Hook & Moor Boat Hook?

[Bouba]

How did you find this in practise? Thinking of getting one but have some concerns about the weight as you mentioned in your post. And which version (length) did you buy please?

I got the longest (which was probably a mistake as it’s also the heaviest). The mechanism is genius (and probably the reason I wanted one as I am a sucker for gadgets). It was supposed to help the wife out, but truth is she enjoys the challenge of lassoing. She found it too heavy and two awkward, and not many dock cleats are the right size. Also if you don’t use it all the time you forget how it works and that creates a whole other layer of confusion during the docking.
If it was me handling the ropes, I would probably use it. Mind you I would also walk the lines to the dock using the passerelle. But, as I said the wife prefers to lasso. So it now lives permanently in the lazaret.
Just a note, I bought it for stern too Mediterranean docking. Mooring to a buoy is almost unheard of. So you can’t necessarily take my experience as gospel

 

[Poignard]

The big advantage to having a cheaper version is that you'll not worry so much if it does go overboard...

And I'm sure we've all seen boat hooks go overboard...

I lost a boathook but not in the usual way.

I noticed that some people had theirs stowed inside the boom and I thought that was a good idea and started doing it.

All went well until the day I carelessly allowed the mainsail to jibe violently and the boat hook was hurled out into the sea by centrifugal force.

I had failed to notice that clever people had a bit of shock cord to keep the boathook in place.

 

[Poignard]

My new Hook & Moor arrived today. So only used it in my lounge so far, but it does appear to have a serious design flaw. I’ve always joked that Med boating is all about Old ladies with boat hooks, but it’s a fair observation and this boat hook is heavy. As in really heavy. I fear my good lady wife/crew will not like extending this out one, two let alone three meters out. Never mind controlling the tip so it hits the cleat.
Oh dear. Well, I won’t judge it until it’s been used in anger

You could always try manouvering your boat nearer the buoy

 

[Scapegoat]

Before you buy, check out the Handy Duck. Lightweight hook, lightweight floating telescopic fibreglass pole, very easy to use. I'm often singlehanded, and use my Handy Duck to pick up moorings.

Thanks for the advice. However, I really want something that doesn't need a guide line -mainly for cleats and rings as we don't moor to buoys generally as we're Thames based so do a lot of Bankside and lay-by mooring. Mostly throwing a line around bollards etc. works fine but not so useful with rings

 

[pvb]

Thanks for the advice. However, I really want something that doesn't need a guide line -mainly for cleats and rings as we don't moor to buoys generally as we're Thames based so do a lot of Bankside and lay-by mooring. Mostly throwing a line around bollards etc. works fine but not so useful with rings

The Handy Duck doesn't have a guide line.

 

[Scapegoat]

The Handy Duck doesn't have a guide line.

Thanks - will take a look

 

[Bouba]

You could always try manouvering your boat nearer the buoy

On a motorboat you drive slightly past the buoy then bring the stern towards it. You then walk from the helm to the cockpit, pick up the buoy (with a hook if you didn’t get close enough) put a line through it and walk the line to a bow cleat. But here, generally speaking, if you moor to a buoy you are trespassing

 

[DTIM]

Hook and Moor is a quality product, really well made.
Grand Prix Marine have stock

 

[pvb]

Hook and Moor is a quality product, really well made.
Grand Prix Marine have stock

I imagine you would say that!

 

[Bouba]

I imagine you would say that!

It is an impressive piece of kit. You can spend hours playing with it ??

 

[pvb]

It is an impressive piece of kit. You can spend hours playing with it ??

Do you sell them as well?

 

[Bouba]

Do you sell them as well?

I may have one to sell.....

 

[pvb]

I may have one to sell.....

Only one? DTIM has loads to get rid of...

 

[Bouba]

Only one? DTIM has loads to get rid of...

Just the one in my lazaret

 

[stu9000]

+1 for Handy Duck. Been using it for three seasons and very happy with it.

 

[Middie H.]

Has anyone used the Robship Hook & Moor Boat Hook?

It was recommended in a recent thread, it seems to retail at around £130.

Before spending the money, I'd be interested to know if it works well on typical West Coast of Scotland mooring buoys, where there's no pick-up line and buoy, and the shackle is on it's side and usually corroded, so that it is difficult to pass a rope through with one of the simpler and cheaper mooring aids.

