Mooring with the tiller pushed to the side!?

Zagato

Zagato

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Don't you have to learn so much in sailing :confused: If someone brought out a completely comprehensive book they would make a fortune. Last question for a while.

A broker I was with left the moored boat with the tiller strapped to one side to apparently keep the bow off the mooring buoy. Is this good practice, I haven't heard of it before?
 
I can't see it making any difference.

Either way:-

1 : Wind with tide - the buoy is clear of the bow

2 : Wind against tide - the boat will over-run the buoy which will ride alongside the bow.

Lashing the helm to one side probably only influences which side the buoy is in case 2.

Lashing the helm over might actually cause the mooring rope/chain to jump off of the bow roller in a strong current and waves as the bow will be constantly shearing to the side.
 
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Sounds like a lot of extra force being applied to the pintles/gudgeons or bearings for little gain.

I had a pintle pulled off the transom of a small boat and I used to leave it midships and use shock cord to allow a bit of give.
 
Unless you have a sheltered swinging mooring on a river, you can't predict how the conditions may change whilst you're away. It may be that it has proven to work on that mooring, but changes in wind direction and tide will often drive the boat over the buoy. I generally lash the tiller amidships, just to prevent it banging against the stops and possible damage - but then, I'm moored to a pontoon in mid-river.

Rob.
 
I once had a mooring at Burnham on Crouch. The rule was that you alway lashed your tiller to port when leaving the boat. It ensured that all the boats swung the same way when the tide turned.

Was never there to see if it worked.
 
A book that contains everything? Suggest that a copy of the new Glenans Sailing Manual could be picked up on Ebay/Amazon secondhand and would have most of the information you need detailed within.
The copy I've got was the 1979 edition and though 'dated' slightly, in the yacht models illustrated ,it is pretty comprehensive, including some navigation information too.

Wind over tide conditions will alway be a problem, even on fore and aft moorings. There've been some peculiar attitudes of yachts on the Hamble this last week or two with the strong winds opposing outgoing and incoming Spring tides pressing the yachts across the stream and over to the fairway, partly because of too long warps. On a Twister particularly, that looked very fragile and almost turned her around on the mooring; being a long keeler cannot have helped either.

ianat182
 
its still the rule on the Crouch that you lash your tiller to port. mine came unlashed once and yes, I could see from the shore that the boat did swing differently to the others.
 
I think this tiller to one side theory would only work with boats of a similar keel / rudder / displacement format, a ferro long keeler won't behave the same as my boat no matter where their tillers & rudders are.

I keep my tiller lashed amidships - with a bit of give as Lakesailor suggests, she could get rammed by another boat, blown by a crosswind while settling on the mud etc - keeping the rudder central gives least resistance to the tide, and having it to one side may well make her sheer about in strong wind & tide.
 
Conversely I sometimes lash my tiller hard over,almost at 90° to the keel. This doesn`t steer her but allows the tide to pull the stem off the buoy in wind against tide. No pintles to break though. An inprovised sea anchor does it as well,cheers Jerry
 
Janat182,

I have the same experience where I have one of several fore and aft moorings.
Some owners just don't like to moor with tight lines meaning at low water (with the added slack risers) they swing all over the place blocking the fairway.

Strangely it seems to be the same owners that, when alongside a pontoon, moor up with bar-tight breast lines causing the fenders to squeek madly at the slightest wash.

(apologies for the thread drift)
 
Just throw into the mix that I noticed a few boats with bowsprits which had their anchor line offset to one side were continually swaying from one side to the other as the tide pushed the exposed side one way until the tension on the anchor chain pulled the boat right across the other way until the current pushed it back over again - can't be good! It wasn't happening to all so it must have been worsened by a particular keel type.
 
I've always assumed it was standard practice. It certainly is at Burnham and always used to be at Fambridge, in fact there was a notice at the top of the slipway telling you to do this.
It is to try and ensure all boats lie or turn in a similar manner.
 
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