Mooring pennants/ pendants

Ok, thanks. So few people appear to have mentioned this to Canadians. Hm.
So, the pennant just floats on the water does it? The mooring is set up as a running chain fed through the buoy, so I asssme I'd attach the pennant to the shackle sticking out of the top?
And once done, how does one attach the mooring lines: won't they chafe on the pennant?
 
armchairsailor said:
Anyone know a good resource to find out about them? I find the recommended 5m is too little to loop through the eye of the buoy and then feed back to the foredeck cleat. Thanks
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I make them for the mooring holders on our section of the river & use 25mm multiplat for boats up to 30 ft & 19mm for the small dayboats such as Squibs. I place a nylon thimble spliced on the buoy end fitted to the buoy with a 16 *13 galv shackle moused with a cable tie. the length of the rope overall varies ( depending on boat) from 1.500 metres to 2.400 metres & has an eye spliced on the end sized to suit the cleat on the particular boat. I fit a length of braided hose approx 500mm long for chafe resistance over the bow. This has a short length of thin line fitted so the owner can fit it in the correct location so it will not ride up over time.
To the eye I supply a 500 mm length of 10mm line spliced in which the owner can use to secure the loop to the eye to stop it jumping off the cleat in rough weather. I find that fitting it to the eye ready reminds the owner to do this & he does not have to look for a piece as he ties up.

Most owners have an additional 25mm polypropylene line, or similar, with a pick up buoy attached which may be slightly longer as a backup penant. This floats & is easy to catch when picking up the mooring. being longer it is easy to hook on first. They can then pull the buoy up tight on the main penant once they have sails etc sorted.

Some have a backup of chain left hanging loose in case the rope fails. Chain tends to jerk & damage rollers so is left as a spare. Some do it the other way round using the chain as the main penant.
The spare is always left a little slack so it can be seen drooping down from the shore. This way one can see that the main line is Ok & the backup is in place.

Never ever pass the line through the buoy eye & back to the boat as it will chafe through in a couple of days. We have seen several boats lost this way in the last few years when owners have failed to heed this advice.
 
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So it looks like I need to put a permanent pennant onto the shackle on top of the buoy, and then attach to that. Correct?

And if you attach via a mooring line (for the sale of argument) to the looped/ loose end of the pennant, rather than cleating the pennant directly onto the deck, how does one stop rubbing? Is it because it would be a cow loop onto the pennant?

Obviously I'd need a backup too, so a chain shacked under the buoy would probably be most secure. Does one need a swivel on that, or can you get away without?

FWIW, the bay is pretty sheltered for now, and I'll move her come the autumn storms, as it's open to southeasterlies.

Thanks for bearing with me. There's a lot of rust to knock off.
 
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armchairsailor said:
And if you attach via a mooring line (for the sale of argument) to the looped/ loose end of the pennant, rather than cleating the pennant directly onto the deck, how does one stop rubbing? Is it because it would be a cow loop onto the pennant?
f.
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The penant goes straight from the buoy to the cleat or samson post on the boat. You do not use additional ropes attached to the penant. There is no point. Any point where the penant crosses the edge of the deck or goes over the bow roller should be protected either with a sewn leather covering or a ( simpler) braided plastic tube slid over the line at the point of contact
 
armchairsailor said:
Obviously I'd need a backup too, so a chain shacked under the buoy would probably be most secure. Does one need a swivel on that, or can you get away without?
.
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Ideally both main line & back up chain or line need to come from the same point. (However, they should be fitted with separate shackles as one shackle may come undone & then both lines would be useless.)
If you take a line from the top of the buoy & a chain from under the buoy they will become twisted as the boat rotates around the buoy when the tide changes direction. This will happen even if there is a swivel just below the buoy as swivels do not work well in water & regularly get silted & corrode & tend to stick under load. Swivels also tend to be a weak point in the setup if not over designed & decent quality. We tend to use buoys with an eye where that can rotate & a swivel is not needed.
 
I think the essence of his mooring will be 2 pennants each with a loop spliced into the top to go over cleat or sampson post and the other end spliced onto a thimble. This can be steel stainless steel or plastic. Obviously plastic won't last so long. The thimble distributes the pressure of the rope onto a hard material reducing chafing. Use one or 2 shackles at the chain but do make sure the pins are moused. ie tied with lock wire or a similar method to ensure the pin can not unscrew. Just tightening is not enough as jerking can unscrew them. ol'will
 
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