How secure do you moor up stern to?

[Jamesuk]

Do you use winches when you tie up to make sure you are secure when stern to?

edit: Stern to with Lazy lines at the bow.

Throw in what you do when anchoring too, id be interested.

 

[temptress]

Do you use stern winches when you tie up to make sure you are secure when stern to?

NO - why would you do that? You want some movement so as not to stress everything.

Are you using your own anchor or do they provide a bow rope for you? The technique varies a little depending on the setup.

 

[MarkG]

We used to moor stern too all the time as we had handy sugar scoop and a cockpit that was easier to open from the pontoon at the stern.
If you mean how did we do it then we had someone standing on the sugar scoop to step on to the pontoon and put a line round the cleat at the starboard quarter, we would the drive against it with a bit of starboard wheel until the midships person could step on to the pontonn, or the stern man would walk forward to take a line for the bow.
If you mean how did we set up the lines for stern too , then because we had a pontoon alongside we would have the standard breast and springs plus another on the port side to the pontoon at the stern.
If you mean how did we moor stern too like in Croatia, then we position ourselves close to the harbour wall, stern too and tie a port and starboard line to the harbour wall followed by picking up the lazy lines which we would lift from the sea bed and pull them over the bow to port and starboard cleats.
hope that helps

 

[Tranona]

Do you use stern winches when you tie up to make sure you are secure when stern to?

Bit of a non question really as it all depends...... If you have a boat too big to handle the warps by hand, it is sensible to use winches to pull it in and adjust lines. Not sure that sensible to use winches as mooring points, so some means of securing a warp so there is no load on the winch is a good idea.

 

[Cardo]

Uhm, we just use the stern cleats. I thought that's what they were there for.

 

[Hypocacculus]

When mooring our charter boat on to a makeshift pontoon in Turkey, we got "boarded" by a local who elbowed me out of the way to show me how to do it properly, because obviously us stupid tourists don't have a clue. I stood paralysed by surprise as he slapped a stern line around the winch and proceeded to wind vigourously. There was a crack, immediately followed by a splosh. The numpty had got the stern line hooked round the cleat; one of the horns had snapped clean off and been fired overboard. At this point I requested politely, firmly and far too late that he get off my boat immediately.

 

[Cardo]

When mooring our charter boat on to a makeshift pontoon in Turkey, we got "boarded" by a local who elbowed me out of the way to show me how to do it properly, because obviously us stupid tourists don't have a clue. I stood paralysed by surprise as he slapped a stern line around the winch and proceeded to wind vigourously. There was a crack, immediately followed by a splosh. The numpty had got the stern line hooked round the cleat; one of the horns had snapped clean off and been fired overboard. At this point I requested politely, firmly and far too late that he get off my boat immediately.

I've learned to tell "helpful "officials"" on quays to shut up and do as I say. My boat, my rules. If they won't follow my orders, then I'd rather they get out of the way. I certainly wouldn't have one coming onto the boat, he would be ending up in the drink pronto.

 

[Hypocacculus]

I've learned to tell "helpful "officials"" on quays to shut up and do as I say. My boat, my rules. If they won't follow my orders, then I'd rather they get out of the way. I certainly wouldn't have one coming onto the boat, he would be ending up in the drink pronto.

I agree with you all the way - however, this all happened so fast (somali pirates would be proud) I was stunned into submission for a while. I'll be ready with a winch handle next time.

 

[ribrage]

We go stern too as getting the dog off the bow isn't possible, and YES I use the main winches to pull us back against the lazy line on the bow and then transfer the ropes to the Sampson posts ...WHY .....well because if it blows up all I need do is loosen both the stern lines and we pull away from the concrete wall or jetty using the tension created in the lazy line, Ive watched others running engines late at night in a vain attempt to keep their pretty little sugar scoops off the concrete.

When using the anchor its not necessary to use the main winches at the stern as you can apply a sensible amount of tension by using the windlass on the bow to pull you forward and again transferring the tension to the samson posts, this easing the pressure on your windlass, again if it blows up and you need to go forward a little just ease the tension in your anchor chain and you will pull away from the jetty or wall.

Im sure others will have different methods or criticisms but it worked for me now and in the past.

 

[ribrage]

I've learned to tell "helpful "officials"" on quays to shut up and do as I say. My boat, my rules. If they won't follow my orders, then I'd rather they get out of the way. I certainly wouldn't have one coming onto the boat, he would be ending up in the drink pronto.

We were boarded recently by the guardia... All very civil until Nelson my boxer came bounding on deck woken by the bump of them coming alongside, probably woke up dreaming of trees , anyway the guy was unclipping his pistol and looking to climb back onto his launch , as the dog slobbered on him... Finally found a use for the dog

 

[Jamesuk]

The numpty had got the stern line hooked round the cleat; one of the horns had snapped clean off and been fired overboard. At this point I requested politely, firmly and far too late that he get off my boat immediately.

I would be getting all the cleats replaced with a high grade of steel (316US) and the fibreglass reinforced if that happened on my boat. Think Snatch loads, he was applying a steady increase in pressure and it failed, imagine a snap load in a storm, could rip the whole cleat off the boat sending it on to cause damage to other yachts.

https://flic.kr/p/nPi9o8

Starboard spring line cleat was bent and ripped from the deck by the surging sea swell while tied to a fuel dock seeking shelter from a local gale in Porto Masuccio Salernitano, Italy.


