Scratches on swinging moorings

[Nina Lucia]

Shamaya, our Vancouver 27, suffered scratches caused by buoy on swinging mooring in Langston Harbour, on both side at the bow close to the water line.
She was on swinging mooring before- Medway and Thames, but this is the first time she getting constantly scratched.
She is attached with two bridles to one of those big orange buoys, should I use chain instead?
What did I do wrong?

 

[sailorman]

Shamaya, our Vancouver 27, suffered scratches caused by buoy on swinging mooring in Langston Harbour, on both side at the bow close to the water line.
She was on swinging mooring before- Medway and Thames, but this is the first time she getting constantly scratched.
She is attached with two bridles to one of those big orange buoys, should I use chain instead?
What did I do wrong?

keep the strop short & over the bow roller so she cant ride-up against the bouy with a stern wind.
use a soft bouy not one of these grp monsters

 

[misterg]

Are they 'Hippo' (?) buoys? - The type where the riser comes up to the top of the buoy?

If so, keep the strop short (as above) but also slip something over the strop to cover the shackle & swivel at the top of the buoy. (Top half a traffic cone or a fender with the bottom cut off, for example).

Andy

 

[Searush]

ALWAYS look at the similar moorings around you. The people who have been there a while already will have devised a number of techniques to prevent scratching, pick the one that suits you best & try it. It will probably be as MrG & sailorman advise.

 

[fireball]

Shamaya, our Vancouver 27, suffered scratches caused by buoy on swinging mooring in Langston Harbour, on both side at the bow close to the water line.
She was on swinging mooring before- Medway and Thames, but this is the first time she getting constantly scratched.
She is attached with two bridles to one of those big orange buoys, should I use chain instead?
What did I do wrong?

Most likely caused by the boat being pushed over the buoy by the wind with the tide going the other way - because the boat will sit to the current.
The big orange buoys have a reasonably tough exterior - but those in itself won't cause the scratching - I would think it's the barnacles that are just under the waterline - they get exposed when the boat pushes or pulls against the buoy - and if that's when you've got wind against tide then the exposed bit will lay alongside the boat.

You can't lift the buoy out of the water - it'll be too big and heavy to do that permanently - but, you could put a protective sheet/layer around the bow - perhaps one of those bow fenders will do the trick.

 

[[10753]]

One of the downsides of a swinging mooring - you could try dangling bucket or tyre off the stern to encourage her to hang on the buoy.

I have also seen some people wrapping canvas sheets under the bow and up the sides.

 

[Fantasie 19]

Most likely caused by the boat being pushed over the buoy by the wind with the tide going the other way - because the boat will sit to the current.

I get the same, almost certainly that...

Round my way (top of Chi Harbour most people) seem to deploy a neoprene/protective cover on the bow... held in place at the water line by a couple of lines... bow fender, big enough & low enough, would probably do the same job..??

 

[Nina Lucia]

I bought that last year at the boat show, its great for the bow, but doesnt protect port and starboard water line...
There must be the way..., I did look other boats around, and looks like most of them are OK, might be our long keel + tide+ wind
Or I have to look to replace that masive orange bouy for the smaler soft one? If I am allowed by Lagstone Harbour Master?
Good thing she was just repainted last xmass!

 

[Robin]

Wind against tide is the problem. If the water is shallow and therefore there isn't a mountain of chain to support you can dispense with a fixed buoy and just use a larger pickup buoy with a long tail so it isn't supporting much chain as the bulk is on the bottom. With the pickup on board when moored there is nothing to scratch the boat.

Otherwise use a big soft plastic buoy without a top ring, so your strop is attached (to a swivel) below the buoy. The soft buoy will not scratch the hull, but what does scratch are those horrible Hippo things, not helped by strops connected to a top ring which gets pulled towards the boat under load as the buoy tilts. You can cover the ring etc with canvas, but to dispense with the ring is even better. I'm not a fan at all of buoys with bars through between top and bottom rings, these are load bearing and yet cannot be routinely inspected.

 

[Paragon]

Ivan

I have/had a similar problem, also swinging mooring and also Vancouver 27. I found the best solution is to keep the strop short (almost to the point of lifting the buoy) as has been mentioned above!

The trouble with the bow fender option is that, unless it's weighted somehow, it tends to ride up the buoy and defeat the object.

Sort of trial and error really as to what may work with your buoy size and shape, but good luck with it!

John

 

[onesea]

Shamaya, our Vancouver 27, suffered scratches caused by buoy on swinging mooring in Langston Harbour, on both side at the bow close to the water line.
She was on swinging mooring before- Medway and Thames, but this is the first time she getting constantly scratched.
She is attached with two bridles to one of those big orange buoys, should I use chain instead?
What did I do wrong?

IMO There is not allot you can do to stop it entirely.

Best prevention? two methods
1) Keep it tight.
2)Good size chain, and heavy duty stiff PVC hose at about a 45-50+ degree angle.

And my thoughts are method 2. The hose tends to keep the buoy from bouncing against the boat, it tends to lie along side or away from her.

