How to Securely Tie to a Mooring Buoy

[Sheppy]

I’m looking to go on a swinging mooring and wondered about the best solution for of tying arrangement. The buoy in question has a ring on the top but the swivel is at the bottom of the buoy. After researching this area I feel the best solution is get a strong rated 4m warp rope (boat is 6m) with a pendant at one end protected with a ss thimble. I’ll attach the pendant end to the mooring ring with a good shackle and leave a small pickup buoy on the other end of the rope. On arrival, I’ll simple pickup the rope, run it through my bow roller and tie off securely to the cleat. I’ll also tie off the cleat so the warp can’t come lose. I also intend to double up this arrangement with a safety chain attached to the underside of the buoy which will also run through a protecting tube. I’ll also run this through the bow roller (assuming it’ll fit) and have this tied off but with some slack. I may swap the secondary safety chain for another warp. My only concern is that secondary safety chain/warp might get tangled as the boat continually swings. What method do you use and is there anything obviously wrong with my planned solution.
Thanks.

 

[Lakesailor]

Check that the ring on the buoy is supposed to be used for mooring. Many of them are not and are just a slender rod through the buoy.
On Windermere most people use two strops with one a bit slack as you suggest.
As the strop will always be on the mooring and dedicated to your boat why not put a soft eye in the inboard end to make it easier to drop onto the cleat.
I used to tie my cleat off with a small line permanently attached to it.

This is the arrangement of my strops. The backup is actually shackled to the riser chain tail, so even if the buoy shackle comes off I am still attached.

Here is exactly what you propose. The pick-up buoy has both strops connected to it.

 

[vyv_cox]

Lakesailor's advice is fully supported by me. Don't attach your permanent mooring to the ring on the top, use it as a pickup by all means but secure to the shackle at the bottom. You can see from his photo that the through-bolt is pretty puny and you don't want to be relying on the strength of a few threads. If the bolt failed you would still be attached to the bottom via the ring and shackle.

Keep to a single pick-up line, two will always tangle.

 

[Sheppy]

Would this not cause the chain/warp to slowly entangle? The swivel is on the bottom of the buoy so I'd probably end up shackling the chain to the lower section of the swivel/top of the riser chain - if that makes sense?
The chap says the ring is intended for mooring and everyone seems to use the ring - but I've read so many times that it's the weak point of the setup.

 

[Lakesailor]

I think there are bouys in which the riser chain comes up through a tube, allowing you to make a direct connection to the chain. I haven't seen one though.
We don't have current to contend with, but do have wind shifting around up to a couple of times a day.
The strops can get wrapped. Just untwizzle them. What's the problem? I did it yesterday.
Two rope strops aren't going to hurt each other. If one were chain it may be a bit more tricky. I tried chain, don't like it.

 

[Bru]

If it's a commercially supplied (i.e. marina, boatyard etc.) mooring using their ground tackle I suggest you consult with the mooring provider

There are, from what I've learnt so far, about as many different types of mooring buoy and ways to attach the boat to them as there are different types of anchor

Ours, for example, is a large buoy with a VERY small but solid ring on top to which is spliced, by the marina, two heavy rope buoy tails. We are actively discouraged from changing these for our own ropes or adding anything else to the arrangement (as in the very experienced, er, experience of the bosun in charge of the swinging moorings, adding more gear to the buoy causes more trouble than its worth)

We've tied permanent bowlines in the on-board end of the buoy tails as we have a samson post at the bow to which we moor rather than cleats. However, the buoy tails are too large to go through our bow fairleads (which reminds me, Toby promised to look out a smaller set of tails and fit them to the buoy! Must have words )

The fitting of a backup chain over winter is considered unnecessary at our moorings - partly because we're so far upriver and therefore in fairly sheltered waters and partly because the moorings are under constant supervision and checked regularly for any signs of problems

However, even within our moorings at North Fambridge, there are at least two types (maybe three) of mooring buoy with different setups.

 

[Lady Campanula]

Would this not cause the chain/warp to slowly entangle? The swivel is on the bottom of the buoy so I'd probably end up shackling the chain to the lower section of the swivel/top of the riser chain - if that makes sense?
The chap says the ring is intended for mooring and everyone seems to use the ring - but I've read so many times that it's the weak point of the setup.

That everyone else just ties onto the pickup ring doesn't make it right or secure, and your insurance company is unlikely to be impressed by the opinion of 'the chap' should you need to make a claim. A close inspection of the bottom end of your mooring buoy is likely to show something similar to that shown below....

A close look will show that the galvanised mild steel threaded rod is drilled, and a thin split pin is fitted, to help keep the galvanised mild steel loop and Nyloc nut from dropping off. That's fine for the first few days - then corrosion begins.

All professional experience - and there's a lot of it lurks in these pages - tells us that the 'threads' of such arrangements corrode first and faster than anything else. Once those threads start to go, there's nothing much holding the assembly together. Certainly, a Nyloc nut's nylon insert is insufficient when snatch loads come on in lumpy seas.

And another thing.... The split pin is stainless, which accelerates galvanic corrosion nearby - on the threads.

That's the primary reason your riser chain should connect directly to whatever you use for boat pendants - with the float just holding the assembly up - be those heavy, sleeved braid-on-braid, or chain. And chain can be easily sleeved, too, so it does not chew away at fairleads.

Do it right - do it once. See last month's PBO for more on this.

 

[barrow_matt]

The 2nd pic from LakeSailor is how I was shown by an experienced member at my local club. Looped over the anchor cleat then use a smaller rope to lash the on so they can't unhook.

My mooring uses 2 ropes

 

[tillergirl]

I think there are bouys in which the riser chain comes up through a tube, allowing you to make a direct connection to the chain. I haven't seen one though.
We don't have current to contend with, but do have wind shifting around up to a couple of times a day.
The strops can get wrapped. Just untwizzle them. What's the problem? I did it yesterday.
Two rope strops aren't going to hurt each other. If one were chain it may be a bit more tricky. I tried chain, don't like it.

Here's a 'tube'. Wrapping is not a problem. This is me crossing the warps on tieing up. Seldom wraps.

 

[misterg]

That everyone else just ties onto the pickup ring doesn't make it right or secure, and your insurance company is unlikely to be impressed by the opinion of 'the chap' should you need to make a claim. A close inspection of the bottom end of your mooring buoy is likely to show something similar to that shown below....

Unless it's one like this :



Andy

 

[vyv_cox]

Here's a 'tube'. Wrapping is not a problem. This is me crossing the warps on tieing up. Seldom wraps.

The OP was talking of one warp from below the buoy, one from above. Not the same thing at all, I think.