Mooring Warp lengths

[oGaryo]

sorry for the basic question, thought I'd ask before cutting up 60m length of 12mm 3 strand soft black rope in to dock/mooring lines.. boat is 8m thereabouts so was thinking something along the lines of:

2 x 7m ish for bow lines so they fall slighly short of bow cleat to sterndrive length. both with spliced loops

2 x 10m for the stern lines. both with spliced loops

then chop the rest in two without loops giving about 12m each, to use as springs or when rafting up as bow/stern lines to the pontoon.

again, apols for the daft question but a tad bored waiting for #1 son to finish work at 11pm so I can put the taxi light on top of the car before picking him up was either post this or pick me nose for the next 30mins

 

[burgundyben]

I've always reckoned on warps being 1.5 times the length of the boat.

Make 5 of those.

 

[Nick_H]

Do you have mid cleats? If so, I like to reverse into berth with a warp already attached to mid cleat, then crew step off bathing platform and loop this around forward pontoon cleat, then back to bow cleat of boat. 7m may be a bit tight for that. Why do you need two of each length, you only moor on one side. You also want one longer length, maybe 20m-ish for deep rafting or towing, but that can be cheapo nylon in whatever colour's on special offer, as you'll rarely use it. However, as you have the rope already, I'd go for 2 x 10m for normal use, plus 1x 15m and 1x 25m for as and when needed.

You could always split the 15m into 2x7m later if you find you don't need the extra length

 

[sarabande]

2 x 1.5 times the OA length for springs. (one fore head spring, one aft back spring)

2 x 3m for head and stern breast ropes.

BTW, to be picky; springs run from the end of the boat diagonally past the boat to beyond the opposite end and prevent surging to and fro; head/bow breast ropes are at right angles, and prevent movement away and towards the pontoon.

All with a soft eye in one end (it will take you about 5 mins to make one , so finish them before you go taxi-driving ) and a whipped end at the other.



Those are for cruising and visiting other marinas, but depending on where the cleats are on your 'home' berth, a set of permanent springs shackled on to the cleat, ready to pick up and make fast on board may appeal. Saves so much time and storage.

 

[andy59]

a set of permanent springs shackled on to the cleat, ready to pick up and make fast on board may appeal. Saves so much time and storage.

and i have three of those in a bag ready for Gary next time he`s down

 

[oGaryo]

cheers Gary... taxi light's off for the night, just returned home.

Andy, will PM you next time I'm down to refit the sterndrive... thanks again for offering them to me

Will hang fire cutting the rope in to lengths until I decide what else to do with it once the boat's back in the water

 

[hlb]

Depends, where your likely to moor. We normally found that one lightweight
12 MM rope for the bows, (doubled back) would be fine. But the stern line was 20MM thick and about 12 M long, so it would act as stern and spring lines.

The idea being. You felt like you needed a cart horse, to drag the big rope to the bows. But the stern line, you did not need to carry. Just moor the stern up and drag the rest along for the springs.

Course, if necesary, we had bigger and longer ropes as well.

It's best to have ropes of different colours, so you can tell some one to get "say" the red one on the bow and the white one on the stern. Much easier than folk guessing how long a rope is.

 

[oGaryo]

But the stern line was 20MM thick and about 12 M long, so it would act as stern and spring lines.

.

thanks... that's pretty much what I'm doing now... short bow lines and long stern line routed from the stern cleat to pontoon over to the mid cleat and terminated at the same point on the pontoon as the bow line

 

[oGaryo]

I've always reckoned on warps being 1.5 times the length of the boat.

Make 5 of those.

