mediterranean 'long line' mooring

[corbu]

Two small tips I have found useful are:

One. If using a bowline to drop over a rock, pulling the bight through gives you an instantly adjustable loop. This must fall into the category of the blindingly obvious for most but it was a revalation to me on our second charter holiday when a neighbouring skipper explained it to me.

Two. Sometimes it's easier to take the whole line ashore in the dinghy then come back to the yacht to winch into position. Saves trying to hold position whilst been blown off with someone trying to row to shore feeding out the just about long enough line whilst trying to tow the yacht backwards, I.e. impossible. (Viz harbour in Croatia on our first ever charter, children from neighbouring French boat had to come to our assistance!).

Once on, you do feel much more secure than 'sailing' about the anchor when then wind gets up.

 

[Triassic]

We're currently cruising around Croatia and have found the easiest way, both to anchor in bays and to back onto harbour quays, is to drop the anchor in the appropriate place (takes a bit of practice but we've sussed it now) and then dinghy the shore line ashore before pulling the boat into place. Works in pretty much all scenarios except when the wind is blowing us directly to the shore, in which case we simply let out the anchor until we can secure the stern and then pull forward again. Our weapon of choice has been 100m of 6mm nylon (floats) on an old electrical extension reel so that we can roll out as much as we need, and then simply spool it back in again afterwards, and a folding grapple hook on the end of it works well for catching into rocks either ashore or under water. Having said that I'm only trying to hang 1,500kg of trimaran on it....

 

[santelmo]

The person going ashore must wear some kind of footwear. I once stood on one of those urchins with sharp spines and it was the worst pain that I have endured

 

[BobnLesley]

"...Once on, you do feel much more secure than 'sailing' about the anchor when then wind gets up."

Just the opposite with me: Free-anchored you sit naturally/comfortably with the bow heading into it, the direction of least resistance for both wind and waves.Moored fore and aft with it all hitting you so hard on the beam that the boat's canting over, all I can think about is "if either of these let go, I'm stuffed."

 

[RupertW]

"...Once on, you do feel much more secure than 'sailing' about the anchor when then wind gets up."

Just the opposite with me: Free-anchored you sit naturally/comfortably with the bow heading into it, the direction of least resistance for both wind and waves.Moored fore and aft with it all hitting you so hard on the beam that the boat's canting over, all I can think about is "if either of these let go, I'm stuffed."

Although we free anchor far more than tie to the shore I feel more secure tied as its like being med moored to a harbour wall but with a lot more snubbing anfd the anchor is dug in without any chance of snatch loads or direction changes as there is no ranging about.

 

[jordanbasset]

We always prefer to free anchor rather than long line where possible, but there are some places where that is not possible and long lining does open up more anchorages for us.

 

[KellysEye]

We anchored and I swam the line ashore and tied it to whatever I could, a tree is best, then back to the boat and tighten the line.

 

[pmagowan]

We will be in two boats, what does the panel think about the possibility of mooring the two together?

 

[bobgarrett]

Like this? Just two would be easy, but use some spherical fenders too.

 

[duncan99210]

We will be in two boats, what does the panel think about the possibility of mooring the two together?

Easy enough to do. First boat to arrive does all the work of getting their lines ashore and fixed on position, second boat arrives, drops anchor in the right place, reverses up with fenders out and ties up to first boat, then takes their lines ashore in slow time. Done it several times. If the boats are different sizes, biggest boat first is best.

 

[pmagowan]

Cool, that will make evening entertainment more inclusive!

 

[neil1967]

Vic's article is spot on - that's the technique we use, although often SWMBO swims ashore with the rope, as it saves faffing around trying to tie the dinghy on, whilst also trying to hold on to the mooring line. It can be a bit of a struggle in a cross wind though.

One of the other reasons for taking a line ashore, certainly here in Turkey, is that often the seabed falls away sharply. Free anchoring in such a situation when the wind changes and the yacht could go from being in 10m depth to 20m would risk the anchor scope decreasing significantly, and hence increase the risk of dragging.

 

[noelex]

One of the other reasons for taking a line ashore, certainly here in Turkey, is that often the seabed falls away sharply. Free anchoring in such a situation when the wind changes and the yacht could go from being in 10m depth to 20m would risk the anchor scope decreasing significantly, and hence increase the risk of dragging.

The anchor scope is dependant on the depth of water where the anchor is located. Scope does not change if the boat swings into deeper or shallower water.

However, the anchors holding is dependent on the slope of the seabed. The effect is significant. The holding is much better if the anchor is pulled "up hill'. If anchoring in water where the depth drops away quickly from the shore a Med moor or tying the stern to shore ensures the anchor is always pulled "up hill". This is a substantial advantage.

