Picking up a mooring buoy from the stern

[PEJ]

Everyone seems to pick up mooring buoys from the bow, is there any reason why you shouldn't pick one up from the stern and tie on to the stern? If the crew struggle to get the small buoy hooked from up high on the bow I wonder about picking it up from the bathing platform.

Obviously you don't want to get the ropes in your props but taking the Beaulieu river as an example could you go up wind and/or up stream and cut the engines. Let the wind blow you back towards the buoy and with all the width of the platform to work on it should be easier to hook up.

Never tried it of course but any reason not to try it?

 

[benjenbav]

Everyone seems to pick up mooring buoys from the bow, is there any reason why you shouldn't pick one up from the stern and tie on to the stern? If the crew struggle to get the small buoy hooked from up high on the bow I wonder about picking it up from the bathing platform.

Obviously you don't want to get the ropes in your props but taking the Beaulieu river as an example could you go up wind and/or up stream and cut the engines. Let the wind blow you back towards the buoy and with all the width of the platform to work on it should be easier to hook up.

Never tried it of course but any reason not to try it?

When I am single-handed I often pick up cleats or buoys from the cockpit and with buoys then walk the line round to the bow. However, my cockpit is a safe place from which to work because it has an 1,100mm rail round it. I would worry about a crew member over-reaching themselves and falling in the briny from a bathing platform with no surround to stop them tipping in.

 

[DougH]

Everyone seems to pick up mooring buoys from the bow, is there any reason why you shouldn't pick one up from the stern and tie on to the stern? If the crew struggle to get the small buoy hooked from up high on the bow I wonder about picking it up from the bathing platform.

Obviously you don't want to get the ropes in your props but taking the Beaulieu river as an example could you go up wind and/or up stream and cut the engines. Let the wind blow you back towards the buoy and with all the width of the platform to work on it should be easier to hook up.

Never tried it of course but any reason not to try it?

The bow of our boat is at least 15 feet from the water (never checked actual height) and it is not possible to use a standard boat hook

What we do is attach a rope at the bow cleat and run he rope under the hand rail and take it to the stern of the boat. (Lay it on the side deck).

The rope is kept short of the props so that if the approach to the buoy goes wrong we can let the rope loose at the bitter end.

Then approach the buoy either into the wind or tide (you decide at the time) and position the boat alongside the buoy so the helmsman can keep the buoy in sight at all times.

The crew takes the bitter end at the stern and threads it though the buoy and walks the bitter end to the bow, passes the bitter end under the rail and pulls up the slack and cleats off.

Easy peasy

 

[superheat6k]

Have you tried to lasso the buoy ?

Simply take a decent length older mooring line. Attach both ends to a suitable cleat, then take the large bight out up and over the guardrail. Form a series of short loops and split half into each hand, then simply throw outward from each hand so a large loop forms and falls over the buoy (not floating rope), draw in and secure.

This then allows you time to get a proper line through the normal mooring eye or ring, or find the pickup rope.

Best to use an older rope as it will get dirty from the crud on the base of the buoy.

 

[rwilson]

I'm generally single handed on my little 32 footer, never even considered picking up at the bow, so much easier stern to. Also you have the advantage of being able to see the bouy and being close to the helm as well. Just a question then of walking forward with the warp etc. guess you need to be careful re prop fouling and with a strong tide presenting the stern to the current can be interesting.

 

[EugeneR]

In Croatia, we have been told off for briefly securing to the stern because the extra forces on the mooring apparently causes them to drag. At the time we had strong wind and an impossibly heavy buoy hence securing aft before walking another line forward; however,I can imagine a strong tide into a mobo stern could generate some force for example.

 

[prv]

In Croatia, we have been told off for briefly securing to the stern because the extra forces on the mooring apparently causes them to drag.

Unless you're tying up in a gale, I reckon that's either a groundless fear or the moorings are not fit for purpose. Not that that's much help when someone's shouting at you

Pete

 

[Beamishken]

The bow of our boat is at least 15 feet from the water (never checked actual height) and it is not possible to use a standard boat hook

What we do is attach a rope at the bow cleat and run he rope under the hand rail and take it to the stern of the boat. (Lay it on the side deck).

The rope is kept short of the props so that if the approach to the buoy goes wrong we can let the rope loose at the bitter end.


Then approach the buoy either into the wind or tide (you decide at the time) and position the boat alongside the buoy so the helmsman can keep the buoy in sight at all times.

