Working on a mooring buoy

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Ursaminoris

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Hi, this is my second question. In my first post, I asked about finding a cheap dry dock in Ireland. Many of you recommended using a mooring buoy instead to save money.


This year I need to get some work done: refreshing the non-slip surface and organizing a new mast. Until now, I’ve only worked on my boat while it was in dry dock, but since money is a bit tight, I’d like to know if anyone has experience working on a boat while it’s on a buoy.


For example, if I sand or grind down the non-slip surface, how can I prevent debris from polluting the water?
 
Most of the debris will remain on deck where it can be swept up. A bit of sanding dust being blown over the side I might not worry about. Your bigger problem might be supplying power to your tools for long periods.

When do you start your university job? If it's not till September there may be cheaper options across the sea around North Wales.
 
If you can find a mooring that has access to a pontoon with mains electricity, the solution is obvious - come alongside when you want to work, and put the boat back on the mooring when you're done.

If you have to work on the mooring, I'd suggest getting a generator to power tools or recharge batteries. Solar power and an inverter would also work; maybe not with enough power to keep going all weekend, but has the advantage of being a useful investment for future cruising.
 
I commend you on your environmental awareness and wanting to prevent GRP shit and paint debris from entering the ecosystem.

Use a power tool with a vacuum attachment and obviously, a vacuum system to suck up the dust. You will of course need a power source such as a generator or a portable lithium battery system that is quite common these days. The portable lithium battery system is charged at home.

For power tools that don't have vacuum attachments, you can still follow the tool with the suction hose. Its a bit fiddly but can be done, also can be two person job.

I use an older version of the small Kercher WD2 vacuum, which comes with a flexible rubber tube to fit to power tools and, or bridge to the power tool vacuum point. I also have an old Vax wet and dry vacuum which has greater suction. In my workshop I use a an older, previous model of the Triton Dust Collector DCA 300 bucket between the vacuum and the power tool. They work using cyclonic air flow to centrifuge out the heavy dust particles. The advantage of a dust collector is that it stops the vacuum filter from clogging with fine particles as all the dust stays in the bucket. On a deck of a boat, you would have the vacuum, the dust bucket, and plastic hoses, which might be a hassle, but it will be manageable. The dust buckets are much larger than the vacuum's dedicated dust bucket. It is worth using as it allows the job to continue much longer without changing vacuum filters. I think that would be a very useful addition. Finally, I use a thing called an Xtra Hand that sticks to the surface and is connected to the vacuum and is excellent at collecting dust when working in a small area with limited power tool movement.

Links below are to examples. It all costs money of course and soon adds up but the second hand market is full of stuff like this as well, so it can be had for relatively low costs (maybe not the generators and power banks). Still, what you want to achieve is perfectly plausible.

Power Bank Example

Honda EU22i – Compact Petrol Inverter Generator

Triton Dust Bucket Example

Kercher Vacuum Cleaner

Xtra Hands for Catching Dust
 
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Just to be a wee bit pedantic I consider “dry dock” to be a dock where the yacht or ship entrees and the water drained out leaving the vessel dry.Unlike a marina where the vessel is extracted from the water with a hoist and deposited on the hard standing.
 
Wansworth said:
Just to be a wee bit pedantic I consider “dry dock” to be a dock where the yacht or ship entrees and the water drained out leaving the vessel dry.Unlike a marina where the vessel is extracted from the water with a hoist and deposited on the hard standing.
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That was all mentioned on the OPs previous thread. It's just a language translation difference.
 
RunAgroundHard said:
The portal;e system is charged at home.
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If I understood ursaminoris’ previous thread they are planning to live aboard whilst studying in Dublin? Personally I think liveaboard on a swing mooring would be hard work, and renovations aboard whilst living on the boat (even on shore) is a pain of constantly moving stuff, but living on board whilst on a mooring and doing any substantial boat project would be step too far for most.

I wonder if the Irish canals actually offer a sensible option given the mast is broken anyway.
 
Working on a small boat on a swing mooring can be awkward. But doable. You should not have to sand down deck too much before applying non skid paint. Be aware that vacuum cleaners on 240v are generally quite high power consumption such that inverter not a good idea and generator needs to be bigger than small. Battery powered vacuum might be ok but not much suction. Replacing a mast can be a big job getting stays right length and actually raising the mast. Doable but not easy on swing mooring. Just go very carefully. ol'will
 
ridgy said:
Most of the debris will remain on deck where it can be swept up. A bit of sanding dust being blown over the side I might not worry about. Your bigger problem might be supplying power to your tools for long periods.

When do you start your university job? If it's not till September there may be cheaper options across the sea around North Wales.
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I already live in Dublin
 
A few years ago I bought a 1000w wet and dry vac specifically for boat jobs. It ran happily enough off my 1200w (peak) Lidl generator.
At the time I had a fairly leaky boat so this made an absolute breeze of getting the last little pockets of water out of the bilges.
 
ylop said:
If I understood ursaminoris’ previous thread they are planning to live aboard whilst studying in Dublin? Personally I think liveaboard on a swing mooring would be hard work, and renovations aboard whilst living on the boat (even on shore) is a pain of constantly moving stuff, but living on board whilst on a mooring and doing any substantial boat project would be step too far for most.

I wonder if the Irish canals actually offer a sensible option given the mast is broken anyway.
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No not liveaboard more planed anymore :(
 
Not living aboard on a swing mooring is sensible. Just getting through life would take up a lot of your day. As for working on it... I have had relatively little success getting work done on a swinging mooring, myself. It just all seems to go at a really slow pace. But I never took a generator to the boat (and I don't like having petrol there).

Unless it's really flaky (usually from prior bad treatment) I think it unlikely that the deck is top priority. If it's just not very grippy any more but not actually flaking off, and if previous owners were sensible and just continually used Interdeck paint like the original, then you may be able to clean and lightly sand and put another coat on without actually having to strip it. If you do have to strip it it can be a bit of a ghastly job, more for a scraper than a sander. Depends on the state it's in.

I don't think you'd be able to do the mast on a mooring.
 
It's possible. As a previous post said, power tools with vacuum dust extraction is a good idea.

And a generator. Definitely a generator. Battery tools are all well and good, but you'll run out of power just before you finish.

An umbrella is also useful to catch things if you are working over the sides.

Also, if working inside, I have always found it best to remove as much domestic stuff as possible, just leave what you need, then pit it all back when all your work is finished.
 
Tintin said:
Also, if working inside, I have always found it best to remove as much domestic stuff as possible, just leave what you need, then pit it all back when all your work is finished.
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Good point there. One of my little regrets from my own boat overhaul is not absolutely emptying it before I started, the moment I put her in the yard. But that's more for the "change everything" approach (I started out pretending I wasn't going to do that... never again!). Shoving everything in the v-berth and closing it off while you do everything else, then back to the saloon while you do that part, is possible. But a pain in the backside.

On a mooring buoy it's not great to be in a condition that's far from ready-to-move.
 
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