lassoong buoys

[Elessar]

lassoing buoys

Letter in YM this month saying this is "unseamanlike"

I always lasso buoys rather than using a boat hook.

Far better, IMHO. Lasso the buoy and make it fast on the boat. Keep the engine on if you used it.

You then have all the time in the world to get the boat hook out and make off to the buoy properly. Then the engine can be killed and the temporary lasso rope removed.

Never, ever of course leave the boat moored on the lasso line.

If single handed you can lasso the buoy alongside the cockpit. Run a line from the buoy to the stem head, release the lasso and pull the stem head line in as you drift past the buoy.

A made off lasso is IMHO far far safer than trying to hold the boat on the boat hook. Especially as far too many male sailors send their physically smaller and weaker female partner forward in such situations. You don't need strength with the lasso method.

What on earth is the letter writer on about - am I right or have I missed something?

edit - and why oh why can't you edit the thread title!!! Edit 2 found out how

 

[maxi77]

If it works it is seamanlike. There are far too many people around these days who seem to have the opinion that the way they do things is the only correct way, when the reality is that as ever there are many ways to skin a cat, pick up a bouy, or get from a to b.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Nothing wrong with using a lassoo. It's a legitimate technique.
I mainly use a boat hook but there are times when a lassoo is easier.

 

[xyachtdave]

Letter in YM this month saying this is "unseamanlike"

I always lasso buoys rather than using a boat hook.

Far better, IMHO. Lasso the buoy and make it fast on the boat. Keep the engine on if you used it.

You then have all the time in the world to get the boat hook out and make off to the buoy properly. Then the engine can be killed and the temporary lasso rope removed.

Never, ever of course leave the boat moored on the lasso line.

If single handed you can lasso the buoy alongside the cockpit. Run a line from the buoy to the stem head, release the lasso and pull the stem head line in as you drift past the buoy.

A made off lasso is IMHO far far safer than trying to hold the boat on the boat hook. Especially as far too many male sailors send their physically smaller and weaker female partner forward in such situations. You don't need strength with the lasso method.

What on earth is the letter writer on about - am I right or have I missed something?

edit - and why oh why can't you edit the thread title!!!

Elessar... Don't get me started on this..... I literally spat my dummy out when I read this letter.... To the extent a letter to YM was sent!

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Lassoing a buoy is quite acceptable if the situation demands it. There is always a risk of fouling on the under side of the mooring buoy and jamming the line.

My bow is quite high and as such blows off easily, it's always a struggle and sometimes the lasso is the best solution if its windy.

 

[prv]

Nothing wrong with using a lassoo. It's a legitimate technique.
I mainly use a boat hook but there are times when a lassoo is easier.

Agree with all of that.

Pete

 

[Victoria Sponge]

edit - and why oh why can't you edit the thread title!!!

Hit edit and then advanced. I think anyway.

Agree with the sentiments about what's seamanlike! If it's safe and works who gives a damn?

 

[G12]

Well I was taught it on my YM sail and then 10 years later on my YM power.... it still worked. Can't be that bad if the RYA use it..... oh and one of the chaps on my power prep was RNLI and and it seems that they use it too.
What is unseaman like is getting it wrong because you were so far up your own backside looking for the supposed correct way of doing something that you missed the objective altogether!

 

[Elessar]

Hit edit and then advanced.

Thank you

 

[PetiteFleur]

It's perfectly legitimate to lassoo a buoy if required. Many years ago I was in this very situation, we had just arrived at Queensborough after a wet sail in F5/6 in our Halcyon 23 and no way could we grab the steel loop on the buoy with the boat hook. I threw the anchor chain over the buoy to get the sails stowed properly before getting a line through the loop - as stowing the sails noticed a piece of long curved wood floating past and thought 'that looks like someones rubbing strake' - when I moored up properly a few minutes later I noticed my rubbing strake was missing...............

 

[Vara]

Aah so it's not just me then, taught to lassoo in 1973 and have used it ever since, works well with cleats as well.

 

[photodog]

I love a bit of Lasoo action... keeps my cowboys skills sharp.... I can nail that baby from about 5 yards.. but you gotta watch you dont get caught up in the forestay when yer spinning it...

 

[Elessar]

Aah so it's not just me then, taught to lassoo in 1973 and have used it ever since, works well with cleats as well.

Absolutely. That's why i think french cleats are dangerous. Coming alongside no one leaps off my boat, we just lasoo the cleats.

My wife can lasoo things about 10 ft away really reliably - well practiced when i cock up the mooring

 

[robmcg]

A lasso on a buoy can cause the underside of the buoy to crack where the rod enters the bottom. The buoy can then sink. Happened to a few moorings near us. Boats that cause this damage rarely around to see the buoy slowly sink. Would not be impressed if a visitor lassoed my mooring under any circumstance unless a real emergency.

 

[Boo2]

.

 

[snowleopard]

A lasso on a buoy can cause the underside of the buoy to crack where the rod enters the bottom. The buoy can then sink. Happened to a few moorings near us. Boats that cause this damage rarely around to see the buoy slowly sink. Would not be impressed if a visitor lassoed my mooring under any circumstance unless a real emergency.

+1

There was a group of buoys in the Solent where one or more sailing schools liked to practice the technique. It cost the owners a fortune in maintenance.

By all means lasso your home buoy but if you borrow other peoples moorings, please have the courtesy to use a less damaging technique. All may seem well when you leave after your stay but the owner returning to a half-deflated buoy isn't going to thank you.

If I see you doing it to mine you'll be left in no doubt of my feelings on the matter.

 

[Elessar]

A lasso on a buoy can cause the underside of the buoy to crack where the rod enters the bottom. The buoy can then sink. Happened to a few moorings near us. Boats that cause this damage rarely around to see the buoy slowly sink. Would not be impressed if a visitor lassoed my mooring under any circumstance unless a real emergency.

I always lasso buoys as I think it's the safest technique.

First I've heard of this. How on earth can it cause it to crack? How does it put any more strain on the buoy than a pick up line?

 

[snowleopard]

I always lasso buoys as I think it's the safest technique.

First I've heard of this. How on earth can it cause it to crack? How does it put any more strain on the buoy than a pick up line?

The pull is directly trying to separate the inflated part of the buoy from the riser. The only function of the bladder is to make the top of the riser float. A pickup line puts the strain directly to the riser.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I always How on earth can it cause it to crack? How does it put any more strain on the buoy than a pick up line?

Some buoys can be damaged as the weight of the boat is taken up by the soft, buoyant part of the buoy rather than the fixings.
Of course, not all buoys use a rod going through the middle with a ring on top. Some buoys have the sinker and pick-up buoy fixed to an eye underneath. Some buoys are steel/GRP (?) with a foam coating. etc etc.

It's a matter of checking what you are dealing with and acting accordingly, but the idea that lassoing is unseamanlike is ridiculous.

 

[photodog]

It's a matter of checking what you are dealing with and acting accordingly, but the idea that lassoing is unseamanlike is ridiculous.

OTOH diddling around for 1/2 an hour trying to thread a needle with one of those Patented-pickup thingies is.....