The crew takes the bitter end at the stern and threads it though the buoy and walks the bitter end to the bow, passes the bitter end under the rail and pulls up the slack and cleats off.

Easy peasy

+1 this is exactly how we do it. our bow isn't as high but still to high to reach & many bouys in our area only have top rings so no pickup bouy to catch

 

[[2068]]

In moderate conditions, picking it up from the stern and walking it forwards is fine.
But in Newtown Creek in the upper end of an F5, single handed, this is really not a good idea, trust me - at about the half way point the boat stuck sideways, and it took everything i had to pull it round.

Next time I would rig a line between the bow and aft cleats first. Then attach the picked up line, and slide it along to the bow. That way, your arms stay in their sockets.

 

[Hurricane]

The bow of our boat is at least 15 feet from the water (never checked actual height) and it is not possible to use a standard boat hook

What we do is attach a rope at the bow cleat and run he rope under the hand rail and take it to the stern of the boat. (Lay it on the side deck).

The rope is kept short of the props so that if the approach to the buoy goes wrong we can let the rope loose at the bitter end.

Then approach the buoy either into the wind or tide (you decide at the time) and position the boat alongside the buoy so the helmsman can keep the buoy in sight at all times.

The crew takes the bitter end at the stern and threads it though the buoy and walks the bitter end to the bow, passes the bitter end under the rail and pulls up the slack and cleats off.

Easy peasy

This is exactly what we did in Fornells the other day with almost disastrous consequences.
As soon as we had attached to the buoy with the long line the wind change direction slightly and forced the bow over.
This meant that we couldn't then pull the buoy along the side of the boat the bow.
Instead, it went under the stern with 50 tons of boat pulling it under.
Quick thinking by the crew meant that we didn't run anything until we had it sorted.
We then managed to attach a second line to the buoy as it popped out from under the bathing platform thus taking the load off the first line which by now was round one of the rudders.
Then we disconnected the first line and using a third line, manipulated the bow onto the buoy properly
After recovering the first line, we were able to establish that there was no damage to either the boat or the buoy but it could have been far worse.

Now, I'm not keen on this approach so have now modified my technique and would urge others to consider it as well.

Yes, do exactly what DougH says but as you pass the buoy from downwind make a definite turn away to ensure that the bow turns down wind.
Be sure that you haven't "kicked the stern into the buoy" when doing this.
Then pick up the buoy off the bathing platform and tie it off with a short line while the bow drifts down to leeward.
You should now have good hold of the buoy with the stern facing into wind.
You now have plenty of time to sort it out
We find that it was really quite easy to then move the buoy around to the bow keeping it to windward so that it doesn't go under the boat.

I know this all sounds a awful fag but we make the operation slicker using a strong quickly attached hook already made onto a short rope for the initial line onto the buoy.

Sorry DougH - we've been doing it the way you say for a while now and for the reason you say (bow is too high to pick the buoy up)
But the other day in Fornells was a fiasco and could have resulted in damage

 

[DAKA]

I also pick up from the stern cockpit but I keep the mooring line loose, not attached to stern or bow..............

boat on the windward side so that the boat blows towards the buoy, lands front of cockpit.
treat it as a steel pontoon in that I dont treat it as a soft target/fender.

Crew loops the mooring line through and I throttle slight astern so that the buoy drifts down the side of the boat, crew walks along side of the boat and makes the looped rope fast at the bow.

All crew have to remember is to loop the line through and hold the ends which allows enough line to walk to the bow, and for me to power away from the buoy, if they thread one end through and try to hold on to 2ft of mooring line it will end in tears as you run the risk of pulling the buoy too close to the boat.

 

[Hurricane]

I also pick up from the stern cockpit but I keep the mooring line loose, not attached to stern or bow..............

boat on the windward side so that the boat blows towards the buoy, lands front of cockpit.
treat it as a steel pontoon in that I dont treat it as a soft target/fender.

Crew loops the mooring line through and I throttle slight astern so that the buoy drifts down the side of the boat, crew walks along side of the boat and makes the looped rope fast at the bow.

All crew have to remember is to loop the line through and hold the ends which allows enough line to walk to the bow, and for me to power away from the buoy, if they thread one end through and try to hold on to 2ft of mooring line it will end in tears as you run the risk of pulling the buoy too close to the boat.

