Lassoing a buoy

[RJJ]

Have to say I was taught to lasso (as a short-term measure) and was unaware of the risk of damage. Now a bit wiser.

 

[Old Bumbulum]

Surely one way to avoid people even wanting to lassoo a bouy would be to attach a 3-4m mooring strop supported by its own small float to be brought on deck with a boathook. Lassoing only ever enters my head when the bouy only has an empty ring on top and has to be lifted to deck level to attach a rope, presumably just as the owner does.
I was taught the lassoing technique (some years ago) by a major and well known sea-achool at Warsash.

Equally it surely cannot be beyond the wit of man to design a bouy or device to fit them that resists/casts off a lassoo?

Think Sputnik but bend the (rigid) antennae back in a cone shape and welded to a small ring around the riser 3-4 ft down. Any rope loop would just right pull over that, surely?
Or just a conical bouy like a magnum ice-cream cone.

 

[Stemar]

All I'm going to say is, you're welcome to use my mooring (at your own risk) when I'm not there, provided you accept that it's designed for a 24 footer weighing under 3 tons, and that you use the pickup buoy provided. Lassoo it, and I'll be sending you a bill for the damage.

In my experience, some, mainly commercial, moorings don't have a pickup buoy or even a line. In that case, lassooing may be the only possibility until one can get a line through the eye, but to my mind, it should be a last resort as the risk of damage is just too great.

 

[lw395]

That’s because they are trying to teach the stubborn fools to buy bouys that are fit for purpose. But some people prefer to gripe and keep replacing one flimsy bouy with another.

I will just have to keep explaining my point of view while alongside their flimsy GRP boat in our 'fit for purpose' steel workboat I suppose.

 

[James_Calvert]

I tried lassoing a buoy at the start of last season. Failed miserably.

It was a Hippo solid foam filled grp skinned type. On the few occasions I got the lassoing rope to sink behind the buoy before the bow blew away, it just rode back up it and slithered off.

Eventually reversed up to the buoy. Much easier, lower freeboard, boat less inclined to blow away, and closer to the helm. I was single-handed.

I was thinking of making up a lassoing strop with a few inches of chain in the middle for my next attempt. Just happen to have some links handy.

 

[Graham376]

- not to use a mooring that might not be adequate for your size of yacht;

You make some good points in you post but, your guidelines are not followed by the vast majority.

Our moorings are sized for boats from small day boats to 50+ footers and most have the same size of inflatable boys so, no telling how strong the ground tackle/swivel/riser is. We're in an area frequented by many nationalities coming and going, who seem to think it's fine just to pick up any mooring and go ashore (or in occasional cases back to their country) without speaking to anyone who happens to be aboard or to the club. I once found two French boats around 45 ft each, rafted on a friends 33ft boat mooring, they weren't happy when I told them to "go away". As far as I'm concerned, if a mooring is not marked as a visitor one or, permission has not been given to use it, then DON'T.

Inflatable mooring boys are not suitable for being lassoed as all the weight will be taken by the moulded eye, unlike the solid buoys with the riser passing through and shackle on top.

 

[James_Calvert]

As far as I'm concerned, if a mooring is not marked as a visitor one or, permission has not been given to use it, then DON'T.

That's all very well as a rule you yourself might live by. And where properly advertised by the relevant authority.

Long may the Poignard rules continue elsewhere.

 

[iain789]

Do be upset about how your own buoy is being frequently misused but try to differentiate that from utility of knowing how to lasso a buoy.

RichardS talks about "picking up" a mooring at the bow with a boathook. If he's not talking about pick-up buoys I suggest that you can't hold a 10 tonne boat in any kind of a blow with a boat hook (and then you need another person, possibly with another boat hook, to thread the rope through the ring). Reversing up to a buoy is not always practical under sail and does require another person and a step close to the waterline, so not practical for all.

