Swinging mooring or pontoon-on-piles?

I've used - and liked -both. A swinging mooring is often easier to pick up in inclement weather and will normally leave you head to the weather (enabling open hatches, less motion). The pontoon between piles (which is what we currently use) has the advantage of being able to work alongside the boat with a workmate or similar, makes it easier to flake sails gives somewhere to padlock the dinghy without interfering with returning to the mooring.

You've probably already thought of most of that though, so pros and cons as they apply to you really.
 
In My arrogant self serving opinion completely disregarding other peoples experience.

The huge advantage of a swinging mooring is the ease of getting on and off it .If its proffesionally laid and conforms to insurance requirements etc go for it,you will like it.

No more farting around with fenders and having to spring on and off in cross winds.
 
As many have said it is 'swings and roundabouts'.

If there is a reliable launch for those days when the weather is a bit iffy / you have loads of gear then a Swinging Mooring would be my choice.

No fenders to put away once slipped, can practice sailing on / off mooring, peace and quiet when on buoy with no one just walking past coming to drink your beer!
 
IMHO got to be a swinger, as long as has been mentioned it is well laid. So much easier to pick up and sail off - less wear and tear on your topsides and more comfortable if you are sleeping onboard
 
Fair enough. I always consider semantics and skillful sentence structure to evoke inflection. Also I don't believe the 'humble' side of the acronym. IMO, yes OK. Maybe it's just me, but mostly one's expressed opinion is not humble.
I am happy to stand corrected though.
Nicki
 
Thanks for all the answers - 'swings and roundabouts' sort of fits ! The main criteria seem to be as I thought:

- Ease of mooring/slipping
- Varying possibility of damage to boat
- security in foul weather.
- loading from dinghy (not too much of an issue with a Dory and bathing platform)

At this stage, I am not certain that the option will actually exist - it will be a nice problem to have !!
 
Nick

IMVHO /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

We were on swinging moorings for nearly 25 years and they have all the advantages people have given, ease of picking up/departure even under sail plus mostly lying to the wind and a nicer view. The caveats are that the mooring is properly laid, regularly inspected and the strops (usually your responsibility) are well protected from chafe, otherwise you will not sleep at night at home when the winds blow. Also, knowing the likely swinging moorings that you refer to, the tide will have some influence and there is the ever present danger of damage from boats dodging the ferry traffic or damage from the local dinghy fleets.

Double guessing the possible pontoon option location on offer, as has been said the location is pretty well sheltered and especially from the prevailing winds. The view from there is no worse than from the swinging moorings and indeed having been on there a night or two I can say it is quite pleasant, with lots to see going on - or goings on to see. If the pontoon isn't connected to the shore and you need a tender, the trip is in much more sheltered water than the trip to the swingers plus you have the advantage of easier transfer in/out of the dink with your gear which all in all stands a better chance of staying dry. Having lived on moorings in Poole exposed to the SW we know all too well how hard it is to get on board with dry gear once the wind went up to above F3 from the wrong direction, not a good way to start a weekend.

Getting on or off a tight spot on the pontoons with a cross wind depends on how easy Lechwe handles, easier too if you have a bow thruster which I suspect you might? With our boat even without a thruster I would have no worries and at worst we would soon find some workarounds with spring lines for any commonly occuring awkward days.

Personally I would lean towards the pontoon option in your particular case, elsewhere might be different. As you said it will be nice to have a choice to make!

Credentials are 25 years on swingers, 25 years of laying swingers /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif, 10 years of being a swingerlayer gang leader and now 12 years in a marina.

All IMNSHO and in the best possible taste. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Depends who you ask. No way would I get SWMBO in a rubber duck on a dark, wet and windy night (like this summer). She would confiscate my cheque book if I even suggested it. Much nicer to walk onto a warm and cosy berth with electric blanket plugged in

Yes, I would consider....a swinging mooring in Chichester Harbour would be very nice. Long waiting list though....and not so cheap.
 
I would prefer a pontoon rather than swinging. The bows of boats on swinging moorings often show staining/marking where the buoy comes up against the hull.

Loading & unloading is also easier as has been already stated.

But in either case, a substantial dinghy is essential
 
[ QUOTE ]
loading from dinghy (not too much of an issue with a Dory and bathing platform)

[/ QUOTE ]A bathing platform is fine in theory for boarding in calm water, and certainly a dory with a flat rather than pointy bow will be very helpful, as it will lie for and aft to the tide. If the water is at all lumpy (as it often is at my Felixstowe Ferry mooring) then tying the dinghy alongside to transfer gear, people, and outboard is likely to be a much more practical and safe option.
 
Pontoon has advantages however, who owns the pontoon you and your mooring partner or the harbour master?

If you and/or your mooring partner own it then you will be responsible for its mooring to the piles, insuring it and any other maintenance. This is the case in the Hamble.

Our pontoon is co-owned with a friend, so all costs etc are sorted amicably. However my Managing Director's pontoon on the Hamble he owns outright as none of his mooring partners have been prepared to go halves on the insurance and other costs, yet alone purchase 50%.

I have suggested he removes the cleats from the other side of his pontoon /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
The bows of boats on swinging moorings often show staining/marking where the buoy comes up against the hull

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't underestimate the chafe of pontoon fenders on the topsides. I reckon that has brought repaint forward by at least 5 years - I my DRYING mooring is less exposed than anywhere on the Hamble!
 
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