I recon this is very dangerous
You WILL end up with the buoy going under the boat
I used to do this a lot at the sailing club with a light RIB but in a heavy mobo this (IMO) is a recipe for disaster.

 

[PEJ]

Thanks for all the great advice. One further question.

Why do you end up with the rope on the bow? Why could you not just tie it on to one of the stern cleats?

Is it that you should have the flow of water hitting the pointy end and not the flat end? And this is for the sake of not pulling up the mooring?

 

[DAKA]

I recon this is very dangerous
You WILL end up with the buoy going under the boat
I used to do this a lot at the sailing club with a light RIB but in a heavy mobo this (IMO) is a recipe for disaster.

thanks for the warning and I had already noted your earlier comments.

What concerns me with your method is how to stop the crew getting pulled overboard as the boat is blown away from the already stretched buoy (in a blow they are already at their extreme)


I do appreciate your warning ( already achieved buoy disappearing under stern) hence my modified method to bring buoy to front of cockpit, reasonable way from props and once hooked immediately power back so the buoy runs along the side to the bow, if it does disappear under the boat it doesnt matter ( as long as its not the back 1/4).

 

[Hurricane]

thanks for the warning and I had already noted your earlier comments.

What concerns me with your method is how to stop the crew getting pulled overboard as the boat is blown away from the already stretched buoy (in a blow they are already at their extreme)


I do appreciate your warning ( already achieved buoy disappearing under stern) hence my modified method to bring buoy to front of cockpit, reasonable way from props and once hooked immediately power back so the buoy runs along the side to the bow, if it does disappear under the boat it doesnt matter ( as long as its not the back 1/4).

I get the crew to use a large snap hook
I don't know what you would call it - bought it a few years ago at the chandlers in Deacon yard.
It is spliced to one end of a rope and the other end has a soft eye so the crew don't actually have to pull anything.

In the Med, we don't often come across buoys with a ring on the top - there are usually strops fixed to underneath the buoy so you need a boat hook to fish them up.
Even more need for a quick (snap) hook.

Actually, the more efficient places (like Porto Petro) will have a guy in a RIB who hands you the strop.
This is then a no brainer - just approach the buoy at the bow and he helps the crew attach propely.

 

[benjenbav]

Actually, the more efficient places (like Porto Petro) will have a guy in a RIB who hands you the strop.
This is then a no brainer - just approach the buoy at the bow and he helps the crew attach propely.

You really have to rough it in Spain, don't you? My sources tell me that in SoF it's the topless girl from the ice cream boat that does this.

 

[DAKA]

I get the crew to use a large snap hook
I don't know what you would call it

Do you recommend the ' jolly hooker '

http://www.force4.co.uk/1266/Force-4-Jolly-Hooker-Mooring-Hook.html

 

[Hurricane]

Do you recommend the ' jolly hooker '

http://www.force4.co.uk/1266/Force-4-Jolly-Hooker-Mooring-Hook.html

Nop
They are too fiddly - SWMBO likes simple things (like me)
Done a quick search
This is the one we use

http://www.seamarknunn.com/acatalog/got-it-!-mooring-catcher-2615.html#.UchsK51BtR0

Very substantial and can be released using a boat hook

 

[jfm]

I too always pick up buoys from the swim platform becuase the bow is too high. I approach the buoy from its downwind side so I'm fighting the wind with the engines. Often broadside to the wind, rather than stern to the wind. Then when crew has a rope through the eye on the buoy I turn the boat under engines and thrusters to place the bow above the buoy, keeping the boat downwind of the buoy at all times during the manoeuver. The crew then cleats the rope at the bow, and job is done. I'd never plan the task in a way that requires the wind to move the boat because you dont have control of your own destiny when you do that. I prefer always to fight the wind with the engines and thrusters from the downwind side of the buoy then you're in charge and you cannot possibly get the buoy anywhere near your props

I wouldn't hang the stern off the buoy becuase that usually makes the aft cockpit, where we might want to have lunch, a bit too windy

 

[Hurricane]

I wouldn't hang the stern off the buoy becuase that usually makes the aft cockpit, where we might want to have lunch, a bit too windy

Me neither but as a short measure whilst you get things sorted it isn't a problem
In fact, the bow thruster helps to bring the boat round into the wind when transferring the lines to the bow - I thought it would be too much for it but it isn't.
As I say, this technique keeps the boat downwind of the buoy at all times thus keeping it away from the stern gear