Picking up pick-up buoy with tender left at mooring buoy

[Jaguar 25]

1. Pretty well in title but what is the best way of leaving the tender (inflatable) and the pick-up buoy when you cast off from a swinging mooring?
2. And then how do you pick up the pick-up buoy on your return without the tender getting in the way?

On our previous swinging mooring we had the services of the club launch to get to a from our mooring, so never used the tender.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[awol]

1. Attach dinghy to pick-up. Throw it away and either drift back before powering sails or use backed jib to get bow away.
2. Aim 'tween dinghy and pick-up and hook dinghy painter.

IMHO much easier with a dinghy than without!

 

[NealB]

1. Pretty well in title but what is the best way of leaving the tender (inflatable) and the pick-up buoy when you cast off from a swinging mooring?
2. And then how do you pick up the pick-up buoy on your return without the tender getting in the way?

On our previous swinging mooring we had the services of the club launch to get to a from our mooring, so never used the tender.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Having the tender on the mooring certainly makes the return pick up easier.

I leave the tender on a longish painter (the dinghy lies alongside, somewhere forward of the forward lower shrouds).

On departure, the mooring strop is dropped into the dinghy, and you reverse way as normal.

On return, the dinghy gives a nice big, easy to see, hard to miss target.

Aim for the tender's bow, grab the dinghy painter with the boathook, then get the mooring strop from the dinghy and take a turn on the mooring cleat/ bitts.

Job done.

 

[Birdseye]

1. Pretty well in title but what is the best way of leaving the tender (inflatable) and the pick-up buoy when you cast off from a swinging mooring?
2. And then how do you pick up the pick-up buoy on your return without the tender getting in the way?

On our previous swinging mooring we had the services of the club launch to get to a from our mooring, so never used the tender.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Usually lob the pick up buoy into the tender and use a boathook to catch the rope between the support buoy and the pick up buoy.

 

[ianj99]

1. Attach dinghy to pick-up. Throw it away and either drift back before powering sails or use backed jib to get bow away.
2. Aim 'tween dinghy and pick-up and hook dinghy painter.

IMHO much easier with a dinghy than without!

I don't think that method will work when I am single handedly trying it with 10tons of steel ketch with next to no brakes!
I plan, when moving onto a swinging mooring next month, to bring the tender (closely tied to the pickup buoy) alongside and hook the buoy from the cockpit and clip on a line which runs along the outside of the hull to the bow. Then I can let the boat drift downwind whilst I haul in said line to retrieve the mooring chain.

 

[Jaguar 25]

All sounds relatively simple. Thanks for the advice.

We'll give it a go in a couple of weeks when I m back down. We were on Kittiwake yesterday putting the sails, spray hood etc. on, which took longer than expected (as always!) so didn't give it a go. We were unsure on when exactly there was going to be enough (i.e. or not enough) water to get back to Thornham marina in Chichester harbour so we left about 1 hour 40 minutes after HW and there was quite a depth of water all the way back without using the channel. On the way out we stuck to the channel but getting to the channel there was only about a foot of water below us with mud banks protruding in places.

 

[RichardS]

1. Pretty well in title but what is the best way of leaving the tender (inflatable) and the pick-up buoy when you cast off from a swinging mooring?
2. And then how do you pick up the pick-up buoy on your return without the tender getting in the way?

On our previous swinging mooring we had the services of the club launch to get to a from our mooring, so never used the tender.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Presumably you don't leave an outboard on the tender?

I'm just thinking of a night last year when the wind got up and our tender and outboard flipped upside down.

Richard

 

[Jaguar 25]

Presumably you don't leave an outboard on the tender?

I'm just thinking of a night last year when the wind got up and our tender and outboard flipped upside down.

Richard

No, we row out, which takes less than 5 minutes. We considered an outboard and I have a 2.5hp 4 stroke but it is such a pain to transport that I am going to get rid of it.

 

[VicS]

1. Pretty well in title but what is the best way of leaving the tender (inflatable) and the pick-up buoy when you cast off from a swinging mooring?
2. And then how do you pick up the pick-up buoy on your return without the tender getting in the way?

On our previous swinging mooring we had the services of the club launch to get to a from our mooring, so never used the tender.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I would tie the dinghy to the pick up buoy with a fairly short scope so that there is no chance that a dinghy or windsurfer ( you have seen how they whizz about the bay past your mooring no doubt) will try to go between the dinghy and the mooring.

I find with a smaller boat the dinghy is no hindrance and often a help in picking up the mooring. Even in a larger (30ft)boat I have never found it a hinderance. Must admit in both cases a solid dinghy.

