.

That's what I did when I had a swinging mooring in Portsmouth Harbour

 

[SAWDOC]

parsifal has it in a nutshell.
Also please do enjoy the advantages of a swinging mooring such as hoisting main beore you cast off if like us you are wind rode and if the situation allows sailing off the mooring and sailing back on

 

[fireball]

We use a twin line set up - one THICK 3 strand nylon (24mm - deemed too big - but it's never broken and fits the cleats so I don't care!) and a slightly longer 8mm chain.
These connect to a swivel at the top of the riser chain (riser passes through the middle of the mooring buoy).

We put clear pipe over both lines so they don't chaff - but you have to keep an eye as Lakey has said that the pipe can become brittle and chaff your line inside! (never had this problem - perhaps we have a better class of pipe down here! )

The lines are just long enough to reach past the cleats - we've got big heavy riser chain so don't want to be lifting it - the buoy supports that ...

Also, for the last 2 years I've used mountain bike inner tube to go around the chain where it's looped to go over the cleat - it stops the chain from sitting directly on the deck and therefore no rust marks.

Finally - I take a light line and cleat over one loop, then to the other - so the loop cannot in anyway come apart from the cleat - it's OTT but I still sleep at night!

Ok - a final finally - and not many do this ... when leaving your hard tender on the mooring whilst you go off for a sail, tie it bow onto the mooring - then when you cast off you can lay your lines in the tender - when you come back you don't have to reach as far and they are dry & weed free. If seabirds are prevelant in your area you may need some bird scarers on the tender though....

 

[Poignard]

parsifal has it in a nutshell.
Also please do enjoy the advantages of a swinging mooring such as hoisting main beore you cast off if like us you are wind rode and if the situation allows sailing off the mooring and sailing back on

Sometimes, when my marina 'manouverings' have not been attended with that degree of success that I had hoped for, I have feelings of nostalgia for my swinging mooring.

 

[ChrisE]

Have booked a swinger for the summer season and whilst I have stayed on such moorings many times overnight, I have never left my boat on one for several weeks before. So I need advice, particularly since the mooring in question is open to weather and the yard emphasise the wisdom of using the chain pennant right to the boat's cleats. I think they have swinging room in mind as well as security

I'm uneasy. Chain is OK until taut when serious snatch could ocurr, So I need to find a way of connecting to the buoy equally securely but with shock absorbing properties

Advice please from those whose boats live on swingers. Not from swingers who live on boats

I can see why you might be concerned by this but can't say I've ever experienced this in 15 years of swinging moorings. I've watched from the shore as the boat wandered about in a F11 once and the buoy dips to take the load and take the snatch out of the system. I've been on the boat in a F9 and never experienced the shock loads that you get at anchor even in lighter winds. I believe the fact that you are tethered on a relatively short leash means that the boat never gets the way on as it does at anchor on hence not the loads

Other have spoken about the need to protect the foredeck from the chain, we've used a fender under the bow to stop the chain marking the topsides and other than that not much else.

Enjoy the freedom of a swinger!

 

[johnalison]

I had a swinging mooring for 15 happy years but didn't have the luxury of using the "weight on line + slack chain" mentioned above. One thing to avoid, and this also applies to overnight stops, is having two lines of the same length, which will inevitable get twisted, swivel or not. I always left one line slack, and tied both down to the cleats as mentioned.

 

[Achillesheel]

Where will you be? Still in the Falmouth area?

 

[longjohnsilver]

Also had a swinging mooring on the Exe for 9 years, all chain, absolutely no problems, buoy took all the snatch. I tied the pick up chain to the cleat and kept it in place in the bow roller with a drop nosed pin.

 

[fireball]

and tied both down to the cleats as mentioned.

Glad I'm not the only one!

 

[kunyang]

I was on a swing for eight years and I still miss it. Chain was fine all that time. If I was on over night, I would put a nylon line through the chain and pull it through a couple of feet lower down, bring it back and tie it together so there was a sag in the chain and the line was taking the strain. You'll get a better night sleep.

