Strop for one night mooring

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pcatterall

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We overnighted on the mooring at lytham last week. Our first night on a temporary mooring.
We had a strop consisting of anchorplait 8mm chain and anchorplait. We hooked the buoy with atemporary line and then simply threaded the strop through the ring ( which we could only just reach) pulled it through and made the rope off to the sampson post ( and then the anchor windlass base. ( the chain was just through the bulwark fairleads) WE then had a secondary nylon line over the roller.
I drew the short straw and used the forecabin and had about 1 hours kip!!.... there is a 3kn current the wind was 10 to 15 knots and waves were up to 3 feet when the current ran against wind.
Next time I would like to get more sleep please so am turning to the experts for help.
The main issues were the jerking of the chain which felt as if the bow was going to come off and the chain running through the ring.
We would have liked to shackle the chain but would have been hard pressed to get shackle on, would just crossing the chain have helped ?
I guess we could have made the strop longer and tried to get the nylon rope to take the initial strain and lessen the jerk but we did have a concern that the nylon rope was getting worn by the loose chain running through the ring.
Reaching the ring seemed to be an issue. I guess we could have got a short chain through the ring and shackled it to form a loop 2 feet from the buoys ring where we could then attach the strop and the nylon line without too much problem.
( I moored under similar conditions at Conwy for 2 years but had a chain plus nylon shackled properly on... Oh! and slept in the after cabin!)
Its really the one night stays where I would like your kind advice.
 
pcatterall said:
We overnighted on the mooring at lytham last week. Our first night on a temporary mooring.
We had a strop consisting of anchorplait 8mm chain and anchorplait. We hooked the buoy with atemporary line and then simply threaded the strop through the ring ( which we could only just reach) pulled it through and made the rope off to the sampson post ( and then the anchor windlass base. ( the chain was just through the bulwark fairleads) WE then had a secondary nylon line over the roller.
I drew the short straw and used the forecabin and had about 1 hours kip!!.... there is a 3kn current the wind was 10 to 15 knots and waves were up to 3 feet when the current ran against wind.
Next time I would like to get more sleep please so am turning to the experts for help.
The main issues were the jerking of the chain which felt as if the bow was going to come off and the chain running through the ring.
We would have liked to shackle the chain but would have been hard pressed to get shackle on, would just crossing the chain have helped ?
I guess we could have made the strop longer and tried to get the nylon rope to take the initial strain and lessen the jerk but we did have a concern that the nylon rope was getting worn by the loose chain running through the ring.
Reaching the ring seemed to be an issue. I guess we could have got a short chain through the ring and shackled it to form a loop 2 feet from the buoys ring where we could then attach the strop and the nylon line without too much problem.
( I moored under similar conditions at Conwy for 2 years but had a chain plus nylon shackled properly on... Oh! and slept in the after cabin!)
Its really the one night stays where I would like your kind advice.
Click to expand...

a line through the buoy would give you a quiet night
 
I'd have been inclined to take a turn around the ring with the chain and to lie back a fair way from the buoy. Ditto with the 'backup' nylon line but actually lie to the nylon rather than the chain. That way you are using the elasticity of the nylon to reduce the snubbing but have the security of the chain if the nylon line chafes through.
 
If you do pick up an unknown buoy for the night I would make sure that you use a very long warp, A few years ago we picked up a buoy at low tide, came back from the pub later at high tide and the stern of our boat was a meter in the air where the mooring chain on the boy must have become fouled. It was a little difficult climbing aboard that night.
 
For mooring to a buoy without a pick up I use a made up line consisting of 2m of chain spliced to about 15m of 14mm anchor plait at each end. This is arranged so that the buoy ring sits in the middle of the chain with the two lines taken to the forward cleats; length can be adjusted to suit available space and conditions, but 4m might be typical. The over-length tails simplify the initial pick up which is done from the cockpit.

A temporary connection to the buoy is made using a patent releasable hook on a line (Boscome) to a sheet winch, the buoy pulled into the side of the boat and the line threaded through the ring either manually or using a line threading gadget. With both lines secured to the bow cleats the hook is tripped and recovered, then the lines are adjusted until the length is right.
 
alahol2 said:
I'd have been inclined to take a turn around the ring with the chain and to lie back a fair way from the buoy. Ditto with the 'backup' nylon line but actually lie to the nylon rather than the chain. That way you are using the elasticity of the nylon to reduce the snubbing but have the security of the chain if the nylon line chafes through.
Click to expand...

Good answer.

Incidentally, if OP does ever have chain over the bows again, wrap it in an old towel or something to stop the rattle & graunch. But snatching in wind over tide can only be stopped by a longer riser or reduced with a longer strop.
 
alahol2 said:
I'd have been inclined to take a turn around the ring with the chain and to lie back a fair way from the buoy. Ditto with the 'backup' nylon line but actually lie to the nylon rather than the chain. That way you are using the elasticity of the nylon to reduce the snubbing but have the security of the chain if the nylon line chafes through.
Click to expand...

+1 I think

Nylon warp with a round turn through the ring rather than just a loop through it to reduce chafe.

Chain as a back up.
 
Thanks guys lots of good tips to develop a plan from. although we can/do hook the bouy from the cockpit we can't hang around there with 3kn running but have to fall back on the line and then do the 'proper' mooring from the bow. We can feed chain and rope through the buoys ring using a 'handy duck' device.
Threading the chain/rope strop through again to form a turn rather than just crossing the chain is a good idea which we will implement.
The idea of hanging mainly on the stretchy nylon with the chain as back up was our intention but we were sure that the nylon wouldn't last 5 minutes if it was sharing the same ring as the chain strop. We may make up another rope/chain/rope strop but using lighter and nylon line and use this as the 'shock absorbing first line of defence'
Thanks all
 
The idea of taking a 'round turn' completely around a mooring ring is intended to avoid the chafe which can swiftly result when a rope-warp is passed in a 'half-turn'. If steel chain bears on the steel ring, there will be no such chafe and so a simple 'half-turn' is fine.

Once you have your chain looped around the mooring ring and secured ( let's presume via the bow roller ), and hauled up fairly close to the mooring buoy, then one or more additional strong nylon warps can be led out via other fairlead(s), secured to the chain using a rolling hitch, then made off with several feet/metres of slack.

One can then pay out the chain, falling back until the strong warp(s) take the load, then another metre. The strong warp(s) will stretch with the cyclic snubbing imposed by short seas, with the chain acting as ultimate longstop.

Another old wheeze, better suited to when the boat is to be left for a while and when there is concern that normal warps/boat ropes might chafe through, is - additionally - to run a length of anchor chain to the mooring ring. Pass the chain 6 or 7 times around a car tyre as a snubber, then secure it to the ring with a round-turn-and-two-half-hitches - and a cable tie or two holding the bitter end from working loose.

Ensure the chain/tyre combination is a foot or so longer than the boat ropes/mooring lines so that they take the initial loads, then the chain/tyre snubber combination progressively takes up more load.

This has been used more than once when a boat has been left unattended for 4-6 weeks during the winter, without any damage to boat or gear.:)
 
Leave the chain in your shed. 3 strand nylon rope appropriate size and use a couple of feet of flat polyprop fire hose wrapped around the rope where it may chafe. Attach with uv resistant electrical ties.
 
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