Swinging mooring or pontoon-on-piles?

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BlueSkyNick

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Given the option of a pontoon between piles or a swinging mooring, on a permanent basis, which is preferable?

Assume both are on the same river, and no difference in annual fees.

I may need to make this decision in the New Year, and can see pros and cons to both.
 
I always like swinging, because the view changes every 6 hours or so, and it gives the boat a chance to wear out both sides evenly.
Also, provided you have good tackle, the boat will lay to the prevailing conditions and not creak up and down a pile or similar.
You can always board on the lee side on a swinging mooring
They are easier to pickup without damage.

Dunno, I had a pile mooring which was OK, but I prefer to be out in the fairway at Burnham in the evening.
 
a pontoon mooring will be easier to get a loaded dinghy unloaded and might be easier to use in crap weather? the other thought is i see some boats on swinging moorings in p'mth with some gelcoat damage from the riser.
 
Piles, IMHO.

When it's gentle, it doesn't matter much. When it's blowing a hooligan in the middle of the night, and you can't easily get out there in your Rubaduck, what matters is the likelihood of chafe on your mooring lines, your humungous foredeck cleat, and the possibility of damage. You may then be very pleased that you're secured to two immovable objects ( piles ) by chain or multiple big warps, while friends and club members will be sweating blood about the unseen corrosion on their mooring risers and shackles.

Nothing much can be done about the odd 'wanderer' that breaks free and goes walkabout, except keeping well clear of the moorings where that happens most.

Relative piece of mind, Nick.....?

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Hadn't thought about that , maybe I'll hang on to the rigid tender after all
The ease of loading on a pontoon mooring plus the available shore power , Vs the relative freedom and isolation of swinging is a choice I'm going to have to make a decision on soon and I'm swaying more to the swinging at the moment
 
Swinging moorings allow the boat to ride bow to wind if it's really strong whereas on a pontoon you may be pressed against your fenders for a couple of days. Even if you're on the prevailing lee side there is a whole lot of strain in holding the boat if the wind is on the beam.
OK. you should check your mooring gear regularly, but when you pick up your moorings you could haul the buoy up to deck level and check the shackles. Doesn't have to be every time.
Much less chafing on a swinging mooring. I fitted a foredeck bollard on one small boat which made the whole job much easier than a cleat using a soft eye on the warp which doubled on the bollard.

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imho and /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif or /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif are the web equivalents of meeting friends in the pub, and expressing by facial expression or body language, that you aren't picking an arguement. If you want lots of flame wars, then yes, ban all such expressions. People don't always get subtle expression in print, so you have to use other means to show your intent
 
Well said /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif something wrong here /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif shouldn't we be fighting by now ? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Who rattled your chain?

Look here, shagnasty!

It's taken several years of patient and sometimes exasperated example and gentle coaching - and not a few Wadworth's - for BrendanS to develop my forum e-skills to an extent one might even consider as ordinary civil courtesy on a web forum. No mean feat! Some here might opine he's done a good job - while others may yet reserve judgment.

Nevertheless, this mangy phatkhat's use of the courteous IMHO is intended as an expression of courtesy, self-abnegation and acknowledgment that out there, somewhere in the blogosphere, some of the forumeers herein might actually know more than I about many things. And even if not, that I courteously acknowledge the possibility.

For example, IT wonks might enjoy this.

As for you, you little noxious lump of God's good clay wasted, let me suggest you crawl on your slippery underbelly back under the stone that shields you from God's creatures somewhat higher than you in the Order of Creation, and focus your heavily-circumscribed reptilian root-brain on learning those processes of civilisation that demark the higher, sentient orders from the ordure that you crawl among.

Should you again have the affrontery to raise your noxious 'hiss' hereabouts, do take pains to remember your station in Creation, and in particular, your role for all time as described in Genesis- 'God curses the serpent: "upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life;"

IMHO. your contri is a PITA!

/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Wind your neck in, reptile!

Pray excuse my short absence, m'lud! I was briefly engaged in defending my honour from the imputations of a 'slithy tove'.

Perhaps some gentle if ill-guided onlooker might draw aside the physiologically ill-favoured 'Regular of North Devon' and kindly impart to him the meaning of 'Nemo Me Impune Lacessit'....

Your 'umble servant,


/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re piles, pontoons and pulling catenary chains

In my humble opinion, I always thought that the name 'Nicki' belonged to a lady, rather than a bloke, but maybe I am wrong.......
Am impressed though by Bilbo's impressive mental thesaurus and subtle (?) choice of words, while skilfully avoiding more arguments about the relative merits of piles and pontoons vs pulling chains (into catenaries re moorings)..... me thinks both have their advantages and disadvantages for sure.
Here we just pull chains, no pile bashing.

PS - Lakey, that is one sexy looking bollard posted above - what is her opinion re piles vs chains?
 
Re: Re piles, pontoons and pulling catenary chains

[ QUOTE ]
In my humble opinion, I always thought that the name 'Nicki' belonged to a lady, rather than a bloke, but maybe I am wrong.......


[/ QUOTE ] In my experience ladies generally avoid the expression 'It sucks'. I suppose that there is a certain amount of baggage that comes with the expression.
 
Nick - we are on a pontoon, with a lenght and a 1/4 in which to manouver. So coming alongside in an offshore wind of 4 or above requires a stern approach, line ashore, and wind the bows in.

A swinging mooring is much simpler and much less strain and shafe on the topsides. The pontoon has its advantages, in that the dog can "go ashore" without going ashore.

Given the choice, I would go for the swinger, provided it is not too far from your landing place.
 
Nick,

If my assumption is right - and the pontoon is the one that I have in mind - go for the pontoon. It is VERY sheltered, with no cross element to the tide, close to the dinghy loading and services point, and within sight of the HM office. Some of the swinging moorings in the lower reaches are quite exposed and a long way from civilization. Just check that you are not going to find yourself deeply rafted in.
 
Nick - our boat (same as yours) lives on a swinging mooring in the summer and in a marina in the winter. The pros and cons are just as everyone has described them. The peace and quiet of a mooring if you're spending the evening there is wonderful; the ease of use of the pontoon takes some giving up. If I had to pick one only, and cost and location weren't issues - I'd pick the pontoon on balance.

Simon
 
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