Oh, and I see we have a couple of more years to see if you exist, and then you may change into something else. Good luck for that!

Dave

 

[oldharry]

Never kept a boat any other way. It works fine, as described above as long as the pennant is not so short that it lifts the buoy out of the water. 6 ft (sorry - 2 metres, whatever they are) is ample. In light weather the chain acts as its own shock absorber, in strong winds, the boat is holding it more or less tight anyway and it will not bounce.

Some people put a rubber 'snubber' on the chain as a shock absorber. I never found it made any difference.


If in ANY doubt about the strength of your bow mooring cleat, either beef it up, or double up the mooring to a second cleating point.

 

[Mudisox]

Much intelligence already passed on.
I also have a danbuoy pickup with a medium rope strop held at the top of the "stick" which is easy to get hold of and secure quickly. Then take you time to sort yourself out.
Join the swingers.

 

[tom52]

You might need to raise your waterline to combat the weed that will grow above your "marina waterline" caused by the constant extra lapping.

 

[photodog]

Sounds like your going into the Helford.....

Problem with the Helford chain is that its a monster..... weighs a bloody ton. (So beware when you are picking up to have someone strong on the foredeck.... and dont use a extendable hook!)

I have run the chain onto the cleat in the past, and also run rope to the chain and then through the fairlead... depends how I feel....

Beware that the chain tends to mark up/scratch my toe rail as it rubs around... made a right pigs ear....

I do prefer to run a couple of ropes twice through and then through the fairlead.... the chain then keeps clear of the boat, but acts as a snubber from its weight....

 

[johnalison]

I do prefer to run a couple of ropes twice through and then through the fairlead.... the chain then keeps clear of the boat, but acts as a snubber from its weight....

Taking a double turn will reduce chafe to some extent but I think my method is even better. I pass a loop from the middle of the rope through the ring and the two ends through the loop, keeping the ends and sending the loop down to the buoy. I am left with two ends to attach to the cleat. An improvement is to tie a light line to the loop before releasing it, and when the mooring needs to be released a pull on this line will recover the loop. I know this sounds complicated and I will post a photo one day.

 

[Ubergeekian]

My mooring ends in a massive nylon rope with a spliced eye, which drops neatly over my samson post. Easy peasy.

 

[Lakesailor]

I've tried chain and nylon strops at the same time and the chain corroded very badly at the water level. (maybe rubbish chain).
Another boat next to me on the moorings came off the buoy when his chain failed. That's a problem with them in that it's tricky to spot the proverbial weakest link.
I use two nylon strops shackled to the riser. Not too short as already said and one shorter than the other so one is the main one with the other as a fail-safe.
I also used to tie-down the strops to the foredeck cleat.
I have a s/s bollard on the foredeck now which (if you splice your own eyes) are a secure terminal for the strops.

Corroded chain

Strops shackled

These three today at Ferry Nab, all broke free from moorings

This boat broke free (you can just see the end of the strop dangling) also boat on the right still has the mooring buoy attached but is a long way from it's mooring site.

The common factor seems to be that the boats are all a bit neglected. Check the mooring regularly. If you can't, bribe someone else to.

 

[Eygthene]

Our swinging moorings have a 10ft length of very heavy chain (great big links more than 1 1/4 inches thick) attached to the 1 ton block, then 20ft of 3/4 inch chain then a swivel then 20ft of 1/2 inch chain to the buoy, my 1/2 inch chain extends on up over the bow roller and onto the deck cleat, though many members use a thick rope strop from the buoy.

The very heavy chain at the bottom end absorbs all of the shock as it starts to lift off the sea bed as the chains go taut and falls back as they slacken. With 80 moorings, we very rarely experience failures with this set up. The moorings are as specified by the Harbourmaster for boats between 25 and 30ft.

 

[fireball]

Lakey - I think your pickups are from below the mooring buoy? So the chain would be dunking in and out the water the whole time ...

Our risers pass through the middle of the mooring buoy and terminate in a swivel above the water line - Our lines then lead to that - our chain doesn't go into the water at any time.