I used to do that but these days I always cut the rope length slightly shorter than the distance from the bow cleat to the sterdrive to prevent the possibility of having a bow rope fall in the water whilst underway and it becoming wrapped around the prop

 

[oGaryo]

Why do you need two of each length, you only moor on one side.

thanks for the other details Nick, will consider them Regarding the above, I'd like to have 2 x bow lines, one on the starboard cleat and tuther on the port as my #2 son who's increasingly becoming a competent crew member is adamant it's his job to be on the bow when we come in to berth to put fenders out and swap lines depending on which berth we're allocated.. I don't like him that far forward on the bow if I'm honest, he's 12 and knows no fear but I feel it's an accident waiting to happen... he's told to sit on his bum when swapping the line over but still has me concerned. having a line either side means there's no need for him to be out there and he just needs to deploy the relevant fender and make ready with his boat hook.

cheers Gary

 

[PaulGooch]

Have a pair of short lines for the stern. Long enough to go from a stern cleat to the pontoon and back. When on our home berth a pontoon cleat is adjacent to the stern cleat, so the line in at right angles to the boat. The stern lines are just long enough for this, with a little to spare in case were are visiting and can't quite get square to the pontoon cleat. Very rare we can't get more or less square, on the odd occasion we can't, we use one of the longer lines. We have two so that when approaching a mooring we have lines attached to both stern cleats. Don't always know which side we need them when visiting and i think it's good practice to have both ready and both sides fendered, in case things go pear shaped. This can then be "slipped" from onboard when departing the pontoon.

A pair of bow lines a bit longer, just short of the prop would work OK. I always tie these so they can be slipped from oboard when departing. If the bow cleat is roughly adjacent a pontoon cleat, i usually swap this for the spare stern line, keeps the lines tidy.

Cut the remainder in half.

I don't like running the spring from the bow cleat aft, as the line is against the hull too much. Same with running the stern line forward. We have midships cleats, so i run two spring lines from the midships cleat, fore and aft. These are tied to the pontoon cleats, which only have the spliced eyes from the bow and stern lines over them.

When we leave, we take the springs off, get onboard and slip the bow and stern lines.

Regarding your son being at the bow, i also don't like anyone at the bow. As we have midships cleats, we generally don't bother too much with the bow line initially. We use a stern line and one from the midships cleat to get alongside, then sort out the rest at our leisure. If you don't have midships cleats, i'd have him run a line from the stern back to the cockpit (remembering to keep the line outside of the rails ) As you come alongside, someone gets the stern line and he can step out of the cockpit and leg it along the pontoon with his bow line.

Not wishing to give any egg sucking lessons, but it's handy to know that once the stern line is attached, if things get a little pear shaped or the wind starts to blow the bow off the pontoon, you can just engage forward gear and the boat will stick to the pontoon, no matter what.

 

[oGaryo]

Not wishing to give any egg sucking lessons, but it's handy to know that once the stern line is attached, if things get a little pear shaped or the wind starts to blow the bow off the pontoon, you can just engage forward gear and the boat will stick to the pontoon, no matter what.

thanks for all the useful info Paul, appreciated.. re the above, I've now got whomever on the swim platform to ensure the stern line is long enough to do as you say... there was a time when the crew member was keen to get a tight line on the stern but as you know, that doesn't allow the bow to be brought in as it pivots acutely against the stern most fender... berthing stern to, now that's another story, having fun at present with it being a single engined sterdrive boat with no bow thruster.. getting better though

 

[PaulGooch]

thanks for all the useful info Paul, appreciated.. re the above, I've now got whomever on the swim platform to ensure the stern line is long enough to do as you say... there was a time when the crew member was keen to get a tight line on the stern but as you know, that doesn't allow the bow to be brought in as it pivots acutely against the stern most fender... berthing stern to, now that's another story, having fun at present with it being a single engined sterdrive boat with no bow thruster.. getting better though

We berth stern to Gary, single engine with a prop. We found a good trick is to have SWMB on the swim platform with a long line. Reverse up the finger as best we can without getting to worried about the angle. Soon as the boat is close enough she steps off with the line, taking it to the farthest pontoon cleat, she has the line around the cleat once, taking the slack as she can. I reverse back as far as i can before it starts to get a bit out of shape (which it usually does with the prop walk and windage), at which point i engage forward and she holds the line tight. The line pulls the boat square to the pontoon and i drop it back into reverse. If it's windy, it might take 3 or 4 "shunts" to get there, but it works well.

Easier now we've moved the boat to a fast flowing tidal river. Very easy to ferry glide into the mooring. Either backwards, or if the tide is going the wrong way, come in forwards, loosely tie a stern line, then let the tide swing the bow around, whilst changing the stern line to the other side.