Picking up a mooring buoy

Quest

Quest

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Having had Endeavour (Prestige 34, twin engine, stern drives) for just over a year now, I have yet to pick up a mooring buoy for an overnight stay, always having used a pontoon. But I want to be able to master this for options such as Fowey and Dartmouth where this is more the norm.

Previous boat was much smaller and easier, technique will be more important now!

Been thinking about the technique for doing so and can see 3 options:
1. Approach bow first against tide with crew hanging over bow with boat hook. With height of bow etc, feels like this one is a non-starter!
2. Approach with buoy sliding down port or starboard side and pick up off a stern quarter.
3. Approach in reverse and pick up off bathing platform.

Which is the best option or are there other techniques I've not considered?

Would appreciate benefitting from your experience guys, thanks,

Andrew
 
Must be over the bow if there is much of a tide so that the boat cuts through the water when the force of being attached to the mooring takes effect. I would suggest a longer boat hook when there is a handbouy or one of those fancy gizmos that thread your own line through the ring in the mooring bouy.
 
Another vote for the gizmo that you attach to your own line and snap through the ring on the buoy. Saves hours of snarling and swearing!
 
First there are two main types of mooring buoys. The first are large heavy solid floating type with a steel ring on top, and the second are lighter spherical air filled buoys often paired with a small pick up buoy connected with a short length of nylon line. The latter can be picked up from the bow by lassoing with a rope, pulling aboard temporarily and then securing a mooring line through its mooring ring or shackle, or the nylon line can be picked up with a boat hook.

Trying the former solid buoy from the bow has proven impractical, even using the unreliable fiddley pick up poles, and boat hooks are useless. What we do is reverse the bathing platfirm up to the bow and simply grab it at low level, thread a mooring line through its ring and then walk the line to the bow and make fast to a pair of cleats either side of the anchor roller. This creates a bridle effect which reduces the amount of swinging and dampens the load due to distribution of load to two cleats. If there is a strong tidal flow and/or wind effect we ferry glide into position ahead of the bouy and glide back to it, holding station with throttles and rudders (ie at angle where bow is pointed towards the combined tide and windage vectors depending on whichever is having the greater effect at the time).

I highly recommend a night on a mooring buoy. In sheltered anchorages it can be a lovely experience away from noisy pontoons and away from blasted street lighting. Another benefit is the process of mooring and unmooring is faster than usng ones own anchor and one doesn't have to worry about dragging unless there is a howling gale blowing.

For the solid buoys forget leaning over the sides with boat hooks and daft morning pole gymics, they just don't work reliably.
 
I suggest the following techniques:

In negligible wind/tide conditions approach the target slowly in ahead and almost run it down, putting the boat into neutral before you touch and just allowing the momentum of the boat to push it against the target as it rolls gently down the side and you pick it up whilst flicking an imaginery speck of dust from your immaculate cuffs.

In non-negligible wind/tide conditions work out which way the boat is going to drift as the way falls off and apply the technique above with this important adaptation.

The neutral bit is probably the most important to avoid wrapping the line twixt the buoy and the pick-up buoy round your props and this would also be the main reason why I would not advocate approaching in astern. Although you can secure yourself quite firmly to the buoy by ignoring this suggestion it is often unpleasant to have a red-faced harbourmaster telling you the facts of life whilst you wait for the diver to come and disentangle you. Plus, because you are attached by the stern everyone else in the vicinity knows you have fouled up and has pulled up a deck chair to watch the fun and games.
 
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benjenbav said:
I suggest the following techniques:

In negligible wind/tide conditions approach the target slowly in ahead and almost run it down, putting the boat into neutral before you touch and just allowing the momentum of the boat to push it against the target as it rolls gently down the side and you pick it up whilst flicking an imaginery speck of dust from your immaculate cuffs.

In non-negligible wind/tide conditions work out which way the boat is going to drift as the way falls off and apply the technique above with this important adaptation.