When the wind is holding the buoy along side the hull is protected from the chain by the hose and the buoys are not normally much more abrasive than fenders.

At least with a long keel the chain cannot wrap round your keel

 

[Poignard]

A method I have used is as described and illustrated in 'Cruising Under Sail' by Eric Hiscock.

Rig the spinnaker pole as a sort of temporary bowsprit so it sticks out about 4 or 5 feet over the bow.

The main buoy rope/chain is brought over the bow roller and secured on the sampson post/bow cleat, as normal.

Rig another line from the buoy, through a block on the end of the pole and brought back to the foredeck where it is belayed. (Hiscock calls it a 'bullrope')

Adjust the bull rope so that the buoy can come near the bow but not touch it.

When the wind and tide are together the boat lies to the main buoy rope, as usual, and the bullrope does nothing.

When the wind is opposed to the tide, and the wind is strongest, the bullrope comes into play but the load on it is quite light.

I have used this during a NE force 9 on a visitor buoy in L'Abervrac'h with a strong flood tide and it worked fine and protected my topsides from the attentions of a barnacle encrusted buoy. I didn't use it once in a similar gale against tide situation in Omonville, where the buoys are big and barnacle encrusted, because I was too exhausted to set it up, and suffered some bad scratches on the topsides.

 

[Nina Lucia]

Hi parsifal,
Sounds good idea, only think I do think it might bend or damage spinnaker pole.

Couple of weeks ago, in those winds, our Sampson post was totally bend and and pin trough got snaped off.

I did put spare bridle around windlass, and that is how I found her still attachet to the bouy.

 

[Nina Lucia]

Thanks John, where about is yours V27?
Looks like wind, tide and long keel....

 

[Poignard]

Hi parsifal,
Sounds good idea, only think I do think it might bend or damage spinnaker pole.

Couple of weeks ago, in those winds, our Sampson post was totally bend and and pin trough got snaped off.

I did put spare bridle around windlass, and that is how I found her still attachet to the bouy.

No - there's not much load on it. Remember the tide is opposing the wind. When the tide slackens the wind will take charge and the yacht will swing to face the wind, then the main buoy rope/chain takes the strain.

 

[lw395]

I found the only way that worked for me was to shorten the mooring strop so that the buoy was partly suspended from the bow roller.
This may give your boat a rough motion in choppy weather is the chain riser to the buoy is short.

I used a through-rod buoy, with a swivel above it. If you are relying on the through-rod like this you need to check it regularly and ensure the nut on the bottom is truly secure. I added a locknut, drilled through it and lockwired.

The bucket over the stern will not work all the time, for instance when the tide turns in F6.

 

[fireball]

Our buoys are swivel on top - except it isn't a rod though the middle - it is the riser chain. This keeps everything movable easy to inspect.

 

[Nina Lucia]

Shamaya

Thanks,
Just ordred Cruising Under Sail' by Eric Hiscock from amazon, and lookin forward to try it next weekend.
Best Regards
Ivan

A method I have used is as described and illustrated in 'Cruising Under Sail' by Eric Hiscock.

Rig the spinnaker pole as a sort of temporary bowsprit so it sticks out about 4 or 5 feet over the bow.

The main buoy rope/chain is brought over the bow roller and secured on the sampson post/bow cleat, as normal.

Rig another line from the buoy, through a block on the end of the pole and brought back to the foredeck where it is belayed. (Hiscock calls it a 'bullrope')

Adjust the bull rope so that the buoy can come near the bow but not touch it.

When the wind and tide are together the boat lies to the main buoy rope, as usual, and the bullrope does nothing.

When the wind is opposed to the tide, and the wind is strongest, the bullrope comes into play but the load on it is quite light.

I have used this during a NE force 9 on a visitor buoy in L'Abervrac'h with a strong flood tide and it worked fine and protected my topsides from the attentions of a barnacle encrusted buoy. I didn't use it once in a similar gale against tide situation in Omonville, where the buoys are big and barnacle encrusted, because I was too exhausted to set it up, and suffered some bad scratches on the topsides.

 

[vyv_cox]

I led my mooring riser chain through scrap fire hose to overcome chain damage to the bow. The large hose is about 6 inches diameter, a bit big for the purpose, but firemen also use smaller stuff, about three inches, which is ideal. My next door neighbour is a fireman and he obtained some for me, but it could be worth visiting a local station as I guess hose is frequently retired.

 

[doug748]

As already suggested, bring the strop up short. If you lengthen it, it only brings the point of contact further aft.
I have given in and made a bow canvas. You need to have lines to hold it top and bottom (ie 4 lines) the lower ones coming well aft, near the shrouds. You really need to design it whilst ashore, as guessing the shape is tricky. Make a pattern first out of card, hardboard or heavy paper. With careful adjustment you will come to a shape that protects all the way down to the water and is held snugly against the bow, top and bottom. If you had a snub nosed modern boat, you would not be so well served. Hem the final product and use loops for attaching the lines, not pressed eyes.
It makes you look a bit of a fussy git but it works.