Swinging moorings - a newbie

In several years of using a tidal swinging mooring (the "tidal" only being a problem at low springs):
minor issues with contact with another boat, with contact with another mooring buoy, abrasion of coving tape at bow by my own (hard plastic) mooring buoy, and abrasion of rudder against concrete block on sea bed. None of these were serious but the buoys were obviously too close together, and the buoy should have been of softer plastic, and a clean sea bottom would have been better. Just some things to watch for. If I have a swinging mooring this year it will be in deeper water, and slightly further from other buoys, so should be OK.

Biggest problem is the trip shore/boat which needs a reasonably stable dinghy, even so in more than F6 is not a good idea. You will have to row unless you can put an outboard on the yacht while standing in the dinghy which is not easy if single-handed, or unless you are happy leaving the outboard in place on the dinghy.
I have no qualms about leaving the dinghy on the mooring while I sail away but then, it cost me all of £20 and has the yacht name painted on it and the SSR carved into it!

Swinging moorings are much easier than marina berths to pick up and leave, especially if single-handed. They also give the feeling of being a "proper" yachtsman rather than being in a caravan park.
 
Never ever used a marina for more than an short stay. I hate the "car park" environment. It's like living in a block of flats. No privacy, too much noise, awkward to get in & out of so severe risk of bumps & grinds. Significant chafe risk to gear, leading to more bumps & grinds.

If you don't like the dinghy trip for loading (it can be a pain) pick a mooring with a quay & convenient parking as I have. Go to the boat alone, bring it alongside the quay & load all the gear direct from the car (including delcate passengers).

I have been broken into twice in 26 years. In both cases, more damage (breaking in) than gear stolen. Also both on drying moorings.

Broke free once in 26 years in NW'ly gale over ebb in shallow water and exposed location. No damage, she went ashore on sand/mud and was refloated a couple of tides later. Similar conditions in a Marina environment would have meant damage to several other boats as well as mine.

So, pick the right spot, sheltered & convenient & you are unlikely to regret it in my view.
 
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I'm not a swinger, but I have piles.

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You poor chap! I hope things get better in the new year.

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1) Boat security - do mid-stream boats get busted in to more than marina berth boats?

I've had a mooring both on the Thames, and in a remote corner of Wales, and this never happened.


2) do moorings strops break/mooring anchors fail and the boat drifts off in to the night? If the mooring kit is well maintained can this risk be largely removed?

After a couple of months of not getting to it, my boat did break free, and ended up on the rocks, and got bounced around for a tide or two. I was gutted. However, the tow off the rocks and repair cost less than keeping her in a marina for a year.

3) Do boats get crashed in to more than they do in marina berths?

It didn't happen to anyone I knew. Most car accidents happen in car parks; I'm sure it's the same with boats.

4) Id the dinghy ride to the boat a complete pain in the backside?

Nope. I used to row out and found it a fitting antidote to the car journey to the mooring.

5) Do owners of boats on moorings pine to be in a cosy marina berth with shorepower and easy walk ashore to the pub or do theyrevel in the beauty and quietness of the river mooring

I don't like marinas. You can sail on and off a mooring. If you sail into a marina you get yelled at.

6) do you lay awake at night when the forecast is "W, backing SW gale 8 occasionaly severe gale 9"

Yes, I did.

7) Does the boat get damp

No damper than it would in a marina

8) Does SWMBO think a river mooring is the modern equivalent of living in a cave?

Yes.
 
I agree with the swingers: I prefer a swinging mooring but it depends on the yard, we have deep water access and a yard launch during most of the weekend but for me the crunch is ease of use: I have a long keeler that doesn`t go astern, I can drop the bouy and be off in seconds, I can get back on the bouy singlehanded in almost all conditions and the time I spend rowing out in the dinghy is far less than the time I would spend trying to extract myself from a marina berth and sorting out fenders and warps, the only possible downside in lack of lug in shore power but not a serious consideration for me.
 
There's no getting away from it, it depends on exactly what the offer is. Weigh it up carefully particularly if you have a family and convenience to consider.

Marina walk on is very convenient!

ItS
 
I agree with some of the comments and having spent the last 3 years in a marina loved the pro's that it brings as others have mentioned. We have hwever tired of it and having spent many evenings this season swinging we have decided to be full time swingers from this month.

