leaving a mooring between piles

[kunyang]

Well, I've done it, the boats on the piles, two mooring lines each end, one main and one a bit slacker as instructed. Now I've got to work out what to do with the lines when I leave for a sail. I know I've got to join the mooring lines together and leave it with a couple of buoys to allow me to pick them up again.

Question is, how do I do this. Do I use shackles, or knots, what lengh should I have the lines to the buoys, and how do I join them. They can't be too long as I need to access from one side only (it gets a bit shallow very quickly away from the channel).

Advise greatfully received.

Dave

 

[oldsaltoz]

Sometimes called a Lazy Line, tied to the eye of each mooring line with a fixed float about the centre or several floats along it.

Mooring, bow in close to bow pile and pick up lazy line with a boat hook, pull bow line aboard and secure, lazy line still attached.

Now walk to the stern running the lazy line through your hand and pull the stern line aboard and secure.

Departing, let go the stern line and reverse the boat to get th stern out, power off and let go the head line throwing the head line towards the centre line between the poles, short burst astern the ahead.

Tender can left on the lazy line whith short painters to each end and the centre float dropped aboard.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[William_H]

I t seems to me that with access from only one side you can permanently join the bow and stern lines together with enough slack to be able to lay on the deck. If you use Polypropelene rope or similar which floats you may not need floats. Just tie with bowline knots.
Attach the dinghy on a long painter to the middle so that it will float down wind or down tide just clear of the down wind pile. ie out of the mooring area.
Assuming it won't bother anyone. But where you won't hit it on return. Unless it is soft!! In which case just shove it aside on return. olewill

 

[tabernacleman]

Just like to add as a word of caution that when leaving the mooring consider the wind/tide effect on your boat and untie the lines which are slack for obvious reasons. Without another boat alongside leaving pile or trot moorings single handed can be a bit of a challenge, and you will not be the first person to have a rope round the prop etc etc in this situation. I found that when I had an outboard motor Pandora I could swivel the motor to pull the stern out, but when I had the inboard Jaguar in some conditions it was nearly impossible to leave, difficult to 'spring off' a pile mooring. Good luck /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Heckler]

Ive got 2 forward lines joined by a thin line so i can get one on and then pull the second one on board. same aft Then one line joining the fwd and aft lines with a pickup buoy in the centre, this joined to one each of the fwd and aft lines. Tide and wind conditions studied before attempt to pickup!! approach from down tide, swmbo with boat hook, I put the nose near the buoy and swmbo picks it up and pulls in the relevant line and gets it on a cleat, judiciuos use of engine at this point then out of gear and pul the rest of the lines in. Dont use a hrd dinghy, pain in the arse, use an inflateable and tow it with you or haul it on the sugar scoop
Stu

 

[Refueler]

have lines at each end fastened to each other - so that you pick up both main and security line together ... this applies at both ends of boat.

The fore and aft lines should have a pendant line joining them and this can be a small diam line sufficient that you can heave lines on board if boat swings / starts to fall of.
I would suggest for your use and others visual safety - you have some of those neat red / white markers along the line so that people do not try to cut between the piles ... they are basically polystyrene sausages with hole through centre that line passes through. You put simple overhand knot either side of each to hold in place.

With line such as that I didn't feel need to have any buoys to hold up mooring lines ... I could pick up pendant and work from that ...
For your own peace of mind maybe a small buoy to carry the mooring lines each pile ... even an old fender each !

 

[kunyang]

Cheers guys,

Pretty much as I had figured, but I wouldn't have joined the two bow or stern lines together, so I'll give it a try.

Dave

 

[Refueler]

[ QUOTE ]
Cheers guys,

Pretty much as I had figured, but I wouldn't have joined the two bow or stern lines together, so I'll give it a try.

Dave

[/ QUOTE ]

If you do it with enough light cord - you can still attach to different points for safety. It's no good having both lines made of to same cleat / mooring post ! The cord is so that you get both lines up at one time and no scrabbling over side to get second ...

 

[Searush]

Mine are tied to a spacing line between tow buoys with a pick-up buoy in the middle. I go alongside, pick up the said buoy & loop the spacing line over my lifelines & that holds the baot in place while I sort out the lines fore & aft.

On leaving I can loop the spacing line over the rails while I unfasten the strops & fasten them back onto the spacing line. In my situation (a river) the flow is always in the same direction & it is often possible to set the rudder to port (off the mooring) & use the spacing line to propel the boat forward enough to get the bows into the stream. I can then walk aft & set the rudder to starboard so that the boat straightens up, some meters to the left of the mooring. I can then slip the engine into gear with absolutely no risk of picking up anyone's ropes.

Consider the options & try them out. You may need different strategies for different circumstances as wind & tide vary.