Plus one to that. Season before last I was picking up a visitor mooring on the W of Scotland. I caught the strop with the hook, and the helm stopped the boat. Now, the diameter of the strop was exactly the same as that of the jaws of the boathook, and I found myself unable to disengage strop from hook as the boat gained sternway. I hung on grimly to the hook as my arm was pulled over the bow by 10 tons of boat. (didn't want to lose the boathook) In the wind communication with the helm failed.
Upshot was I tore a muscle tendon (rotator cuff) in the shoulder, and required a repair operation costing £7000. (NHS waiting list was about nine months +.) Next time I go to that particular buoy I will be lassooing!

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

What's the best rope for lassoing a buoy or a cleat? Mine either float or collapse as I throw them but I don't seem to have anything which makes a nice wide arc.

Notwithstanding the do's and don'ts of lassoing a mooring buoy, the technique is essential, (as I was taught on a course), for getting an MOB attached to the boat. For this, the best rope is the nearest one, likely a jib sheet.
To stop it floating, dip the middle few metres of it in the water for a few seconds.
To get it to fly, and land where you want it to, first coil it in the approved manner, (not round your elbow and thumb ) , then divide it in two, as you would if you were heaving a line, then drop the middle 2 turns, so that you can extend your arms fully out to the sides. Then hold onto the two ends with your little finger and ring finger on each hand and simultaneously throw (underhand) the two halves of the coil outwards over your target, doing so with your arms wide apart . Practise on shore first

 

[Graham376]

Plus one to that. Season before last I was picking up a visitor mooring on the W of Scotland. I caught the strop with the hook, and the helm stopped the boat. Now, the diameter of the strop was exactly the same as that of the jaws of the boathook, and I found myself unable to disengage strop from hook as the boat gained sternway. I hung on grimly to the hook as my arm was pulled over the bow by 10 tons of boat. (didn't want to lose the boathook) In the wind communication with the helm failed.
Upshot was I tore a muscle tendon (rotator cuff) in the shoulder, and required a repair operation costing £7000. (NHS waiting list was about nine months +.) Next time I go to that particular buoy I will be lassooing!

That problem was because of technique. Remember that in any tidal flow, the buoy and riser are downstream of the bottom block so no slack. When picking the strop up, leave the engine in gear with enough revs to stem the tide or wind.

 

[lw395]

Plus one to that. Season before last I was picking up a visitor mooring on the W of Scotland. I caught the strop with the hook, and the helm stopped the boat. Now, the diameter of the strop was exactly the same as that of the jaws of the boathook, and I found myself unable to disengage strop from hook as the boat gained sternway. I hung on grimly to the hook as my arm was pulled over the bow by 10 tons of boat. (didn't want to lose the boathook) In the wind communication with the helm failed.
Upshot was I tore a muscle tendon (rotator cuff) in the shoulder, and required a repair operation costing £7000. (NHS waiting list was about nine months +.) Next time I go to that particular buoy I will be lassooing!

Perhaps you should learn some adequate boat handling before going out in 10T of boat?

 

[jdc]

It is not. But the number of times it has happened to me is so small that I can look back over decades of sailing without getting upset about it. In each case except one, it happened because someone (typically a club boatswain) had mistakenly told the person who picked up my mooring that I would not be back before he returned. Annoying but worth getting worked up about? I think not.

The first book about cruising I read was "Cruising Under Sail" by Eric Hiscock and from that and other sources I learnt that the accepted conventions are:

- not to use a mooring that might not be adequate for your size of yacht;

- not to damage it, but if you do you must seek out the owner and pay the costs of repairing it;

- not to leave your yacht unattended on the mooring you have borrowed.


For many years I had a mooring in one of the busiest parts of Portsmouth Harbour, an area much favoured by sailing school instructors for teaching novices how to pick up moorings. I never had any damage done to my mooring and if I returned to find a yacht on my mooring its skipper would immediately vacate it.

Unlike some of those who posted on this thread, I find the vast majority of my fellow yachtsmen to be friendly, tolerant, helpful and understanding.

Long may that remain the case.