 

[RichardS]

The anchor scope is dependant on the depth of water where the anchor is located. Scope does not change if the boat swings into deeper or shallower water.

However, the anchors holding is dependent on the slope of the seabed. The effect is significant. The holding is much better if the anchor is pulled "up hill'. If anchoring in water where the depth drops away quickly from the shore a Med moor or tying the stern to shore ensures the anchor is always pulled "up hill". This is a substantial advantage.

Very true ...... although the reason why scope is so important is that it changes the angle of the anchor shank to the seabed so, presumably, exactly the same cause and effect as seabed slope.

Richard

 

[Resolution]

We usually prefer to anchor out and swing to the wind, but last night by coincidence circumstances called for lines ashore. (We are in Datca, Turkey. ) Steep to shore, so we dropped the anchor in 25 metres depth, reversed in towards the shore in between two other yachts. Dropped the dinghy off with a couple of energetic rowers and one end of the long line. A cross wind made holding station very difficult while one crew paid out the long line, and the dinghy gang had difficulty completing their turn around a tree and tiring off. The second line was of course easier.
Two lines at a 30 degree angle create some triangulation which is a help when the wind shifts, as it did yesterday.
With hindsight, we would have done better to have sent the dinghy in first to tie the first line shore end first, then row the line back out to meet the yacht, tighten up using the yacht winches, then set the second line as before.

 

[noelex]

Very true ...... although the reason why scope is so important is that it changes the angle of the anchor shank to the seabed so, presumably, exactly the same cause and effect as seabed slope.

Richard

Yes, exactly the same mechanism. As the rode is pulled up from the horizontal, an anchor's holding ability is reduced.

The seabed often has significant slope and this can have a dramatic effect. For example, anchoring on a 10:1 down slope with a 5:1 scope, the rode angle relative to the seabed will be the same as a scope of 3.4: 1 on flat ground if the rode is tight.

The sea bed angle can be difficult to estimate. If you dive down, it is obvious there are considerable local variations, but it helpful to think of rode angle relative to the seabed rather than just the scope, as it is this angle that will influence the anchor's holding capacity.

 

[RupertW]

We usually prefer to anchor out and swing to the wind, but last night by coincidence circumstances called for lines ashore. (We are in Datca, Turkey. ) Steep to shore, so we dropped the anchor in 25 metres depth, reversed in towards the shore in between two other yachts. Dropped the dinghy off with a couple of energetic rowers and one end of the long line. A cross wind made holding station very difficult while one crew paid out the long line, and the dinghy gang had difficulty completing their turn around a tree and tiring off. The second line was of course easier.
Two lines at a 30 degree angle create some triangulation which is a help when the wind shifts, as it did yesterday.
With hindsight, we would have done better to have sent the dinghy in first to tie the first line shore end first, then row the line back out to meet the yacht, tighten up using the yacht winches, then set the second line as before.

With just two of us on board we pretty much have to stay on the boat until the anchor is out as much with a bit extra too, then the foredeck person (me) hares back and swims off the boat with the rope to tie off. This sometimes works better than other times especially when I am sensible enough to wait until the boat is as close to the shore as possible before I leap off, and also when my wife remembers to start hauling in the line as soon as I say I've got it secure.

We will get there but probably only do it two or three times a year so haven't agreed on a rhythm. It is however entertaining to us, any guests and nearby boats.

 

[Jamesuk]

Hi
First , it not the standard way of mooring , althought we tend to moor that way a lot ,
Most just anchor .
What we do is drop our anchor and dig it in , then one of us will go ashore with a line and chain , the chain is to put around the rocks , rope it then brought back to the boat , it's that simple , some try to swim ashore dragging the boat behind them , not a good idea , if your going to swim it a shore , tie a fender to one end and swim the other end , once tighted just swim back to the fender and swim it back .
Our lines are normally tight enough to be out of the water , unless there a lot of side wind , where we then do tighten them up .
Dragging ..
We have never drag when we been tight back , although we have had other put out anchor out , in which case we just fender the ropes off and drop them then once we reanchor it just a matter of picking the lines up .
It not that hard once you done it a few times,

+1 excellent advice.

 

[VO5]

There is another method preferred by the Pardys, a very well known and very experienced cruising couple.
They advise that in a crowded anchorage, if there is no secure point shorewards, what they do is to anchor...and then to put a kedge in the dinghy, which is rowed out paying out the line, and when the full scope is reached, the kedge anchor is dropped and then the slack in the line taken up by winching from the boat until acceptably taut. But of course the quality of the bottom has to be ascertained first. Ideal in sand of course.