Single handed picking up mooring.....

[JohnGC]

+1 to most of that.

You don't have to get it right first time!

If everything goes tight before you make it off, let it go and try again. And, if necessary, again.

Know what your options are in advance if it goes wrong.

There is no point putting your back in traction over the bow because you think it should be done first time.

It might be fun to practice with your mates on hand in case and to share.

 

[Daydream believer]

Whilst I used to come along side a buoy at the cockpit & hook the buoy or a pickup line i fix this to a line outside everything to the bow then back to the cockpit where it is on a winch. If the boat falls away , no problem. A quick wind on the winch & the bow soon comes to the buoy which saves all the pulling at the bow...... But now I find a marina by far the more civilised way

 

[Praxinoscope]

May I respectfully deprecate the use of floating lines? Probably not an issue in Oban but in "heavily trafficked" estuaries they can be unpopular - a sinking line with a pick up buoy - which naturally assumes a position right next to the mooring buoy itself - avoids the risk of grabbing passing boats by the keel, rudder or prop..

+1. please don’t use a floating line, they are a disaster for other users.

 

[simonfraser]

The strength of the carabiner becomes highly relevant if you don't manage to "make it" to the bow and get the mooring strop over the cleat in time, so the boat is lying to the carabiner until you get sorted, and you have twenty five tons of boat to deal with!

leave the engine ticking over in forward gear, much easier on the gear and body.

 

[MM5AHO]

Rather than a floating line, I have a small loop of rope on the handle of the pickup buoy. It's about 300mm (1ft) diameter loop, and about as strong as the pickup buoy rope itself. It's far easier to snag a rope loop with the boathook than the handle of the pickup buoy.

 

[Kukri]

Rather than a floating line, I have a small loop of rope on the handle of the pickup buoy. It's about 300mm (1ft) diameter loop, and about as strong as the pickup buoy rope itself. It's far easier to snag a rope loop with the boathook than the handle of the pickup buoy.

Thank you for a useful idea.

 

[lw395]

For those of us coming back to our own mooring, with our own tender on it, it's also worth thinking about a tidy arrangement to have a strop you can pick up, with another line to secure the tender to.
I guess it's all going to be quite individual?

 

[Kukri]

If the tender that you leave on your mooring has a transom, don’t hit it. I have seen this done...

 

[jiris]

We are a group of three "growing up" men. We would like the flexibility of maybe going out single handed. Sigma 33. Most things we can manage except for picking up our mooring since handed. It weighs a load. Normally we have someone on the helm,the other picking up the mooring small white buoy... Has anyone any smart solutions Ta Nik

My biggest problem wasn't picking up the mooring, but pulling the heavy chain afterwards. I solved it by attaching a 20 l container to the chain, about a meter under water. It takes 20 kg of the weight and you can really feel it . I was using it for about 5 years without noticing any negative sides of this arrangement.

 

[oldharry]

May I respectfully deprecate the use of floating lines? Probably not an issue in Oban but in "heavily trafficked" estuaries they can be unpopular - a sinking line with a pick up buoy - which naturally assumes a position right next to the mooring buoy itself - avoids the risk of grabbing passing boats by the keel, rudder or prop..

Yes, this is why i didnt suggest it. Single handed its not easy to keep track of where floating lines have got to, particularly if the approach has gone pear shaped which it will sooner or later! Unless you are watching them carefully they will make straight for the prop, keel or rudder providing onlookers with loads of 1st class You Tube material!

If your boat will do it, reversing up to the mooring makes life a great deal easier single handed.

The scenario you really do not need is to end up with the boathook fast disappearing over the bows hooked to the mooring as the boat takes off backwards with a good breeze under her! You ed up with the mooring out of reach, the boathook firmly hooked on and you hanging on to the other end of the pole unable to pull the boat back up to the wind. You have to let go, and if you dont have a spare hook, you are then in real trouble.... dont ask. You will only do it once!

 

[Yellow Ballad]

the handle of the pickup buoy.

I've never tried to hook the handle, always swept underneath or inside (between) the buoy and never had an issue. I've seen people try to hook the handle and fail miserably, in my mind it's a grab handle for your hands.

But whatever works.

 

[pvb]

For picking up buoys single-handed, I use a Handy Duck mooring hook and a line led from the bow to the cockpit area. The Handy Duck is incredibly useful, very strong, and can be released easily remotely.

 

[Kukri]

I like to pick up my mooring, as I like to drop it, under sail.

This is not particularly difficult, it has been done for hundreds of years, and thousands of keelboat owners do it every weekend without a second thought.

It simply depends on bringing the boat to a stop in the attitude that she will take, vis a vis current and wind, once secured to the buoy. You can do this with the buoy at the bow, or with the buoy level with the cockpit, but in the latter case you need to have a method of getting the bow to the buoy before the boat pays off and the sails fill again.

 

[cpedw]

May I respectfully deprecate the use of floating lines? Probably not an issue in Oban but in "heavily trafficked" estuaries they can be unpopular - a sinking line with a pick up buoy - which naturally assumes a position right next to the mooring buoy itself - avoids the risk of grabbing passing boats by the keel, rudder or prop..

Is 2 feet of floating line between easily visible buoys really a hazard? The location of my mooring means there's no passing traffic but even if there were, I can't see the problem is any worse than the pennants which are never right beside the riser buoy because of the strength of the tide.

Derek

 

[Kukri]

Is 2 feet of floating line between easily visible buoys really a hazard? The location of my mooring means there's no passing traffic but even if there were, I can't see the problem is any worse than the pennants which are never right beside the riser buoy because of the strength of the tide.

Derek

Two feet is not a problem, but most buoy ropes are a fair bit longer, depending on where on the foredeck the mooring cleat or Sampson post is and on the freeboard at the bow.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Agreed. It's difficult to hook the pickup buoy itself always swipe to one side to pick up the line.

I've never tried to hook the handle, always swept underneath or inside (between) the buoy and never had an issue. I've seen people try to hook the handle and fail miserably, in my mind it's a grab handle for your hands.

But whatever works.