That said we have opted for for a sort of half way house in that fambridge yacht haven offer valet berthing to their hammer head on the river with just two hours notice the boat will be along side so we just step aboard, when we return we do the opposite leave it along side and they will put it back on the mooring. I believe its a good compromise and it also saves us £1000 a year.
 
Can I add another question (for those that are still reading this) which is what price should a swinging mooring be? I've been offered a swinging mooring which includes boatyard services and storage ashore in the package for a tariff of £78/foot (which will be over £3k). So it's about £2k cheaper than an equivalent marina berth. Is that about right? I was a little surprised to be honest because I thought swinging moorings cost about 3 'n 6 a year!
 
For the mooring I described above and a 29 foot boat I pay about £1500 a year and about £1000 more for haul out and winter storage. This is in Portsmouth Harbour about 40 minutes motoring from the entrance here. There are a few more details in this thread.
 
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Can I add another question (for those that are still reading this) which is what price should a swinging mooring be? I've been offered a swinging mooring which includes boatyard services and storage ashore in the package for a tariff of £78/foot (which will be over £3k). So it's about £2k cheaper than an equivalent marina berth. Is that about right? I was a little surprised to be honest because I thought swinging moorings cost about 3 'n 6 a year!

[/ QUOTE ] I presume that's in the Solent, rather than up amongst the Morgana Mudflats /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif? If so, it's probably par for the course. I pay about £80 per foot for my swinging mooring, with storage ashore and lift in/out on top of that - but I'm on one of the most notoriously expensive rivers in the Solent. Luckily, my boat is only 21ft 6ins long.

Some moorings are much less, but usually because they belong to a yacht club or are limited to local residents (Lymington and Yarmouth, for example). Others are less because they're in Portsmouth Harbour! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Out here in the mudflats of Chichester I paid £700 for the summer and about £900 for the winter, hauled out, mast down etc. I believe the HISC and the Conservancy moorings are a tad cheaper.
 
A swinging mooring is IMHO a lovely place to keep a boat. It's a dreadful place to work on a boat though so it should go with a winter haul out to a place where you have electricity and car access etc..
Do take a thorough look at the dinghy trip though. We had to lod the dinghy plus outboard into the car. Drive to another car-park remove dinghy, oars, outboard and a whole host of other kit. Then carry the dingy down to the water, inflate it and fit the outboard, load the kit and get going. At the boat the process is reversed. Take off the kit and outboard. Hoist the dinghy aboard, deflate it and lash it down. That is quite a long job. If you do it a few times a year its bearable; twice each weekend - rather less so.
I am now a crumbly and sail from marina to anchorage in Sweden. I load the boat once per season and I'm very glad I no longer have to do the car dinghy outboard routine any more.
Oh yes, the outboard was essential on the Dart at Dittisham - the tide flows faster than I can row.
 
I pay £220p.a. for my swing mooring on the Orwell for a 50 footer, with servicing and a lift out each year on top. I do move into a marina for the winter though. That is the single biggest annual boat expense.
 
For me the dinghy ride is the breathing space I need to put shore-side troubles behind me so I get to the boat fresh and ready to go. I enjoy it for that very reason.
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Dinghy ride - I enjoy about a 300 yd row, there and back. But I do have to allow time to get the tender from the compound into the water, and the row, so probably lose about 20-30 minutes per trip compared to alongside mooring. BTW - get a hard tender that's easy to row, not a deflatable. And rowing is more satisfying than outboarding, plus less fuss storing and transporting oars than an outboard. PS oars float, outboards don't.

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I agree oars and a rigid dinghy definitly less hassle between shore and yacht, though do have an outboard to use with inflatable carried aboard. What makes a big difference when comparing moorings is how easy it is to launch the dinghy, particularly at low water, recovering the crew and dinghy across several hundred yards of mud is not the ideal way to end a weekend.
 
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4) Is the dinghy ride to the boat a complete pain in the backside?

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Yesbutyesbut.

If you're on a swinging mooring having been in a marina previously, whilst rowing you'll have time to calculate:
(a) the savings made per trip to/from the boat*.
(b) If the wind/tide is against you - the savings per oar-stroke...


* You may wish to express this in "fractions of a Fendi handbag" per trip /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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Is there a good site for checking moorings nationwide?

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I'm still interested in this one! I'd finally like to leave the Humber and marinas this year and try a swinging mooring for a change. Haven't been able to find one for my fin keel 30ft boat though.
Google gives me plenty of general info about moorings but that seems to be it.

Any ideas?
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