JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
I assume that in due course I'll do fewer long trips and more short trips or pottering and then, what with decreased mobility as well, it will be a pontoon for me.
Swinging vs Marina Moorings
- Thread starter Little Dorrit
- Start date
I assume that in due course I'll do fewer long trips and more short trips or pottering and then, what with decreased mobility as well, it will be a pontoon for me.
Fantasie 19
Well-Known Member
...too bloody right... the thought of having to keep mine in a marina would fill me with dread - she goes backwards like a brick wall, her manoeuvrability is poor at low speeds, and I sail mostly solo.... hats off to the permanent marina berth holders, clearly their seamanship at close quarters is better than mine!
Tranona
Well-Known Member
It is all a question of making use of the characteristics of your boat and the way in which you sail. So, the dread of marina mooring shrinks if you have a modern boat with a good engine and a bow thruster. Then you have little to fear and it means in my case, as I live 10 minutes from the club I can walk along the pontoon, get my boat out and be sailing in less than 30 minutes from home - all on my own. If my circumstances were different and I did not own this boat then I would not be able to do this, and probably would not own a boat at all.
ex-Gladys
Well-Known Member
I love being on a swinging mooring (easy because of launch service), whilst we visit numerous marinas, it's a bit like wanting to wake up in a multistorey car park...
Georgio
Well-Known Member
Same here, we don't often sleep aboard on our home mooring but when we do it's lovely, quiet, secluded and a great spot to wake up. Writing this makes me think I should do it more often!
ghostlymoron
Well-Known Member
If you've only got a 20 footer, as indicated by your profile, you should consider getting some boat handling training.
Little Dorrit
Well-Known Member
So I'm falling on the side of a mooring for ease of coming and going and being able to enjoy a day simply relaxing without the need to go anywhere. I think the time it takes to get to the open sea is pretty much the same either way when you factor everything into the equation. I dare say that for family or group sailing then a marina is a must but for short handed sailing it seems to me a small dinghy should be able to accommodated everything I would need in one trip. I like the sound of being able to spend a day simply sitting on the boat away from it all. And finally the cost saving of perhaps £80 - £100 per visit to the boat will probably be spent on a few more expensive bottles of wine...the affirmative votes are in the majority.
Fantasie 19
Well-Known Member
...thank you for your kind words of advice.... :encouragement:
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
The worst-handling boat I have ever had to manoeuvre was the shortest, 23 ft. It just would not go to port astern, so getting into a berth stern-first required a series of banana-shaped movements, strong blasts of forward followed by delicate drifts astern.
Seajet
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ghostlymoron,
I fear you are misled by Fantasie 19's modesty; he usually sails where I lazily motor, and I'd think hard before I agreed to any boat handling contest with him; I suspect he was trying to put over the position of an inexperienced bod rather than himself and boat.
Just as nowadays one gets complete novices on 45 footers, there are also experienced sailors who simply prefer the responses and immediacy of 20 footers - and dare I say 22's as well !
doug748
Well-Known Member
This thread has got me thinking (again) about a marina mooring. If it was the same price I would go for it, as it seems ideal for old codgers. Though I know I would get to the boat a bit more but sail a bit less. However I see that the nearest marina to me would cost 3 grand more than I pay now, plus I would get a spot with a lot of current which would effectively mean I would have to avoid anything near 1/2 tide and there would be drama.
Seems to me a good plan if you live a long way from the sea, perfect to arrive late Friday have a meal on site and get sorted for an early start next day. This is not a factor in you live on the doorstep.
For day sailing I generally sail on and off the mooring and I see you have a sound boat for that, so I recommend the same. I have only found it a struggle when the mooring is hidden in a clutch of others and the tide is variable and at times strong. Avoiding using the engine is a fine exercise and justifies going out for a couple of hours; starting the motor for 30 seconds would give me a guilt complex.
I use an old big inflatable and outboard to get out to the boat, tough as old guts but a nightmare on a weedy slipway. When I can't manage that, or really begin to worry about slipping, it will be the time to pack up or bite the bullet and find the extra cash.
ProDave
Well-Known Member
This is an interesting thread, and just highlights local differences.
I have the choice of a swing mooring in deep water so full tide access, or a half tide pontoon berth in a drying harbour. There is nothing to choose between them regarding price.
