Picking up moorings single-handed?

[Aeolus]

I practised lassooing mooring bouys on my CC and DS courses but nowadays I mostly sail single-handed and haven't picked up a mooring by myself yet.

What techniques have worked for the single-handed sailors amongst you?

 

[alan17]

If your freeboard is not very much attach a long line to your bow mooring warp. Come alongside the bouy and thread the line through the eye by hand. This can easily be done from the cockpit.
If large freeboard use similar system but use one of the devices attached to a pole that threads the line through the eye.
In both cases ensure that all of the line runs outside of all fittings.

 

[Athene V30]

If any wind / chance of bow blowing off - Long line from bow, outboard everything to your favoured side of cockpit (depends on propwash / wind etc). Stop with bouy abeam cockpit, thread rope through and walk at leisurely pace to bow to secure rope as boat drifts away from buoy. As a singlehander I know this works in F5. Not tried in stronger winds!

If calm. Put bow on buoy and do it there!

I've not tried any of htese fancy snap on gadgets - too mean to spend the money!

 

[Athene V30]

Snap - just I take longer typing!

 

[Guest]

Put a long thin rope from the bow cleat, and led back (on the outside of everything) to the cockpit. Treat the buoy like a berth (consider tide & wind just like a berth) and aim to come along side with the cockpit.

Lean down and pass rope end through the buoy ring and cleat with some slack at the stern.

Straighten your back take a few seconds to assess the situation, check the engine is in neutral. The boat will be falling away nicely. Then leisurely walk to the bow running the rope through your fingers and cleat off on the bow. Now get out your heavy mooring rope and spend all the time you like trying to thread the needle from the height of your bows.

If the buoy has pickup lines with loops just put the thin rope through the loops.

Only thing to consider is to make sure you get to the bows (with the rope in your hand) before the boat starts to turn sideways to the current or wind and not to drop the rope in the water and foul your own prop!

 

[Birdseye]

I use one of those snap on gadgets for threading a rope through a hard eye. Works very well, but not every mooring has a hard eye. So the best thing you can use is the brain - go slowly past the mooring and think through how you are going to tackle that particular one.

One tip - most boats are steered from the stern and most bows blow off downwind. Dont fight it. Moor stern to the buoy - you can always change once tied on. Its good sport to watch single handers leap out of the cockpit, run forward to pick up the buoy, bows blow off, miss buoy, run back to the cockpit and then repeat the cycle

Similarly, when approaching a pontoon, have a looped rope ready with the loop about your stern leading forward through a center line fairlead and back to a winch. As you approach, drop the loop over the pontoon cleat that is going to be by your stern and turn the wheel hard away from the pontoon leaving the engine in tickover forward gear. The boat will settle alongside the pontoon whilst you tie up.

.

 

[Ecosse120]

Other option, again low freeboard is rope up to bow through a pulley, back to cockpit, put a snap clip on one end, when buoy is in line with you in cockpit attach to the buoy, turn off engine and then pull it up to the bow. Worked for my grandfather for I don't know how many years. I have the same system on my boat but haven't single handed yet so haven't needed to try it yet.

p.s. don't try it if you are going to fast !!

 

[Guest]

My excuse is I got distracted in mid reply. Sorry.

 

[Lakesailor]

Use a pick-up buoy with lines to your mooring strops. Then just sail up to the mooring let go your sheets and scamper up to the bow. Hook the pick-up with your boat hook and pull up.
Drop a strop over the bollard or cleat to stop the boat then tidy up the lines once it's all under control. Never try to stop the boat by heaving on the strops.

If it's a difficult approach or there are nearby boats you would clobber if it goes wrong use the motor and stop the boat at the mooring with a touch of astern. If it's a bit blowy and is carrying your bow away, pick up over the cockpit side and drop a strop over a sheet winch (you need soft eyes in your strops, there isn't any point not having them as these strops stay on you mooring). If it's really rough and blowy approach the mooring stern-to under power towards whichever way has the strongest force (wind or current). Pick up the buoy over the stern and hook on a stern cleat.

Always works for me. Only missed it at the 1st attempt once in four years.

(yeah, I know, Windmere isn't difficult. Yeah. Yeah)

 

[doug748]

I guess the Seamaster is a pretty steady platform, most of the time simply walk forward and pick the thing up. If it is your own mooring have a decent length of light line to the main strop. Avoid those pick up buoys with the neat little loop on top, they are almost impossible to grapple by the loop and float stubbonly upright leaving the line out of reach underneath. In dodgy conditions the other methods outlined are ok, but I am a bit lazy. Given reasonable shelter and steady current, very rarely will you have to have more than two goes.

 

[Sy-Revolution]

How about if you've got a high freeboard?

 

[Lakesailor]

How long is your boat hook?

 

[Slow_boat]

I have a fairly heavy old 26 footer that I can't steer going astern and sail singlehanded a fair bit. On my own mooring I make sure the main strop is laid inside the dinghy it I have left it on the mooring. Then it's simply a case of going alongside the dinghy, fishing the strop out with a boathook and wandering forard with it.

