Pile Mooring -- Single Handed

[14K478]

Going past in my dinghy I was once hailed by the crew of a large coaster, they had a heaving line around their bow thruster. as they were in ballast it was above the waterline. They were in a pickle trying to make their tide, I went in to clear it for them (after a lot of FFS don't touch anything on the bridge, from me).

The skipper kindly sent down a bucket with a bottle of Paddy whisky after the adventure.

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Well done!

In our case it was a harbour tug’s tow line which our foredeck crew had cast off when the bow thruster was running - the tug threw it off pdq when they saw it go under. It was very long and very big. The tug never sent us a bill for it, so I wonder if it was partly their fault. The bill for dry docking and replacement of blades on the thruster was quite enough!

 

[Neeves]

Well done!

In our case it was a harbour tug’s tow line which our foredeck crew had cast off when the bow thruster was running - the tug threw it off pdq when they saw it go under. It was very long and very big. The tug never sent us a bill for it, so I wonder if it was partly their fault. The bill for dry docking and replacement of blades on the thruster was quite enough!

Excuse my ignorance ... Don't large commercial ships use insurance.

Jonathan

 

[ylop]

Excuse my ignorance ... Don't large commercial ships use insurance.

Jonathan

For tow lines?

 

[ylop]

I suspect each situation is different. And I dont know the full situation that caused the RNLI to be the end solution.
But a knife on a stick may work on some rudders or a smaller boat with "moored by bow thruster".
But on a decent sized power boat the foredeck may be 2m above the waterline. And the thruster tube 0.5m underwater - plus buoy, rope and tube invisible 2m or so inside deck width due to flare of bows. So working blind 4 m or so away if tried to cut.
Not easy and very close to hard rock.

I recall that but the surprising thing was that close enough to swallow the strop/pickup but not close enough to get your own line on the mooring so when you free yourself you don't drift away. But I think its easy to be smart when you aren't on the boat, and it may not have been the skipper who requested the RNLI: I once called the CG hoping they would have a name for a local diver and their playbook had them call the RNLI DLA. Fortunately the DLA agreed it didn't need a LB and was able to suggest a local "commercial" solution.

 

[Dockhead]

. . . But I think its easy to be smart when you aren't on the boat. . .

Words to live by!

 

[Neeves]

For tow lines?

what a strange question

For the dry docking and replacement thruster blades

 

[14K478]

Excuse my ignorance ... Don't large commercial ships use insurance.

Jonathan

Yes, we do. We also have deductibles; typically a merchant ship’s Hull and Machinery policies will have a deductible set at around the price of a generator; I believe that we can thank Warren Buffet (who controls a very sizeable chunk of Lloyd’s) for this increase in deductibles, which is actually pretty sensible. They were often lower in the past, before he took an interest.

Marine insurance runs on the assured’s “record”; the more you claim, the more you pay, giving rise to what we call “dollar swapping” - I claim ten dollars which goes on my record and my premiums go up by five dollars next year and five dollars for ever more…

 

[ylop]

what a strange question

Well 14K seemed to have been expecting a bill for the tug’s tow line which they ingested so doesn’t seem a strange question to me. At no point did 14K say “the tug co weren’t happy when we sent them the bill” or otherwise suggest it was the tugs liability.

For the dry docking and replacement thruster blades

It seems that if you release the tugs rope whilst your thruster is running that’s your fault rather than the tug masters? Sorry we dropped your rope into our thruster, here’s the bill for fixing the thruster and dry docking is likely to get an entertaining response. I’d be surprised if the towing contract didn’t try to pass as much of the liability to the ship as possible even beyond questions of whose mistake it was.

 

[14K478]

Harbour tugs almost everywhere operate on standard towage conditions which in effect make the ship the insurer of the tug from the moment when the tug leaves her berth to go and assist the ship until the tug is back and moored up.

There really have been cases where a tug sank before she even saw the ship she was contracted to assist and the shipowner has had to pay. The P&I Clubs (who typically have much lower deductibles than the hull and machinery insurers) fought this for decades and eventually lost, but they will pay for tug damage.

 

[doug748]

That poor, multiply skinned feline!

No stern thruster for me, thanks, but yes -- I'm thinking the very same thing with the static line.

Just like docking on a pontoon or quay, getting the middle tied to something is the key to stability. The bow thruster then can control any error in angle -- provided there are no loose ropes in the water.

A strong side wind changes everything, however, and I won't try this in such conditions for the time being. My first attempt on Saturday will be at the high water stand so there won't be much current. Hope this high pressure holds up.

With a fore and aft line in place it seems pile moorings are much like trot moorings but with added jeopardy.

I always thought a bit of tide helped, then an uptide approach means , if you can secure the bow near uptide buoy/pile, you are halfway there. This avoids the very worst fate of Jack knifing across the next mooring with the bow inextricably fixed... The tide holds you back. Of course with a smaller boat you can usually physically pull the stern in but that won't apply.

It helps greatly if you split the for and aft line in the middle and can access the mooring from any one of four directions.

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