Next Controversy over Bouys and Moorings

Old Bumbulum said:
I had a similar event last season but with the opposite reaction. My alternator belt failed motoring up the Orwell so I rolled out the jib and sailed onto a buoy (which had a nice long floating tail) and set to work.
Sure enough there I was , arse in the air down below, covered in black filth when I was hailed by the owner in a not at all friendly voice. He didn't sound too happy but I explained I had a breakdown and was engineless. He just shrugged so I replied, holding up my filthy hands and the broken belt that it would take me ten minutes or so to clean up and get under sail. His body language was pissed-off to put it mildly while his wife was clearly trying to persuade him that the poor chap had a breakdown and was presumably batting for my side, but he just ignored her and bristled. I got going in rather less than ten and as I dropped his mooring he was pointedly coming up astern much closer than was necessary no doubt to indicate his displeasure at being delayed. I got a wave off his wife but he studiously ignored me as I sailed up to the next mooring and snagged that.
Although it was of course his mooring I did think it a bit uncaring to shove someone with a breakdown off it when he could so easily just have come alongside and let me do my repairs unmolested.
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That man was an arse.

They're out there but fortunately not too many of them.
 
Kelpie said:
We occasionally will pick up an unknown/random mooring if stopping for lunch etc, but as others have said we remain aboard and ready to leave at a moment's notice- and would only be doing this in benign conditions.
You simply have no idea what is underneath that buoy. A couple of weeks ago a buoy near me came ashore in a gale. There was no boat on it, but the riser had weakened until the links were about as thin as paperclips. The buoy was still nice shiny orange and had been in use this summer.
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. . . you can always consider taking a backup line ashore, remember that night in Witches Pool, Loch Mariveg, when we were both rafted to a buoy in a moderate hoolie?


- W
 
Sandy said:
You might find it easier if you were looking for a buoy.
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Glad I wasn't the only person to notice this. Amazing how widespread the mistake is. I checked whether American dictionaries actually put the 'o' before the 'u', because it is so commonly misspelt on American forums. It should be the same spelling there. If in doubt, think Breakfast Uses Orange Yolks.

On the same subject, nothing in the spelling of 'lasso' rhymes with loo.
 
webcraft said:
. . . you can always consider taking a backup line ashore, remember that night in Witches Pool, Loch Mariveg, when we were both rafted to a buoy in a moderate hoolie?

- W
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A mooring which we were using with the owner's permission. Thanks for the spag bol, will return the favour some day :)
 
Some years ago I asked on this forum whether putting a QR code on my mooring, which linked to a web page which said that anyone was welcome to use the mooring, but stated the design weight/length, and sometimes dates etc when it would be unavailable. I thought it a good idea - like some others I feel I have obstructed the anchorage so allowing people to use the buoy is just fine by me. However in the end I realised that there is a more obvious clue as to whether I'm using the mooring: if there is no strop then I'm not around, and if there is then it's in frequent use. Rather simple!
 
dancrane said:
Glad I wasn't the only person to notice this. Amazing how widespread the mistake is. I checked whether American dictionaries actually put the 'o' before the 'u', because it is so commonly misspelt on American forums.
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I know that Americans say "boo-ey", probably because the Dutch original is "boei", but do they also talk about "boo-eyancy aids" and "boo-eyant foam"?
 
Over many years cruising all Over Europe and the Med it has amazed me how us brits a nation of sailors seen to be the worst at anchoring and I can see why when reading forum like this, what wrong with using your anchor ? we all have one Lean to use it and you will not only no longer upset other mooring boat owners but be able to sleep well knowing what holding you in place is going to keep you in place .
 
My mooring is in the middle of a bunch of others well off the fairway. It's immediately apparent to anyone approaching that it's for a small boat, so I don't have a problem.

A question: if I were somewhere where there was a risk of someone borrowing it, and I labelled it "24 ft, 3 tons max" would I be laying myself open to duty of care issues should a 24', 3 ton boat be damaged because it broke?
 
Stemar said:
My mooring is in the middle of a bunch of others well off the fairway. It's immediately apparent to anyone approaching that it's for a small boat, so I don't have a problem.

A question: if I were somewhere where there was a risk of someone borrowing it, and I labelled it "24 ft, 3 tons max" would I be laying myself open to duty of care issues should a 24', 3 ton boat be damaged because it broke?
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You might get into trouble if you were waiting on the beach with your mates, ready to pillage the wrecked vessel and murder its crew. :)
 
Really depends what we are all talking about. There are moorings and there are 'Visitor's' moorings.

Most 'Visitor's' moorings in my sailing area are owned by local Hotels and are marked as such, usually with a maximum weight and you would be expected to use the facilities of the hotel as recompense for sitting on their mooring.

All other moorings are private, and are in designated areas for which the owners pay an amount to the Crown Estates, and therefore are not "in a public space".

I really don't expect a strange boat to pick my mooring up. There is a safe anchoring designated area two cables from my mooring. If a boat owner cannot cope with anchoring there are Marina's at Port Bannatyne and Portavadie which are probably more accessible to them.

Donald
 
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