If I'm towing the dinghy I have a carbine hook tied to a mooring line led from the bow outside everything. Come alongside bouy, clip on to mooring ring, take up slack and get strop on at my leisure.

For coming alongside a pontoon I use a breast line from sheet winch to pontoon, steer into the pontoon on tickover and get lines on at my leisure. In theory, at least.

When I was a JSSC instructor in my twenties everyone in the Solent and Channel area knew our boats so everything had to be perfect. Now I'm more laid back and happy to just get a line ashore without to much yelling and without hitting anyone else!

As in all shorthanded sailing, preparation in plenty of time is the key. That's not to say I don't cock up on occassions, just that it's a well prepared cock up!.

 

[Neddie_Seagoon]

Motor up to bouy, grazing it down lee side of boat if ground/other moorings permits, hard astern on the motor to stop the boat, and thread line through loop or grab pickup bouy from cockpit as described by others. Then walk up to bow and secure. Then get strop on ASAP, I've been lazy in the past, moored on line while calm, then found myself trying to attach strop later when wind has got up and bow is bucking up & down like a rodeo ride.

Haven't tried technique with one end of line already round the bow cleat, but sounds a good idea.

If you fail to slow the boat adequately then tie off line on stern cleat and let the mooring take the strain until all way is lost. Stopping a 3-tonne boat by hand is a pain.

If you really fail to slow boat in time go round and do it again.

If picking up in a strong tidal flow motor into the flow.

Do not use a boathook unless you really have to. If you do, only use floating boathooks, and make sure you have two /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Aeolus]

Many thanks to all the respondents - it's great how much experience and knowledge is available through this forum.

I have highish freeboard so leaning over from the cockpit is likely to be difficult, unless the mooring buoy is fairly tall. Excellent point about two floating boat hooks - must get another one. And it won't be my own mooring - it will be visitors moorings in various places along the south coast.

Does anyone know why all/most moorings aren't equipped with danbuoy type pickup floats that could be easily lifted out of the water without a need for boat hooks etc.? It would seem much simpler but maybe there's a reason why not.

 

[Sy-Revolution]

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone know why all/most moorings aren't equipped with danbuoy type pickup floats that could be easily lifted out of the water without a need for boat hooks etc.? It would seem much simpler but maybe there's a reason why not.

[/ QUOTE ]



Maybe folks don't want to advertise their buoys as nice, easy ones to pick up!
I mentioned to a friend recently that I was considering buying a nice new orange buoy with a handy loop on top (mines a grubby little thing all covered in weed) and was told not to because if I did I'd be forever finding someone on MY buoy when ever I returned to it.

There's a touch of Ebeneezer to the philosophy but there's something in it I suspect.

 

[Marmalade]

Personally favour the "pick up from cockpit and walk forward approach" I know a couple of guys however, who have constructed dan-buoy like arrangements so they can just grab the pick up at normal shoulder height. Seems to work well enough

 

[William_H]

Basically if you are pucking up a foreign mooring then you will need to pick it up from your position near the steering position. It will be too slow/dangerous to run up to the bow.

Especially if you are sailing onto the mooring you will need to keep the bow to the wind at all times. Unless you have already got the mainsail down and the jib is easily pulled down or rolled up.

I always sail onto my permanent mooring and prefer to keep jib and main up if conditions are dicy to enable a well controlled departure for going around for another go.

To keep the bow to the wind (or tide) you will need a rope attached to the bow mooring cleat but run around the outside of the rigging to your position. You need to attach this to the mooring then steer or hold the boat head to wind to allow the boat to fall back onto the rope and mooring. You can then just shorten the mooring line and make final attachment to the bow cleat.

How do you get a rope attached to the mooring in a hurry and off the side of your boat? A large snap shackle or hook may do it. Some have a pole with a snap shackle on the end going to a rope, you allow the pole to become part of the line. Or some systems have a pole disconnect. Or you could pass the rope through the eye or ring and bring back on board. If you have enough slack and are quick enough you could make a bowlinbe back onto it self as far away from the buoy as possible. This so that when you pull it on board at the bow you can reach the bow line to release it.

So good luck and don't feel you are a failure if it all turns to worms it is a tricky manouvre. olewill

 

[pyrojames]

Interesting to moor by the stern if you still have any sail up...

And if you don't, it's interesting to get it all up again when you missed. :0

 

[Gunfleet]

TIDE

I know this is a bit grandmother to suck eggs, but if you pick up the mooring strop in the cockpit you need to feel sure you know how strog the tide is, otherwise you can end up with a bit of a struggle (wonder how I know that?). As someone suggested, best practice is to put a line from the bow outside of everything and through the strop, then cleat it off, let the boat fall back while you walk to the bow, then deal with the strop however you want at the bow while the boat is firmly attached.