Would you trust one of these gadgets?

[Dyflin]

http://www.youtube.com/v/tAGEzolzT_8&

It seems like a good idea for certain cruising grounds, but how long would you leave your boat attached to one?

 

[ChrisE]

My guess is that these are designed for Scandanavian waters where it is common to moor up bow-to to ring bolts in the rock, which can be of varying degrees of rustiness. However, in my experience the anchorages where these are used are extremely well sheltered and I'd guess these temporary bolts would work well. Difficult to see a use in most UK anchorages, tho' expect p'raps Scotland.

 

[KristiferColumbus]

http://www.youtube.com/v/tAGEzolzT_8&

It seems like a good idea for certain cruising grounds, but how long would you leave your boat attached to one?

I would'nt it looked dodgy to me.

 

[Robin]

The principle is an established one in rock climbing circles or was when I last did it over 40 years ago. In Ster Wenn anchorage on Belle Isle, Southern Brittany, it is customary to drop an anchor off the bow and tie a stern line to the cliff so it could have a use there but the downside is that you have to go ashore to release it. We discovered the hard way years ago that if you attached the stern line at HW then wanted to retrieve it at LW, that entailed a climb up a slippery weed covered cliff. Nowadays we are more cunning and use a sacrificial loop round a rock to thread our stern line though for an easy exit although often someone beforehand has left one in place for us to use anyway. In the absence of a rock you could make a jamming fitting to fit in a suitable sized crack from a few large steel nuts with rope fed through and knotted below and a loop above to attach you line to, cheap enough to leave behind too.

I think it would hold OK but only IF the pull was from the right direction. I would not be happy however about using the snaplink which can easily open if it capsizes on the ring, same problem with safety harness on a U-bolt and why double clips were invented like the Gibb.

 

[aitchw]

Looks like it is aimed at the Jet Ski market but would be OK for a smallish boat on a short term basis. Don't like the idea of hammering that relatively narrow walled loop though.

 

[bilbobaggins]

http://www.youtube.com/v/tAGEzolzT_8&

It seems like a good idea for certain cruising grounds, but how long would you leave your boat attached to one?

That looks quite unreliable. If heading for places where that form of mooring is needed - Hebridean wilderness, Swedish archipelagos, Greenland fiords, Lymington Town Quay - then pay a visit to a rock climber's store. There you'll be introduced to 'pegs' or 'pitons' of varying kinds and shapes, for varying kinds of cracks. Climbers trust their lives to those. Ask Jimi.....

You can trust your boat, secured to one, provided you attach it with more than the illustrated two half hitches on a cotton washing line.

 

[fireball]

Lymington Town Quay

Yes - we found we needed one there too - but the neighbouring boat complained when we hammered the fitting between his topsides and his toerail!!

 

[michael_w]

The gadget sems OK. It's the rope that looks well dodgy.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

That looks quite unreliable. If heading for places where that form of mooring is needed - Hebridean wilderness, Swedish archipelagos, Greenland fiords, Lymington Town Quay - then pay a visit to a rock climber's store. There you'll be introduced to 'pegs' or 'pitons' of varying kinds and shapes, for varying kinds of cracks. Climbers trust their lives to those. Ask Jimi.....

You can trust your boat, secured to one, provided you attach it with more than the illustrated two half hitches on a cotton washing line.

Do keep up BB old chap. pegs and pitons are now really quite old hat as they damage the rock irretrievably, just like the device in the clip. There are however lots of cunning and wonderful devices for securing oneself to rock, many of which could be used for this sort of application. A climbing shop will indeed offer many possibilities.

 

[TamarMike]

It looks too tempting for kiddies to fiddle with and dislodge unless in a very remote area, otherwise it would be quite useful for mooring tenders to.

 

[moodycruiser]

....erm

It's sort of along the lines of the tool that ancient masons used for lifting huge stone blocks - an expanding wedge in a cut out in the top of the block called a Lewis.

 

[Metabarca]

Looks as though it works on the same principle as the cam chocks ('friends') used in climbing: loading it presses cams against the rock, whilst releasing the load makes it easy to remove. I wouldn't mind one for Dalmatia; it could be a useful backup to the anchor in case of bora!

 

[sailorman]

it wont work

on the UK East Coast

 

[ChrisE]

This is more the kind of thing you need on the East coast

 

[sailorman]

we normally use petter engines, the Con-Rod through the Crankcase gives them a better grip