“You will come to the Sirens, they who bewitch all men. Whoever sails near them unaware shall never again see his wife and children once he has heard the Siren voices. They enchant him with their clear songs, as they sit in a meadow that is heaped with the bones of dead men, bones on which still hangs their shriveled skin. Drive your ship past this place, and so that your men do not hear their song, soften some beeswax and with it seal their ears. But if you yourself should wish to listen to the Sirens, get your men to bind you hand and foot with ropes against the mast-step. In this way you may listen in rapture to the voices of the two Sirens. But should you begin to beg your comrades to unloose you, you must make sure that they bind you even more tightly.”

-The Odyssey, Book 12



“When you do dance, I wish you

A wave o’ the sea, that you might ever do

Nothing but that.”

- William Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale, Act IV, Scene 3

 

[Hypocacculus]

I would be getting all the cleats replaced with a high grade of steel (316US) and the fibreglass reinforced if that happened on my boat. Think Snatch loads, he was applying a steady increase in pressure and it failed, imagine a snap load in a storm, could rip the whole cleat off the boat sending it on to cause damage to other yachts.

<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/98185526@N06/14318712539/in/photostream/player/" width="75" height="75" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>

We were somewhat surprised. My other half is a materials engineer. We had a good look at the cleat in question. There was evidence of a pre-existing crack which wouldn't have been visible from above. You could see the mark clearly where it had broken.

 

[Monique]

My last stern to mooring had heavy chain....

Apply good tension to the lazy lines by having a line to one of the winches. Then take up slack to tension warps.

Leave a long line with 3-4 turns on the winch and return the line to the dock. When you want to bring the boat closer, pull on the line to the winch, get aboard then winch the boat closer for the damsels to board.

Elegant manoeuvre.

 

[Cardo]

My last stern to mooring had heavy chain....

Apply good tension to the lazy lines by having a line to one of the winches. Then take up slack to tension warps.

Leave a long line with 3-4 turns on the winch and return the line to the dock. When you want to bring the boat closer, pull on the line to the winch, get aboard then winch the boat closer for the damsels to board.

Elegant manoeuvre.

Option 2: Use a passarelle, and leave the boat a good 1 to 2 metres away from the quay.

 

[KellysEye]

We had a fourteen ton, when fully loaded, heavy displacement steel ketch and never used winches or tied shorelines to them. Two doubled up stern lines, fore and aft springs and a doubled up bow line all to cleats and all slightly loose for snatch loads and all with anti chafe gear.

 

[Monique]

I have a passerelle as well. Boat is kept 4-5 meters from the very hard and unyielding cement wall...

 

[Cardo]

I have a passerelle as well. Boat is kept 4-5 meters from the very hard and unyielding cement wall...

...and a fender?

 

[snowleopard]

On a monohull with pulpit, anchor, forestay and other assorted cr*p to climb over it makes sense to moor stern-to. If you aren't so handicapped it makes a lot more sense to moor bows-to.

a) No risk of banging the rudder on hidden rocks at the foot of the jetty.

b) No Sunday Afternoon rubberneckers watching every move you make in the cockpit from their seat on the quay

Either way, it seems sensible to me to use fixed-length lines to the quay and use a winch to tension the lazy line to hold you off it comes on to blow. We found ourselves the leeward boat of 15 or so on a pontoon with 50kts blowing from the beam in Las Palmas. By playing the lazy line on a winch I was able to keep us off the hard bits.

I have a stanchion gate central on the front cross-beam and a passarelle suspended just above the quay on a bungy so we can step on it to walk ashore/aboard and once we step off it lifts above the concrete to avoid noise and wear. At night we hoist it well away from the quay for security.

 

[mjcoon]

My last stern to mooring had heavy chain....

Apply good tension to the lazy lines by having a line to one of the winches. Then take up slack to tension warps.

Long ago we were recommended to tension the lazy line by reversing against it. Then you need to apply similar tension to the shore lines to prevent the boat from moving too far from the quay when the engine is not acting. That may or not need winching depending on the angles, stretch and so forth...

Mike.

 

[westernman]

Long ago we were recommended to tension the lazy line by reversing against it. Then you need to apply similar tension to the shore lines to prevent the boat from moving too far from the quay when the engine is not acting. That may or not need winching depending on the angles, stretch and so forth...

Mike.

+1

You do need a reasonable tension in the lines if you don't want to bump into the quay when its blows F8 in that direction and at the same time you want to be close enough to be able to use the passerelle (or plank) to get on and off.

We back in close to the quay, attach stern lines, leave the engine running slow forward while we sort out the lazy lines. Then we slacken the stern lines a good two meters and put a reasonable tension on the lazy lines by hand.
Once the lazy lines have a turn around the sampson post I then back up to the quay and bring in the slack on the stern lines. If I have misjudged, then the guy in the bow can let off a bit on the lazy lines before tieing it off.

Normally no winching is required. The exception being when there is a strong cross wind (F6 or more), in that case I find I need to winch on the windward stern line to bring the stern to the center of the allotted slot. In those circumstances a bow thruster (a marinero in a rubber dink) is very very useful.