-

I agree: people can use my mooring when I'm not there and I'm quite happy. In fact it has it's own web page! Mooring C16 at Plockton

On that page I say:
Pick-up
The owner understands that, in emergency, any expedient technique may be used. Nevertheless he requests that under normal circumstances no attempt is made to 'lasso' the mooring, whether using rope, chain or any other contraption. This is because the swivel is about 30cm under the buoy and would very plausibly be subject to bending loads which it is neither designed nor specified to withstand, and/or the associated shackles risk having their mousings damaged by the lasso.
I don't think this is aggressively phrased or wholly unreasonable - it is my property after all.

 

[Graham376]

Perhaps you should learn some adequate boat handling before going out in 10T of boat?

A bit strong although true. Some years ago, we sailed in company with a couple of marina dwellers who had rarely anchored and had never before picked up a mooring. We watched from a distance as she did exactly the same but ditched the boathook while he just stood at the helm, engine out of gear. Didn't think of going forward to help or going ahead on engine. The pillock blamed her for losing the hook which someone kindly picked up for them and assisted with mooring.

 

[Bajansailor]

Poignard mentioned Moorfast devices like what he has, so I googled them - seems to me that a lot of stress and aggro could be avoided with an outlay of 40 quid to purchase one of these beasts.
Force 4 has them -
Moorfast Telescopic Mooring System

 

[Humblebee]

Notwithstanding the do's and don'ts of lassoing a mooring buoy, the technique is essential, (as I was taught on a course), for getting an MOB attached to the boat. For this, the best rope is the nearest one, likely a jib sheet.
To stop it floating, dip the middle few metres of it in the water for a few seconds.
To get it to fly, and land where you want it to, first coil it in the approved manner, (not round your elbow and thumb ) , then divide it in two, as you would if you were heaving a line, then drop the middle 2 turns, so that you can extend your arms fully out to the sides. Then hold onto the two ends with your little finger and ring finger on each hand and simultaneously throw (underhand) the two halves of the coil outwards over your target, doing so with your arms wide apart . Practise on shore first
[/QUOTE]

Goodness me, I didn't think a simple question could attract so much hostility - Spirit (above) seems to have been the first to offer a helpful answer though others (eg Laika) have been courteous with their comments.
From my point of view, lassooing may not be ideal but sometimes is the only option eg if the mooring ring is too small for my boathook or if the pick up buoy is missing. At best though, it is a temporary measure until a better solution can be arranged so knowing the technique is helpful.
May the Christmas spirit remain with you all throughout the boating season!

 

[dom]

If I walked across a farmer's field I'd close the gate. If I borrowed a car I'd return it clean and fueled.

A mooring is somebody's safety critical property.

Is it not common courtesy to respect their wishes, whatever the RYA or whomever may say?

 

[Resolution]

That’s because they are trying to teach the stubborn fools to buy bouys that are fit for purpose. But some people prefer to gripe and keep replacing one flimsy bouy with another.

What is this "bouy" thing that you keep writing about? Maybe we should all take to using the American pronunciation?

 

[Resolution]

Mooring techniques do of course vary depending on what type of craft you are on. For the type of boats that Daydream believer has described, being relatively light and with low freeboard, reaching down to pick up a mooring strop should be relatively easy (assuming the helm has put the bow close). But if you are on the foredeck of a mid size motorboat , or a modern high-freeboard yacht, then you definitely need a boathook or lassoo to make initial contact before pulling the buoy up to get a proper mooring line attached.
I cannot see that it makes much difference in relation to potential damage whether a hook or a lassoo is used .

 

[capnsensible]

Strangely, the arsehole 'instructors' never choose the sturdy steel buoy for their inept students to practice on.

Yeah, but the good looking, experienced, charming and witty ones do.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Yet you still won’t fork out once to buy a fit for purpose mooring bouy despite all the people giving you the chance to learn from your mistake.

Why should he buy equipment to be fit for someone else's purpose? If someone used and dragged my mooring by putting a much heavier boat than mine on it, would you blame me for having an inadequate mooring?