I sacrifice access for the shelter and convenience of a walk aboard pontoon. I have always avoided a mooring as I would worry about the boat in rough weather, and worry about getting too and from it in rough weather. Plus it would mean I would have to keep and maintain a tender.
I can enter and leave my berth single handed, there's a tight turn to do and I find by vectoring my OB my boat steers remarkably well astern. And the berth suits my lifting keel boat that obligingly sits upright on the soft mud in the harbour at low tide.
Picking up a mooring is not something I would find easy single handed, I don't find it particularly easy with crew if there's a strong wind or current.
I have the choice of a swing mooring in deep water so full tide access, or a half tide pontoon berth in a drying harbour. There is nothing to choose between them regarding price.
I sacrifice access for the shelter and convenience of a walk aboard pontoon. I have always avoided a mooring as I would worry about the boat in rough weather, and worry about getting too and from it in rough weather. Plus it would mean I would have to keep and maintain a tender.
I can enter and leave my berth single handed, there's a tight turn to do and I find by vectoring my OB my boat steers remarkably well astern. And the berth suits my lifting keel boat that obligingly sits upright on the soft mud in the harbour at low tide.
Picking up a mooring is not something I would find easy single handed, I don't find it particularly easy with crew if there's a strong wind or current.
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Little Dorrit
Well-Known Member
Picking up a mooring buoy is possibly one of the most worrying aspects of this as opposed to a marina. I have in the past used a long rope doubled up so as to form a loop (of considerable length) dropped over the bow roller, but this is fraught with obvious dangers (ropes and props come to mind); I would not consider a mooring anywhere with strong tides just for this reason. No doubt better or more experienced sailors will be ok but I'm not in the risk taking business.
I would not personally however worry about rough weather with a boat moored as I think (providing there are two lines attached and regularly checked) this seems more of a perceived problem than an actual one. But that's just my opinion and I would not try and convince anyone differently.
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Scotty_Tradewind
Well-Known Member
My tip for what it's worth is to have a good length of line from your buoy with a good pick up buoy that has a very good handle or some form of loop to make pick up easy. A long thin and fairly large hook on the end of a pole or boat hook does the trick.
It worked for me with my Twister 28' and for my sons I/F Folkboat 26' (for sale
)S.
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JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
I'm certainly not going to put myself forward as "more experienced", but I quite like strong tides as long as direction isn;t an issue. It's soooo much easier to manoeuvre the boat when it's doing a reasonable speed through the water! I used to have a pontoon berth in Kirkcudbright marina and that was a doddle when the tide was running - at anything up to 5kt - because you could just sail or motor up level with your berth, crab in sideways and hold station while doing rope-y stuff. Of course that was with the tide aligned with the pontoon. Cross tides sound iffy to me.
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
At the risk of sounding a bit judgemental, anybody worried about their ability to pick up a mooring should probably do a few more MOB drills!
(I bet I miss my mooring next time, now that I've said that!)
(I bet I miss my mooring next time, now that I've said that!)
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Where I currently berth a pontoon berth (unserviced) is the same price as a swinging mooring. I'm on a pontoon because my insurers insist on it during winter months. Were this not the case I would take a mooring, which I think is more forgiving in bad weather when the boat will always lie to the wind (tideless water). Moorings also win out in the 'caravan park Vs boating' stakes, IMHO. From April I will be elsewhere on a buoy, and am looking forward to it.
Little Dorrit
Well-Known Member
I think the most difficult situations are with light displacement hulls and where windage can sometimes be a more significant factor than the tide. Having considerable HP to keep you moving helps make this a manageable situation but in a strong cross tide wind coupled with 4 plus knots of tide it's in the lap of the gods what might happen!
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Little Dorrit
Well-Known Member
At the risk of sounding disrespectful isn't MOB drill slightly different to picking up a buoy...or have I completely missed something!?
doug748
Well-Known Member
"Picking up a mooring buoy is possibly one of the most worrying aspects of this as opposed to a marina...."
I generally leave the inflatable on the mooring, so throwing the pick up into it is ideal for your return. It means there are no lines in the water and you can miss it with impunity and go around again.
I generally leave the inflatable on the mooring, so throwing the pick up into it is ideal for your return. It means there are no lines in the water and you can miss it with impunity and go around again.