How to pile mooring ?

[Boo2]

Hi,

Just performed my first ever solo mooring at the club this evening. The quays are stern-to moorings with the bow warps being taken to a pile about 43 feet from the quay. This means that you must presumeably drop the bow line over the pile as you reverse past it but the pile was in a slightly inconvenient place for that and my boatmanship wasn't up to it. I got the stern lines on OK on my second attempt but had to walk forward on the adjacent boat and lasso the pile from her bows before making fast to Sunrunner.

So can anyone tell me what the form is for this type of mooring ? If you want to drop a loop over the pile so as to be able to slip without motoring up to it then you would need a huge long line, at least 80 feet long, and you would need to be quite practiced to succeed in dropping the line over the pile as you reversed past while also avoiding the adjacent boat and aiming for your marks on the quay. Today wasn't helped by the fact that the wind would have tended to blow me away from the pile but there will always be some wind and/or tide and I'm interested to know what is the best approach ?

Thanks,

Boo2

 

[William_H]

One approach might be to have a very long line with the loop or attachment for the pile on the end. Bring this line down the outside of the boat from the bow to near the cockpit. You drop or attach the pile line onto the pile from your position in the cockpit as you reverse past. If the other end of the line comes from the bow through a fairlead back to the cockpit you will be able to tighten this up as the bow arrives near the pile and at the same time as you sort the stern lines. You could depart in a smilar manner.
Actual attachment to the pile might need some thought and rearrangement. I think sometimes they have a rail up the side of the pile to allow for a short connection to the boat regardless of tide height. A ring of some sort slides on the rail. A snapshackle might be one way to attach to this rail. Sorry I don't know how your's works but I don't imagine a loop of rope around the pile would be a good long term attachment. good luck olewill

 

[prv]

Sounds like a Baltic "box berth", though you have only one pile rather than two?

When I sailed in that part of the world, we would simply motor through the gap and drop the stern lines (we generally moored bows-to, though occasionally the other way round) over the posts as they passed the widest point of the beam. Big bowline in the end. It did help that the boats, like many in Scandinavia, had a brass or stainless rubbing strake that allowed them to slide past a pile without damage.

A couple of times, our skipper chose to practice the technique for arriving under sail - when he had started it was apparently a club rule that people do this at the home moorings! We'd end up parallel to the jetty, resting beam-on against the two piles, where we'd take the sails down. Then one line would be led from the stern direct to the nearest pile, the other up the outboard side of the boat, round the bow, and onto the other pile. Then we'd manhandle the boat aft, the bow through the gap, and walk it into position by pushing against the piles.

I can't think of any clever trick for your arrangement, beyond "pass close by the pile on your way in, and drop the loop over it". Not easy if single-handed (not clear if you were, or want to be able to?) but otherwise not sure what the problem is. Just jink the forward quarter up towards the post for a couple of seconds, then back into line. If you don't have a rubbing strake then being on the downwind / downtide side of it is probably best; if you do, then upwind would hold you against it and give extra time to mess about with the line. Presumably you can pass either side of the pile depending on conditions?

Also not sure why you need an 80-foot warp if the pile is 43 feet from the quay. If your boat is 36 feet long then that leaves a seven foot gap.

On the other hand, a long (probably best floating) warp would enable a slightly different technique, maybe suitable for single-handed use. Split the manoeuvre into two halves - getting the line on the pile and then parking the boat. Nose up to the pile from outside, put the line on it, then allow the line to trail out largely ignored while you turn round and reverse in. Then once in position, haul it back in and you have a bow line. This is just a thought, maybe so much line in the water would be unwieldy and get caught on things.

Maybe you could rig a permanent line from pile to quay, like people on river pile moorings have between their posts? Just pick it up with the boathook from over the side?

Or how about asking the experts, the other people who moor there?

Pete

 

[johnphilip]

Alternatively

If this is your home berth set up a permanent bow line on the pile and run it all the way to one of your stern mooring cleats on the quay, leaving it tight enough to be clear of the water. As you come into the berth, forward or astern, either grab the line with a boathook when you will be able to use it to prevent swinging sideways or leave it until you are in the berth and pick it up at your leisure.

 

[colind3782]

I have a line from the pile to the quay with a loop in it which lines up with my midships cleat. As we come in I pick up the loop, drop it over the midships cleat and sort the lines out at my leisure. The piles are still out of reach of a standard boat hook however so, if it's not too windy on the beam, I simple stop the boat by the piles on the way out or in and sort the lines out before motoring out or hauling in on the line to the midships cleat.

If I don't want to do that, I have an extending telescopic "window cleaning" pole which I bought for £7.95 and attached a boat hook head to it. It's not as strong as a regular boathook but has a long reach and is easily strong enough to pick up/drop over mooring lines.

Alternatively, get a longer boat!

 

[johnalison]

We need to know if the OP's mooring is in tidal water. If it is tidal water, it is usual for the piles to have slides, as at Lauersoog where they are inadequate for the tidal range. It is also usual to moor to two piles, plus two cleats ashore. In the Baltic box moorings I have known, it is unusual but not unknown to moor stern-to, so the OP's mooring will be unfamiliar to most of us. In Baltic boxes, it is usual to put a single line with a loose bowline over the pile, and there is often a wooden or steel hook to hold the line near the top for easy release. A single line means that a lot less line needs to be deployed.

The actual technique of approach will vary with the boat and the wind conditions, and a permanent line to shore can be helpful. There will always be times when it is necessary to "park" against the pile or piles and take time to get sorted out.