How tight should the mooring ropes be?

[mjkinch1]

We have been moving around marinas, and have had some fairly strong winds and/or been open to every passing wave and swell. (Bear in mind there are no tides, but around a meter or so rise and drop according to the weather, but we are on floating pontoons anyway)

Generally we stern moor, with a single line to the front (lazy line although why they call it that beats me, its pretty hard work getting it secured tight!) - usually floating pontoons. The lazy line can have a pull either left or right depending on which side cleat I use.

So on the back we put the standard ropes, and to stop me swinging about I then cross 2 ropes (springs) to stop the sideways movement. In most cases we have been in a beamier mooring than we need,so generally have had a meter either side of us between boats.

Now at anyone time there is slack in the ropes, either because we are being blown left or right, or forward etc, often one side will be tight,the other side slack.

The standard ropes from the cleats to the pontoon tend to have some slack in them, as we bounce about, and the spring ropes alternate tight and loose as we move sideways.

To try and get some stability, I tried keeping the springs tight, but in reality its quite difficult.

Whats the general opinion on how the ropes should be tied and tightened to keep movement to a minimum?

 

[omega2]

Let the boat move at least a foot in all directions, too tight and you will chafe the ropes, or worse pull your deck fittings out, put fenders all round and make sure they are working, i.e. deliberately try to hit the pontoon and your neighbour to ensure that they make contact first.

 

[carlton]

I think the key may be to "set docklines at wide angles", but one of the med boys should be along with their input shortly. I found this - it's a bit saily but emphasises "wide angles";

 

[tcm]

With stern-to mooring the whole boat is held on the ropes, and they can and should be quite tight. But they should be on suitable stretchy lines - like 3-strand nylon or octoplait to win the effect of the elasticity of the rope itself.

The 3-strand lines are important - ie not the slinky and more expensive braided lines which are for holding sails up with no twanging of the sail up and down the mast...

A good procedure is to either have power capstan/winches at the stern, or if you don't have these then use the windlass at the bow to getthings tight.

With no stern power winches, firstt set the forward lines just handtight on the windlass. Then set hand-tight stern lines, which can/should be chain at the quayside to minimise wear/chafe.

Chain at dockside also means that nobody else (using the same dock cleats) will need to adjust r move you lines, ever.

Next set crossed lines as tight as poss, again with chain if poss. Use the swing/push of the boat to set the second lines v tight. "Sweat" this second line, praps by actually pushing the boat against the first to get that second line tight. An actual knot - round turn and 2 half hitches on the cleat are better than just figures of eight.

Now back at the bow: you really crank the bowline on windlass and all the stern lines go tight.

Then the tough bit: transfer the bow line to a cleat from windlass (else it will hurt windlas bearings over time) either with a rolling hitch to hold the line tension during transfer, or by actually standing on the rope (in shoes, away from other fittings) and quickly transferring. Do the same with second bow line if you have one.

Finally some people set spare stern lines, which can be just hand tight - these in case anything happens to the first (tighter) stern lines.

Done like this the lines should hold tight for several months.

Othr tips include onlydoing this in calm weather and *not* trying to adjust/set in any wind.

 

[tcm]

wide angles

absolutely right in theory, but in practice in med your boat *and the lines* must (usually) be within the width constraints of the mooring. So in(say) 5 metre wide berth, the quayside cleats are only that far apart too.

 

[tcm]

\"you\'ll pull the deck fittings out\"

I have often heard this said but never ever seen anything of the sort actually happen.

In fact, of course...if there really *was* such a high risk...one would see deck fitings pulled out on loads of dodgy old boats after every period of stormy weather - and yet nothing of the sort happens.

Furthermore...if deck fittings were actually at risk of being pulled out..then they would be *more* likely to be pulled out if the boatis allowed to swing a lot, lurching each way and back with lots more momentum and hence higher forces.

A friend inadvertently applied 1000hp to deck fittings once (he thought it was out of gear) but the fittings all held.

Holding the boat with minmum movement is likely to reduce the maximum load on cleats (although steady load is higher) and reduces likelihood of deck fittings being "ripped out" - and which again, hardly ever happens anyway.

IMHO

 

[mjkinch1]

Re: \"you\'ll pull the deck fittings out\"

thanks for that. i don't have stretchy spring ropes but i think its a good idea and will get a set. because I am on temporary moorings I don't always have the spring chains with me that I do on my home berth, perhaps i should take them with me. I also never use the windlass to pull the lazy line tight, its also worth looking at next time. I don't have rear windlass's so its just pullin power.

I found that if the ropes are too loose I get a 'snatching' effect, but i can see how the stretchy ropes would help this.

thanks for the input, hopefully will try it our later as we try Mahon, well known for its bumpy moorings

 

[tcm]

chafing and chains

I sem to recall plenty of opportunity for lines to chafe at mahon. Best is (again) use chains until clear of the dock, then rope.

hope this helps!

 

[MaltaBob]

Re: chafing and chains

Agree with TCM, we use chains on stern( inside pvc tube ). Chains can and do make a nasty mess of the pontoon cleats. Always take our larg' ish s/s springs with us . reckon some tension better than the ' shock' of being blown about every which way! Often we have two lazy lines up front, and some still drop the anchor for extra peace of mind, and a bit of tension.

 

[Richard10002]

Tight springs and saggy breasts for alongside mooring..... not sure about stern to practice....

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

We do it slightly differently because transferring the bow line from the windlass to the cleat or just pulling in the line is difficult to do on the foredeck of a smaller boat. There just is'nt enough space for 2 peeps to work and often the sloping coachroof impedes the operation. Good tip about trapping the line with your shoe. Amazingly that works even with SWMBO's dainty little clodhopper
When we go into a mooring, we leave the stern lines slack whilst we pull in the bow line to it's final position and then pull on the stern lines to tighten the boat because thats so much easier to do than pulling on the bow line. Sometimes that does mean adjusting the bow line and starting again although not on our home mooring where we know the exact positions of our bow lines
Definitely recommend chain springs for stern lines. Until last winter, we'd used rubber snubbers but even these did'nt stop one of our stern lines snapping in a storm. There's so much more give in the chain springs. Also agree entirely that those fancy braided ropes are useless as mooring ropes and simple 3 strand nylon is as good as anything

 

[MedDreamer]

That's the technique we use as well Mike and, as TCM says, the end result is all lines tight.

I'm changing my mooring lines before the winter and currently have rubber snubbers, will probably keep them but add chain springs at the pontoon end. Alcudia is pretty well protected so I would guess MartynK is talking more about his experiences on his recent extended cruise.

 

[MedDreamer]

Re: \"you\'ll pull the deck fittings out\"

I think you are a bit optimistic hoping not to be buffeted about in Mahon Martyn. This was last year do you remember? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I think you would have to be moored in concrete not to feel that /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[mjkinch1]

Re: \"you\'ll pull the deck fittings out\"

dont remind me - and of course the fishing boats that go out at 3am. Might get a smaller set of Stainless steel springs and keep them on board, they seem to work well in Alcudia

See you on Thursday Martyn!