On a good few occasions esp when single handed I have been able to "hook" the dinghy painter or even the dinghy itself when things have not gone exactly right,

I don't think I would leave an inflatable on the mooring. Get yourself a tatty old rigid dinghy. Harbour master sells ( auctions) abandoned dinghies every year. Keep an eye open for his sale


My tatty old dinghy which may be looking for a new home nearby if I manage to sell the boat this year.

My better ( but not very stable ) dinghy

 

[Jaguar 25]

I would tie the dinghy to the pick up buoy with a fairly short scope so that there is no chance that a dinghy or windsurfer ( you have seen how they whizz about the bay past your mooring no doubt) will try to go between the dinghy and the mooring.

I find with a smaller boat the dinghy is no hindrance and often a help in picking up the mooring. Even in a larger (30ft)boat I have never found it a hinderance. Must admit in both cases a solid dinghy.

On a good few occasions esp when single handed I have been able to "hook" the dinghy painter or even the dinghy itself when things have not gone exactly right,

I don't think I would leave an inflatable on the mooring. Get yourself a tatty old rigid dinghy. Harbour master sells ( auctions) abandoned dinghies every year. Keep an eye open for his sale


My tatty old dinghy which may be looking for a new home nearby if I manage to sell the boat this year.

My better ( but not very stable ) dinghy

Strange, but I could only see the last few lines with the references to the pics when I went to reply not in normal viewing.

Anyway, we have considered getting a rigid tender but the 2.8m Bombardier we have seems fine at the moment and is quite heavy with a slatted wooden floor.

But, how much are you looking for for the tatty one?

 

[VicS]

Strange, but I could only see the last few lines with the references to the pics when I went to reply not in normal viewing.

Anyway, we have considered getting a rigid tender but the 2.8m Bombardier we have seems fine at the moment and is quite heavy with a slatted wooden floor.

But, how much are you looking for for the tatty one?

It was given to me. So it'll go with the boat if its wanted or it'll be free to anyone who wants it.
It is in bad state though a couple of holes in the outskin and several splits in the inner moulding. Not repairable but at least its foam filled and won't sink.

Maybe the trouble you had viewing the post was because it coincided with me adding the second picture.

 

[HunterWanderer]

I suggest keeping the tender painter short when leaving.
On return attach a longish mooring line from the bow cleat and bring loose end back to cockpit. From downwind reverse up to the buoy pushing the dinghy away. Drop a loop of the mooring line over the buoy to lasso it then take the loose end back up to bow. Take in the line and pull the mooring buoy up on the bow and cleat off. The dinghy painter can then be released and secured at the stern.
Can be done single handed if needed with a bit of practice.

 

[Achillesheel]

When leaving, the dinghy painter should be tied to the pickup buoy, and the person on the bow should take the mooring a couple of feet back from the bow, along the upwind side before letting go.

When picking up, keep the buoy and dinghy on the same side of the boat as you approach, slowly, upwind. Hook the dinghy painter onboard, haul in the pickup buoy and get a turn round a cleat, then sort out the strop/chain.

 

[LadyInBed]

I would go about it like this, tie off the end of the painter almost a painters length down the riser from the pickup buoy so when the riser is dropped the dingy is close to the pickup buoy.
I would then put a spare line the length of the dingy plus a bit with a noose one end over the pickup buoy and loose tie the other end to the dingy or tie a spare float to that end and leave it flaked in the dingy.
On return, I would hook this spare line, tie it off at the bow, then pull in till I get to the pickup buoy and riser.

 

[Sybarite]

Throw it away and either drift back before powering sails or use backed jib to get bow away.

Or, walk the buoy back to the stern of your boat (passing it outside the shrouds) and then throw away.

 

[lw395]

We tie the dinghy to the main buoy on about 5ft of painter, so the dinghy can lie on the bow of the yacht when it's properly moored.
We have a long pickup entirely separate from the dinghy painter, this can be left in the dinghy and picked up from the dinghy with a boat hook.
It seems to stay in the dinghy OK, sort of wedges in the bow of our rigid tender.

 

[Fantasie 19]

1. Attach dinghy to pick-up. Throw it away and either drift back before powering sails or use backed jib to get bow away.
2. Aim 'tween dinghy and pick-up and hook dinghy painter.

IMHO much easier with a dinghy than without!

Yup.... use the dinghy as a gigantic pick up buoy....

 

[aslabend]

I tie the tender to the pickup buoy and then lob buoy and dinghy painter into the dinghy for the simple reason that the painter picks up seaweed (and lots of it where I am) in the tidal stream. another advantage is the pickup buoy and line is a couple of feet higher and so easier to pick up.