The video is quite convincing, but all the mooring eyes, shackles and cleats look in good condition, and don't represent much of the real world, or at least the bit I regularly see.

Hi @Ian_Edwards Did you buy the Hook & Moor Boat Hook? The discussion was more than 5 years ago, but I’m curious whether you bought it.
I’m gonna test some products on Boot in Düsseldorf, because we’ll be at the Baltic Sea this summer.

 

[Ian_Edwards]

Yes, I bought a secondhand one.
I haven't used it that much, probably because it didn't prove to be that useful. It's still on board.
In summary I found it heavy, and not long enough. Stretching out trying a reach a mooring buoy, rapidly drifting away, whilst trying to hook onto a shackle lying on its side, on top of a buoy proved too difficult to be useful. I now try and position the buoy along side, much further aft, where the freeboard is less ( the freeboard at the bow of the Southerly 46RS is about 2m). I lie on the side deck and lean under the life lines and use my hand to pass a rope through the shackle. The dexterity of a hand is far superior to a clumsy hook at the end of a long heavy pole. I pull the rope through and lead the doubled the rope forward to a cleat. from there I can rig whatever I think appropriate fore the location and weather conditions.
I've also made two 3m long boat hooks, which I use to make initial contact with the mooring buoys. These are much more useful.
On the Scottish West Coast, most mooring buoys now have rope pick-up line to either a short length of chain, or a strong rope to hook onto a cleat.
I wouldn't buy one again, but it doesn't do any harm in one of the cockpit lockers. ..... It might come in useful one day

 

[dunedin]

Yes, I bought a secondhand one.
I haven't used it that much, probably because it didn't prove to be that useful. It's still on board.
In summary I found it heavy, and not long enough. Stretching out trying a reach a mooring buoy, rapidly drifting away, whilst trying to hook onto a shackle lying on its side, on top of a buoy proved too difficult to be useful. I now try and position the buoy along side, much further aft, where the freeboard is less ( the freeboard at the bow of the Southerly 46RS is about 2m). I lie on the side deck and lean under the life lines and use my hand to pass a rope through the shackle. The dexterity of a hand is far superior to a clumsy hook at the end of a long heavy pole. I pull the rope through and lead the doubled the rope forward to a cleat. from there I can rig whatever I think appropriate fore the location and weather conditions.
I've also made two 3m long boat hooks, which I use to make initial contact with the mooring buoys. These are much more useful.
On the Scottish West Coast, most mooring buoys now have rope pick-up line to either a short length of chain, or a strong rope to hook onto a cleat.
I wouldn't buy one again, but it doesn't do any harm in one of the cockpit lockers. ..... It might come in useful one day

By contrast we also have a Hook and Moor pole and have found it very useful - can thread a rope onto a buoy with just a shackle on top, even single handed. Some places in Scotland still don’t use pick up buoys - and others like Gigha, Loch Ranza and others end up,late season with many unused buoys which have lost their rope during the season. This pole is the answer.
Our freeboard at the bow is not 2m but perhaps 1.4m and the pole is plenty long enough extended - certainly I can’t reach a buoy over 1m below for threading a rope - would be dangerous to lean over that far.
Also used it in Norway and Sweden to hook a rope onto the small rings they sometimes have instead of cleats.

But no pole suits all needs. We now have a collection. As well as the Hook and Moor have a conventional pole, and also a stern mooring hook used in the Baltic.

 

[Refueler]

I have one of the plastic double hinged that fits to end of a pole / boathook. The 'Jolly Hooker'

Force 4 Jolly Hooker Mooring Hook | Force 4 Chandlery

Cheap plastic - the clip that allows the item to be unclipped reverting the boathook back to basic broke - so I made the item permanent ...

I've had it maybe 12 - 15yrs and it still works as good as first day.

The trick is to not expect it to do anything more than pass a light line through the cleat / ring etc ... use the light line to pull the heavier mooring line through. Mine has about 7 - 8m of 5mm line as 'first feeder' which then is made to the mooring line.

 

[Middie H.]

Thanks, I noted down all those hook names for the boat fair in Düsseldorf

How do you think about this type of hook? It looks very simple. My hubby prefers this to KONG, Jolly Hooker or Hook & Moor. He says, we don't need fancy thing because it is only for picking a buoy up. Interestingly, this costs much more than those sophisticated ones which can be attached to the boat hook.