How best to leave hard tender on tidal mooring for easy pickup ?

[eebygum]

Anybody got any good suggestions how how best to leave a hard tender on a swinging mooring so it doesn't become an obstacle when returning single-handed ?

My boat is on a 3T swinging mooring with a pick-up buoy (rope attached to the pickup chain) in the Menai Straits so you get very little slack tide and up to 3 knots gushing in either direction at other times.

When approaching single-handed, I usually ignore the wind direction and approach against the tide to collect the pick-up bouy. With the low freeboard on the Contessa 26 I can usually pick-up easily from the cockpit with the boat hook.

Problem : I would like to row/motor out in my little hard 6ft tender and leave it attached to the swinging mooring when I'm out for the day/weekend but I imagine it's going to be a real pain on returning as it will be streaming behind the pickup bouy.

Should I attach with a long rope/short rope; which would be best to 'nudge' out of the way or is there a trick or other easy way to get around this problem (and no I don't want to tow the tender behind the boat all weekend !)

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

 

[pete]

Hi
I use a longer line on the pick up buoy so that it streams past the tender and on picking this up I haul the boat past the tender and hook on my mooring strops.
Pete

 

[William_H]

Well with no guarantees that it is a good idea I have the tender on a painter longer than the big boat. The painter is tied to the buoy which is large and stays in the water at all times. (not a good arrangement but the buoy is supplied as a standard by the authority)
I appreciate that in some places a dinghy on a long paintercan be a hazard and menace to others but it does only take up the space the big boat takes up anyway.(or slightly more)
The long painter means that with both boats attached to the mooring the dinghy does not hit the big boat and damage topsides. and of course is a large target to hit when picking up.

Yes I just nudge the dighy aside with the bow of the big boat on approach in my case always under sail. Yes we have very little tide but sometimes it is a real [--word removed--] when tide and wind don't coincide in direction. (in that case pull sails down and motor or be ready to pull sails down quickly especially the main on pick up of the mooring)
Lash some rope around the dinghy as fender material. olewill

 

[simonfraser]

i use a pick up bouy with a pole to hold a light line attached to the moring rope

it - usually - floats next to the dinghy for easy pick up

perhaps the pole should be at the back of the dinghy ? less bits to go wrong

 

[fireball]

Well, just to be different ...

I tie the tender hard up against the mooring buoy, then when I cast off the big boat, just lay the strops in the tender. This way I don't have to fish for the strop when mooring up, the strops don't get all manky and the tender isn't going to cause a problem for anyone who hasn't seen it but passes close to the mooring buoy.
The only difficulty with this method is getting in and out of the tender from the bow of the big boat, but I mange easily enough.

 

[wcarpenter]

I moor with up to 4knts of tide, main advantage is how slow you can approach and so much control. I have tried the long and short painter and both good but on balance would I go for longish painter tied close to main bouy. Sometimes the tender will get in the way any you will need to nudge away. For a hard tender I would suggest you put some sort of rubbing strake or fenders for softer nudging.

 

[andy_wilson]

Very sensible solution, use the tender to your advantage.

 

[fireball]

I didn't mention that it is a walker bay - so nudging doesn't mark the gelcoat ...
Also, we are moored in a narrowish channel, and as a dinghy racer I've been peeved by these long paintered tenders sitting to the wind rather than the tide ....
The other disadvantage of a long painter is that if you miss you could run over the painter and have to extract yourself from a line round the keel ... I have no lines in the water - no chance of fouling the keel or prop !!

 

[chas]

I secure the dinghy painter to the loop in the end of the mooring cable that goes over the cleat. The picking up buoy (secured to the same loop) normally sits just astern of the dinghy. When I pick up the buoy, I can pull the cable in, slip the loop over the cleat and then detach the dinghy and walk it aft. I have tried several variations but this suits me best.

 

[Sea Devil]

I had a similar problem with my Hamble 'trots' moorings - leaving the hard dinghy tied on --- I really solved the problem by using 3 or 4 inch thick rope sewed all around the dinghy with line... Nudging was going to happen - how ever long or short a painter but when it is protected by soft rope fendering all round the dinghy it does not matter...

Michael