Pile Moorings -- Single Handed?

[Dockhead]

I've been offered a pile mooring without a pontoon. I single hand a lot, and my boat is 54'. A swinging mooring is a piece of cake, but I don't remember ever picking up a pile mooring single handed.

Is it feasible with a tide running? How do you do it? Any words of wisdom?

 

[dunedin]

What weight is your 54 foot boat?

Assuming you are a super seaman and get it perfect 99% of the time, what happens on the 1% when the tide catches you and you are left trying to hold on to the weight of the boat being swept away with the tide?

PS. I regularly berth nearly 10 tons of 40ft boat single handed on conventional moorings and pontoons. But when things don’t quite work to Plan A on moorings, the boat weight suddenly becomes painfully apparent.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Not necessarily worse than trots - which are a pain in a tideway or crosswind. I sailed in Bristol Channel with 6kt tide and then on creek with mere 2kt, and you have to get speed dead right for pickup.

The pile mooring near my old boat trot was good for 15 minutes either side of HT due to that 6kt run, but nhopefully where the OP is offered the pile the current is less. Cross winds still an issue though possibly less of an issue than with trots

 

[chubby]

I have done it a few times but only with a 32 ft boat.

The technique of getting a line on the downtide pile then motoring to the upstream pile is difficult single handed.

We tried a rope between piles with a central pickup but you have to be really quick otherwise one end blows off.

Motor up to the uptide pile as you would a swinging mooring then take a warp to the downside pile and winch yourself it?

It depends on how much space there is each side, what cross wind and how it aligns with the current.

I found it quite difficult and we got in a tangle with lines a few times and went to a swinging mooring as soon as one was offered.

Could you fit a pontoon between the piles if this is a long term thing?

 

[oldmanofthehills]

I have done it a few times but only with a 32 ft boat.

The technique of getting a line on the downtide pile then motoring to the upstream pile is difficult single handed.

We tried a rope between piles with a central pickup but you have to be really quick otherwise one end blows off.

Motor up to the uptide pile as you would a swinging mooring then take a warp to the downside pile and winch yourself it?

It depends on how much space there is each side, what cross wind and how it aligns with the current.

I found it quite difficult and we got in a tangle with lines a few times and went to a swinging mooring as soon as one was offered.

Could you fit a pontoon between the piles if this is a long term thing?

A central pickup would work better than with a trot as there would be no risk of the prop sweeping across the sternward risers needed for a trot. Still a bit of a handfull for a heavy boat single handed unless very still water and wind sheltered but one can adapt at need sometimes

However I love that for the last 5 years we have had a swinging mooring - oh I know that on the fast flowing Tamar I cant necessarily leave the boat till the wind or tide slacken, but we are secure and can make tea and tidy up

 

[Blueboatman]

This came up very recently. Dartmouth trot mooring iirc about 54ft boat

 

[ashtead]

We had a trot mooring in medina many years ago when no one had pontoons rigged. We and our adjoins boat soon decided that a pontoon was solution so off to Soton boat show and walcon sold us one which was towed back across Solent -subsequently many other medina boats got their own pontoons . I guess if not local to Soton it might be a tad pricey to buy your own though. I have seen experienced types bring a 48ft into a pontoon finger and things can go wrong even on this basis. I guess if you had a large workboat attached to the trot lines then you could pick up from this your lines but I guess all this depends on tidal rip and space around the trots and depth if it goes wrong.

 

[Dockhead]

What weight is your 54 foot boat?

Assuming you are a super seaman and get it perfect 99% of the time, what happens on the 1% when the tide catches you and you are left trying to hold on to the weight of the boat being swept away with the tide?

PS. I regularly berth nearly 10 tons of 40ft boat single handed on conventional moorings and pontoons. But when things don’t quite work to Plan A on moorings, the boat weight suddenly becomes painfully apparent.

Official light ship she's 20 tonnes, but closer to 25 in the travel lift.

When I bought this boat 16 years ago, the very knowledgeable young guy who sold it to me advised -- the main difference between this and what you're used to is "you cannot influence the position of the vessel using the muscles of yourself and your crew." Meaning -- no manhandling; you have to get the boat to the right position with sails or mechanical means only. The upside is that with more momentum the boat is not blown around so easily, giving you more time to make something fast.

I have no problems berthing on pontoons single handed in this boat. Even onto a windward pontoon. I get the boat onto the pontoon, then walk out to the rail and lasso a cleat. If the wind is blowing me hard off the pontoon, then the lasso typically goes through a midships cleat to a big electric sheet winch, the control for which is reachable from the helm. Then I can take in the slack as I work the boat back up to the pontoon.

If the tide catches me with a line not made fast, I let it go. Come back and try again.

 

[Dockhead]

I have done it a few times but only with a 32 ft boat.

The technique of getting a line on the downtide pile then motoring to the upstream pile is difficult single handed.

We tried a rope between piles with a central pickup but you have to be really quick otherwise one end blows off.

