Moronic question about mooring

[snooks]

I usually take the loop of chain over the bow roller and onto a cleat, then take a line (or the pick up buoy line) and center the chain by taking the rope to the cleat on the other side.

It stops the chain grinding on the inboard end of the bow roller and spreads the load, and is a back up just in case the shackle on the chain loop fails

 

[AndrewB]

I was once given this rule of thumb: is the cleat strong enough to lift the whole weight of the yacht?

Unrealistic. Just might be true of a tug, but nothing else.

No, it's not unrealistic. Every yacht I've owned has had at least one cleat or sampson post capable of this. On my present yacht, all 6 cleats are strong enough. This was accidentally demonstrated when I foolishly tied to a harbour wall forgetting the tide had a long way to drop - OK that was half the weight of the boat, since it was held on 2 cleats.

Once I owned a very exposed mooring off Whitstable, where these things mattered. Breaking waves set up by a fresh north-east wind were sufficient to snap a length of quarter-inch polyprop snubbing line used at the top of the chain - implying a snatch load on the cleat of up to a ton, this with a yacht having a deadweight of 3 tons.

Talking of tugs, its reassuring to have one strong cleat if you ever need to accept a tow in rough conditions. Off Falmouth I took a yacht in tow in light winds but quite heavy seas. Lacking a decent cleat the guy tied the tow-line to his anchor winch - which at 5kts just ripped out of his deck!

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Those cleats must be pretty beefily held on if they mirror the samson post.

Thats a bit of an assumption! On a modern grp boat they arent usually beefy and it has been known for cleats to be pulled out of the deck. But not very often at all which suggests that in real life the loads arent that great - the chain riser / anchor catenary takes most of the load snatches and the base load is no more than the load on the boat when sailing .

When leaving my boat on a swinger last year, I put a loose loop of riser chain over the cleat but with slck of about one foot. Then I ran a 14 mm nylon line from a shackle on the chain back to a sheet winch and this acted very effectively as a spring. I shall do that again if I have to leave a boat for a few weeks on a swinger in open water.

 

[Elessar]

Totally disagree. It floats so is easy to pick up and doesn't get round the prop. I have been using the same bridle for 6 years and it is showing virtually no signs of degradation even though I long since stopped bothering with anti-chafe protection. I'm not talking about the hairy grey stuff but the green rope you buy from chandlers in a fishing port. Mine is in 18mm and the 11m my bridle takes costs under £10.

It is not advisable to use polypropylene for mooring. It is not UV resistant.
It's true the green is slightly better than blue, but not as good as black and even that isn't good enough for ropes left in the sun.

To say yours is OK so it must be OK is like saying it's OK to smoke because I'm not dead, it must be safe.

The mooring rope is not the thing to be a cheapskate on. I suppose there is some merit in it but only if you regularly discard and replace it. The UV damage is invisible so it won't show any signs of degradation.

The simplest thing is to use rope better suited for the purpose - nylon.

BTW I like the way you make the bridle even if it is the wrong rope

 

[VicS]

Vic, doesn't that bollard risk chafe on warps?
I have always fitted Vetus bollards (very good value) like this on Feckless.

Fitted longitudinally as the foredeck was small and I didn't want to trip on it,. As the strops come in sort of sideways from the fairleads it makes little difference where the "ears" are loctaed)

I consider that it is primarily for chain. . The loop in the mooring chain drops over it. I always lash the chain to the bow roller as well.

The anchor chain drops into the vertical slot, a couple of turns round the bollard makes it all secure ... and will never jam like a chain on a mooring cleat can.

The rear corners are rounded so that prevents chafe of a rope ( with a loop) coming over the bow roller... chafe by the roller cheeks would be a major problem though.
( I reckon I see as many boats with them fitted back to front as I see with them fitted correctly though).

I fitted the deck cleats and fairleads for warps when mooring alongside..

The bollard was made, like all the other stainless fittings and the luff reefing gear, by Cooney who now make fittings for Superyachts.

 

[fishermantwo]

Totally disagree. It floats so is easy to pick up and doesn't get round the prop. I have been using the same bridle for 6 years and it is showing virtually no signs of degradation even though I long since stopped bothering with anti-chafe protection. I'm not talking about the hairy grey stuff but the green rope you buy from chandlers in a fishing port. Mine is in 18mm and the 11m my bridle takes costs under £10.

I agree although my seagreen polyprop is about 40mm diameter. Holds up well in the Australian sun and have used the same riser for about 3 years. Probably replace in a couple of years. My mooring is just a short chain to a swivel, then 40mm riser to the deck cleat. This is the standard setup from the local mooring contractor.