The neutral bit is probably the most important to avoid wrapping the line twixt the buoy and the pick-up buoy round your props and this would also be the main reason why I would not advocate approaching in astern. Although you can secure yourself quite firmly to the buoy by ignoring this suggestion it is often unpleasant to have a red-faced harbourmaster telling you the facts of life whilst you wait for the diver to come and disentangle you. Plus, because you are attached by the stern everyone else in the vicinity knows you have fouled up and has pulled up a deck chair to watch the fun and games.
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BTW this is all in relation to the type with a line to a pick up buoy. Not the solid things for which oceanfroggie has described an immaculate modus operandi.
 
If there is no pick up buoy and all you have is a small loop to attach to, what about lassooing the buoy first around its underneath with a length of warp just to hold yourself there - its easy and works fine. Then thread up properly in a relaxed timescale and in the correct fashion, subsequently releasing the lassooed line and removing it. Useful back up if its a bit blowy or its a spring tide or similar and margin for error is very slim or holding station is going to be difficult. I know it is frowned upon by some, but does anyone use this method?
 
Always approach the leeward side as approaching from windward WILL lead to the boat drifting over the mooring and likely getting tangled. Either bring your stem right to the buoy or at the last moment swing your helm round so as the buoy is taken on either bow. This gives more room to work the buoy. Basically the same as taking a man overboard. My personal preference is using a grappel as boat hooks can be very awkward. Admittedly grapples do take a bit of practice.
 
Yes. The option not considered is to get the HM to attach your line. I find this by far the simplest.Salcombe are very good at this.
The ones with a ring on the top are quite easy with a suitable pick up hook. If the bouy is a bit boyount this can be somewhat harder. In fairness to crew, the pick up bouy type can have some damn heavy chain, that gets seriously heavy if the boat moves in strong tides. Watch fingers.
In still water, it is all realtively easy. In strong currents, we always find it hard.
 
If my mooring is vacant, you are welcome to use it, but NOT by lassooing it. There is a danger that the lassoo can damage the mousing of the shackles directly under the buoy. INHO the RYA is wrong to advocate this method.
 
Quest said:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3zhPsTtLy4c&desktop_uri=/watch?v=3zhPsTtLy4c

Are these as good as they look to use? I sense a mix of experience from positive support to a little scepticism from some on here about how effective they are in practice...
Click to expand...

Unfortunately no. It all looks great and easy in a staged video. In reality there is no need for them to catch a cleat, it's actually easier to lasso a shore cleat from on board then use the cumbersome pole which I found was always getting in the way and more of a nuisance than a help banging off the superstructure and nearly always falling over the side when you put it down. The only advantage is threading the ring on top of a rigid mooring buoy, and even then they don't work as easy as the video. For one the orientation of the ring on the buoy may not line up. For mobos I found the bathing platform by far the easiest way of threading a line around a mooring buoy, and it works when single handed.
 
Ripster said:
If there is no pick up buoy and all you have is a small loop to attach to, what about lassooing the buoy first around its underneath with a length of warp just to hold yourself there - its easy and works fine. Then thread up properly in a relaxed timescale and in the correct fashion, subsequently releasing the lassooed line and removing it. Useful back up if its a bit blowy or its a spring tide or similar and margin for error is very slim or holding station is going to be difficult. I know it is frowned upon by some, but does anyone use this method?
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always, and it's the way I teach people to do it too.

Come up into the wind/tide and let the crew lasso from the bow.

Can be done from the stern if you're single handed. Come down onto the bouy from upwind like you're picking up a MOB, and lasoo it from the safety of the cockpit. Run a long line from the buoy to the bow, release the lasso and pull the bow line is as the boat floats past the buoy.

Some get so excercised about this, I will do damage or whatever. I've not been conviced that this is anything other than nonsense.

The safest and easist way to pick up a buoy bar none in my experience.
 
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Elessar said:
always, and it's the way I teach people to do it too.

Come up into the wind/tide and let the crew lasso from the bow.

Can be done from the stern if you're single handed. Come down onto the bouy from upwind like you're picking up a MOB, and lasoo it from the safety of the cockpit. Run a long line from the buoy to the bow, release the lasso and pull the bow line is as the boat floats past the buoy.

Some get so excercised about this, I will do damage or whatever. I've not been conviced that this is anything other than nonsense.

The safest and easist way to pick up a buoy bar none in my experience.
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Do you own a mooring?

As I say, don't even think about doing it on mine.
 
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