Motor up to the uptide pile as you would a swinging mooring then take a warp to the downside pile and winch yourself it?

It depends on how much space there is each side, what cross wind and how it aligns with the current.

I found it quite difficult and we got in a tangle with lines a few times and went to a swinging mooring as soon as one was offered.

Could you fit a pontoon between the piles if this is a long term thing?

Thanks for that. Doesn't sound very good.

No pontoon is allowed at this place, so it's piles or nothing.

The harbourmaster said something about pickup buoys, but I didn't quite understand how that would work.

I won't be walking up to the bow with the tide running and the boat not attached to anything. Possibly I could run a long line up to a bow cleat and back again to a winch. Put the line on from midships, then fall back and take in the line from the cockpit. But then you've got to get a stern line on. This will be grim if there's a strong side wind.

Hmm.

 

[ashtead]

If you are not allowed a pontoon then I guess a large tender to hold the lines (this is really just a large pick up buoy holding the lines so you don’t have to fish in the water for the buoy)while you were away but if this isn’t possible then the risks of the stern kicking out into the river (on basis bow is attached) due to current or wind seem high. I guess when we had a pile mooring the main concern was running aground if we drifted but we had 3 to moor a boat half the length and often our neighbour was already attached and hence we could tie alongside as we picked up lines. All this doesn’t even consider the risks of the lines breaking in poor weather.

 

[Dockhead]

If you are not allowed a pontoon then I guess a large tender to hold the lines (this is really just a large pick up buoy holding the lines so you don’t have to fish in the water for the buoy)while you were away but if this isn’t possible then the risks of the stern kicking out into the river (on basis bow is attached) due to current or wind seem high. I guess when we had a pile mooring the main concern was running aground if we drifted but we had 3 to moor a boat half the length and often our neighbour was already attached and hence we could tie alongside as we picked up lines. All this doesn’t even consider the risks of the lines breaking in poor weather.

OK, this is giving me some ideas.

So tie up a tender between the piles. Maybe with fenders around the gunwhale. Lines to each pile laid into the tender.

So you come up alongside the tender and take the uptide line with a boat hook. You could bend it (or clip it) onto a line led forward through a bow cleat and back to the cockpit. Haul in from the cockpit. Then pick up the stern line.

No reason the stern should kick much if the bow is fixed uptide. Maybe a strong side wind could complicate this.

How simple it was when I had a pontoon between the piles. The lines were laid on the pontoon and I just picked them up and made them fast. Piece of cake.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

In our boat, I’d reverse up tide and attach the stern first, because I can reach it. However, I fully appreciate that some boats behave badly in reverse. It’s our party piece, we can go backwards rather nicely, motor or sail. Other drawbacks to more than compensate of course.

 

[Concerto]

Several decades ago I had a fore and aft mooring. My solution being singlehanded were permanent ropes that floated between the buoys. One had a loop spliced so it fitted to the midship cleat with another that was tied with a bowline through the loop from the other buoy. Another set was the same but the loop came from the opposite buoy. Which ever way the tide flowed, you picked up the upstream rope with the loop first. Quickly untie the bowline and fix it astern to stop the boat twisting. Then take the second loop and put on the midship cleat and take the other part to the bow. The extra advantage of this system was it was easy to transfer the lines to the opposite side of the boat if you wished to leave the berth on the opposite side to that when you arrived.

 

[Dockhead]

In our boat, I’d reverse up tide and attach the stern first, because I can reach it. However, I fully appreciate that some boats behave badly in reverse. It’s our party piece, we can go backwards rather nicely, motor or sail. Other drawbacks to more than compensate of course.

This boat is fine in reverse, and furthermore has a 10hp bow thruster, which is like having a rudder at the bow. So this may be a good idea for me.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

This boat is fine in reverse, and furthermore has a 10hp bow thruster, which is like having a rudder at the bow. So this may be a good idea for me.

Not so good for those blessed with a centre cockpit of course. The bow thruster will be ideal for keeping the front in check. Even better if it has a remote. Getting our bow on would be s bit hit or miss. Balancing at the bow of an ama is not always to be recommended unless you enjoy a swim. I mentioned drawbacks I think.

 

[Dockhead]

Not so good for those blessed with a centre cockpit of course. The bow thruster will be ideal for keeping the front in check. Even better if it has a remote. Getting our bow on would be s bit hit or miss. Balancing at the bow of an ama is not always to be recommended unless you enjoy a swim. I mentioned drawbacks I think.

My sympathy!

I do have a centre cockpit, but I'm used to ambling out of it to get lines on when single handed. The mass of this boat means it responds slowly to wind and other forces, giving more time to do stuff.

Maybe it would be worthwhile hanging lines from hangers on the piles, pulling up along side the uptide pile, picking up the line and putting it on a stern cleat as the boat falls off downtide?

 

[mersey]

How to pick up a pile mooring - Practical Boat Owner

PBO article on it here