Mooring!

doug748 said:
Here is our very own Sea Devil on the job:


Of course you need the middle cleat in both places - or a plan B.

.
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To suggest an improvement, have the line outside the guard wire. Lasso then take a turn on the cleat. Saves yer back and the guard wire. Otherwise sound.
 
prv said:
Heh. On the rare occasions I get "helpers" who didn't ask if I needed help, I politely tell them "please don't try to stop the boat". They then usually end up standing around looking a bit non-plussed as they realise there isn't actually anything for them to do ?.

Pete
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I have a pal who has a neatly coiled line under the sprayhood. He passes that to the individual asking to help then gets on with parking the boat. He has a wicked sense of humor. ;););)
 
capnsensible said:
It tells me that the guy has learnt something useful from a helpful person and not a sneerer. ??
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It is not a case of sneering. It is a case of a bloke with a 37 ft Malo ( not the sort of 1st boat one might usually expect) which one would have thought would have needed a degree of experience. Then to find that it did not even warrant any spare lines. It just seems really odd that someone would have got to sailing a boat like that & not accululated such items as a matter of course. Unless it was a - buy a boat as a first timer- hence the inexperience at berthing.
I helped a chap launch his 30 ft boat once. He had several years sailing experience, but was a nervous wreck due to work stress. When on the mooring we needed to adjust some bits on the boom . I asked him for a screw driver. He did not have one. I asked if he had a tool kit. None. Not even a pair of pliers. Had no understanding of why he might need one, having never had any problems on his fairly new boat before. Just seems wierd that people can actually go sailing in such a way.
 
Slowboat35 said:
How does one secure to a finger with no cleats then?
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Usually the outer end is a galvanised steel tube bent into a curve. You pass a line through it and either make a bowline or take both ends back to the boat.

Works adequately once you're in, but a nasty surprise for anyone who was expecting to lassoo a handy cleat on the tip of the finger ?

Pete
 
Slowboat35 said:
How does one secure to a finger with no cleats then?
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At the outer end of the finger is a horizontal loop of plastic covered steel tube to which you secure your stern line and spring. The steel tube is usually of such a large diameter that the jaws of my Grabit boathook and Moorfast line threader don't open wide enough to pass over it.

Duncan Wells illustrates using a grapnel in his book, but I haven't tried that; PVB's method is so simple


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Poignard said:
At the outer end of the finger is a horizontal loop of plastic covered steel tube to which you secure your stern line and spring. The steel tube is usually of such a large diameter that the jaws of my Grabit boathook and Moorfast line threader don't open wide enough to pass over it.
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Totally agree. My Moorfast is a great bit of kit, but the hook does not cope with French pontoon loops. Would be so simple if the hook was enlarged, so I use the folding gapple anchor method.
 
In the Baltic one occasionally comes across fingers that are no more than steel bars with a float at the end, where there is a loop or cleat. It is not expected that you attempt to step on them, though some of my crew have tried. Normally this is not a problem unless there is a wind up your tail, when the bow-person needs to prepare to fend off if help is not at hand.
 
johnalison said:
In the Baltic one occasionally comes across fingers that are no more than steel bars with a float at the end, where there is a loop or cleat. It is not expected that you attempt to step on them, though some of my crew have tried. Normally this is not a problem unless there is a wind up your tail, when the bow-person needs to prepare to fend off if help is not at hand.
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Sweden has these at Nynashamn (inside marina) and they are a pain !!
 
The stemhead fender mentioned earlier is an answer to those; arrive slowly and get your bow where you want it, then lash the helm over and slow ahead to hold the boat against the stupid finger while you do the tightrope act making fast.
 
I've gone in bows-to probably twice in 18 years. Stern-to you have a view of just about everything that's going on, it's much easier. As a kid I drove a forklift around a factory and dump trucks on site, maybe that helped.
 
Concerto said:
Totally agree. My Moorfast is a great bit of kit, but the hook does not cope with French pontoon loops. Would be so simple if the hook was enlarged, so I use the folding gapple anchor method.
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I emailed the makers of the Moorfast several years ago pointing out that the jaw opening was not wide enough for the French pontoon loops. I was referred to a sister company called SeaSwift who make a similar gadget with a 4" jaw opening, but at £260 plus VAT, I had no difficulty deciding it wasn't for me!

Swiftie 100 | Stainless Steel boat mooring hook (seaswiftproducts.com)

I'm interested in you using the folding grapnel method. Do you attach it to a spring from a midship cleat?
 
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Clancy Moped said:
I've gone in bows-to probably twice in 18 years. Stern-to you have a view of just about everything that's going on, it's much easier. As a kid I drove a forklift around a factory and dump trucks on site, maybe that helped.
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I have a long keeler. Any attempt to go backwards certainly gives "a view of just about everything that's going on" but in the sense of "horrified and helpless onlooker".
 
Poignard said:
I emailed the makers of the Moorfast several years ago pointing out that the jaw opening was not wide enough for the French pontoon loops. I was referred to a sister company called SeaSwift who make a similar gadget with a 4" jaw opening, but at £260 plus VAT, I had no difficulty deciding it wasn't for me!

Swiftie 100 | Stainless Steel boat mooring hook (seaswiftproducts.com)

I'm interested in you using the folding grapnel method. Do you attach it to a spring from a midship cleat?
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The Swiftie is not a line reaver like the Moorfast. So the Swiftie is no better than a grapple anchor.

Just used the midship cleat as a turning point with the line taken back to a self tailing genoa winch for adjustment.
 
practice , practice...........
I have a new tub and a new berth, exposed to wind and tide. I had to learn fast.....
Find a safe bouy out in plenty of space and practice coming along side it, forward and reverse.
You will get there........
 
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