To swing or not to swing

[FlyingSpud]

What do people think the relative strengths and weaknesses are of a swing mooring over fore and aft? I notice that the swing moorings seem about 50% more expensive. I ask as I have just signed up for a river mooring with a local club and said ‘adios’ to the local Marina.

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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

A swinging mooring means you can come at it against current to allow a complete stop as your bow is over the pickup buoy. Fore and aft stops this, they are normally set in the direction of current, but convention for having your vessel in a certain direction will dictate. Where I used to be in Porthmadog it was prefered that boats pointed towards town as they would open the sleuce gates regularly to drain the cob.

Trying to moor with the tide on a river can be a nightmare, and coming in on a Sunday night would mean your vessel would be facing the wrong way(?) until you next visited the boat. There seems a lot less current where I am now in Pwllheli and I have not had a problem thus far getting my boat correctly positioned on the trot.

Another dissadvantage, if one of the trots is empty then all the other trots tend to bunch up, I find the buoys are often leaning on my rudders while most of the boats are out for winter.

Advantages of trots or fore and aft, you are closer to your nieghbour, I guess this could also be a dissadvantage, but it is nice to get to know our new nieghbours, and everyone is close to give help and advice. The other advantage as I see it, on a rough night aboard the motion of the boat is gentler, she seems to sit still in the water with a gentle pitch pole motion.

Hope this helps

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> Julian </font color=blue>

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[Neal]

I much prefer swinging. The boat can align herseself between tide and wind, which greatly reduces loads on warps and fittings. I also find picking up or leaving a trot mooring in strong cross winds can be more fun.


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[LadyInBed]

Re: River mooring

I moved from an exposed swinging mooring to a tidal river mooring.
The advantages of the fore and aft on the river is that you are much more sheltered. If one end were to break free you are still secured at the other end. This makes for a much better nights sleep on a windy night either at home or onboard and, in my case, cheaper insurance.
Although the river is tidal, I still find that for the majority of the time the current is flowing down the river – fast on the ebb, slow on the flow. The reverse flow occurs after a drought!!! mainly on springs. The wind tends to be funnelled either up or down river.
The hardest manoeuvre I have is turning the boat around in the river width. Technique varies depending on what and how much is against/with you. It ranges from nosing into the opposite bank, holding onto one of the buoys, or heading out in reverse and doing a spin turn.


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[FlyingSpud]

Club says we have to moor pointing one way (not sure why), so it did strike me that coming in ‘down tide’ would be interesting, I came to the conclusion may be easier to ‘Back in’. Still, it may be worth £150.00 pa

Dunno the neighbours yet, so plead the 5th Amendment on that


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[john_morris_uk]

Reasons for and against seem to have been fairly well put - except that I suspect that the only reason that swing moorings are more expensive is that they take up more (moor?) room. Those who own/lease the sea/river bed maximise their income by charging appropriately which doesn't seem too unreasonable...


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[Guest]

Down tide pick-up ..

I used to have a long 8mm line that I used to get bow-person to clip onto the up-current (aft) pick-up buoy's 'floating' pendant ... and the boat would continue to drift down onto the bow mooring buoy. Bow person would then pick up bow pemdant, with me putting engine astern to halt boat. Now pulling on the 8mm line will bring boat back into trot and with engine assisting and line pulling you get back to aft pendant and secure. Remove 8mm line and .... whats the problem ?

BUT I prefer swinging moorings as the boat is not held contrary to any winds / currents etc. and swings to take up best position. OK so morring load is on one main point, but you can insure non-loss of boat by backing up with pendants to alternative points also ... such as anchor windlass, mast base etc. That has saved my boat in past.

There is another way to moor in fore-aft trots and be able to come in with / against tide / current ..... that is to have a floating marked pendant bewteen the fore and aft buoys, this can be picked up and used by bow and stern men to set boat up etc. - more harder than first sytsem - but works.


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !

 

[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Re: Down tide pick-up ..

<font color=green>>>I used to have a long 8mm line that I used to get bow-person to clip onto the up-current (aft) pick-up buoy's 'floating' pendant ... and the boat would continue to drift down onto the bow mooring buoy. Bow person would then pick up bow pemdant, with me putting engine astern to halt boat. Now pulling on the 8mm line will bring boat back into trot and with engine assisting and line pulling you get back to aft pendant and secure. Remove 8mm line and .... whats the problem ??<<</font color=green>

You have obviously never tried this in a 2kt current with a catamaran then ;-)

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> Julian </font color=blue>

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[Guest]

Nope ....

but of course anyone with a pinch of ..... would adjust things deopendent on their circumstances / boat etc.

It was given as an example - one to give food for thought.

<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !

 

[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Re: Nope ....

I know, what I said was tongue in cheek, not a dig at you, more a dig at some of the fun I have had when we moored in Porthmadog, once the wind funnelled between my hulls and the current got me, things would often get interesting.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> Julian </font color=blue>

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[milltech]

Wooden Boat?

I think the main benefit of swinging for wooden boats is that both sides get a fair share of the weather, this extends the time between painting and the spreads the sunlight damage. To a much smaller extent this is true for GRP too.

One of the nicest things I discovered moving from a marina to trots, but equally if swinging, was that even if I was just aboard for the afternoon or the night I was really afloat with boat traffic passing to be hailed etc. So much much more attractive than the marina parking lot.

<hr width=100% size=1>John
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[FlyingSpud]

Re: Wooden Boat?

Are you more likely to bash up against the mooring buoy on trots than on a swing?
I was just wondering. I suppose you are, as to some extent you are always being swept down onto one or other buoy while on a swing you tend to be pulled downstream, though there is the point on the swing, when often the nose tends to clout against the buoy.


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[Guest]

No offence .... I know what you mean !

Crewed years ago on cats ..... found it interesting !! Took different techniques etc. to what I had learnt all those years ...... One boat I was lucky - had twin o/boards so we could really play with that one !!!

<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !