Association Forum - Mooring lines help

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Mooring lines help

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

karentc
1st Mate

Member Avatar

USA
68 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/25/2006 : 09:05:35

Hi!
I have been keeping my C-25 at a slip for the past five years and am now moving to a mooring in the same marina. Our marina requires 8' lines (dimensioned from boat edge to bottom of mooring ball) and we are going to need to purchase the appropriate hardware and lines to create the mooring lines (pennants?). We had to use pretty small dock lines due to the small cleats (& holes in the cleats) and I am concerned about wear and tear and rubbing with mooring lines. Any suggestions on what gauge line, or how to rig the mooring lines?
Any advice or tricks of the trade would be sincerely appreciated as I am now going to be learning how to land my boat on a mooring in a marina with a bunch of other boats on moorings and a seawall, etc... Yikes!!! The slip was so easy!!!
THANKS SO MUCH!!!

Karen Christensen amd Moondance in beatiful Traverse City Michigan

Karen Christensen
Moondance, #5465 1986 C-25, SR, FK, Honda 8
Traverse City, Michigan

Edited by - on

osmepneo
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
1420 Posts

Response Posted - 05/25/2006 : 09:52:12

Karen,

when I was Mooring Chair at the Nyack Boat Club we developed a mooring standards for our boats. I assume you are only interested in the pennantsbecause the marina operator is providing the mooring and the mooring ball.

Attach the pennants to the ball if there is a place for them on the ball, or to a forged ring beneath the ball. I ould think you would want a s shackle and a swivel shackle minimize the chance of the pennants and chain twisting. You'll want an eye splice on the end of the pennants which will go on the cleats on the bow of the boat. A concern is chaffing, but that is minimized when cleats are provided on the deck rail. Regardless you'll want to check the pennants regularly during the season.

I hope that helps.

One other thing you will probably want to get is a pick-up stick that you attach to the end of the pennants when you leave the mooring. When you come in from sailing, you'll approach the pick-up stick and pull it up to get to the pennants. Make sense?

Edited by - on

Ericson33
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
892 Posts

Response Posted - 05/25/2006 : 10:46:35

We had out boat on a mooring for about three years before getting into a slip. For the line you will want a good braided line that has some strech to it. I used a 3/8" line. as for the lenth I bought 100' for the line to do the job. The marina supplied the shackel and swivel to attach the bridle to the mooring ball. You need to have one of these to make sure that the lines do not twist the chain, or the lines going to the ball from the boat.

I tied up out boat kinda different from anyone else, but it did the job very well. From the shackel and swivel I looped the line around it making sure that both sides of the line where equal, about 8'-0" up on both sides I put a knot in the line to hold a normal white fender, This allowed for the lines to come to a direct point out from the mooring ball, then split into a larger v back to the chokes on the rail. again on the line I tied another knot, then slipped a peice of garden hose onto the lines (chafe protection) on each side. Then I would just tie the lines off to the cleats.

As for picking up the mooring lines, We would just let our float (The fender will float the lines 8'-0" away from the mooring ball) I got good enough that I could come up to the mooring head to wind, and catch it at the bow by myself. It will take some practice but it can be done.

Another reason for the fender is when the lake or tide goes up you can tell where the ball is if it goes under the water.

Hope this helps.

Edited by - on

takokichi
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
321 Posts

Response Posted - 05/25/2006 : 12:29:56

C - did you find that the larkshead on the swivel wore appreciably? I use them all over the place, most recently in my dinghy painter but I'm always afraid that if the tension on the is light, then the knot could slip, causing wear when the knot goes tight again.

Edited by - on

glivs
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
836 Posts

Response Posted - 05/25/2006 : 13:02:46

Karen
Although we are protected on three sides by land, our marina requires boats our size to use a 5/8" 3-strand nylon penant with a metal thimble on one end and a braided loop on the other to attach to the boat. I agreee with previous suggestions and add the following. Be sure to seize the shackle pin(s) where you attach your penant and swivel to the bottom of the mooring ball. Use either mulitple nylon zip-ties or ss wire. As to chaffing on the bow rail, we wrap a 6" x 12" piece of canvas around the line and tie it in place with light line. Once the penant is looped over the boat cleat, I also wrap a light line around the loop to ensure the penant cannot accidentally slip off.

Under most situations a single mooring line is sufficient, but if a particularly heavy storm is forecast, I add a second penant using an old mooring line. Check your equipment at least a couple of times a season. You'll be surprised how easily "secure" fittings can work loose if given the opportunity.

Last except for the Solings, our marina strongly discourages boats from sailing off or onto their moorings. It is requested we motor to and from the channel.

Good luck and enjoy your mooring.

Edited by - on

Ericson33
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
892 Posts

Response Posted - 05/25/2006 : 13:13:46

I really never had any problems with the knot, I am sure there are a ton of different ways of securing the lines to the swivel, I have heard that if you tie a bowling that it reduces the line strenth by 30%. For three years the only problem that I would run into (really) was the Catalina 22 off my starboard side because they would never adjust the scope. The 22 would have there keel up so the boat wouldn't point into the wind as fast as or 25. They would lightly touch in really light winds in the cove. I have had a Larkshead break on me before at the dock, but the line I used was an old 5/16" halyard I went from the dock to the cleat then back to the dock @ the front of the boat then back to the pther cleat, then back to the dock on the starboard side. I am guessing the force of the boat comming up and down in the slip cause the line to snap.

For the Mooring tackle I used a 3/8" Double braid @ 5000lbs. It really was the first line I ever bought for any boat back three years ago. I went into West Marine and bought the best line they sold for the job, It was well over $100.00. I still have the line today, its still got the fender on it, and it is attached to the front of our dock in the same way it was installed on the mooring. I can come into the slip and I will never hit the front of the dock, the boat is guided by the lines down the side, then the boat rest on the fender.

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 05/26/2006 : 11:04:40

Hi Karen, I cant say much about mooring lines, but my daughter attends Western Michigan in TC and I cant think of a better place in the U.S. to sail out of. Have you done the North Channle yet? Cheers.

Edited by - on

aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 05/26/2006 : 13:21:56

I've moored my boat for 16 years using a single 1/2" x 12' long pennant with a bridle spliced onto the pennant. To ensure nothing gets twisted. I use swivels at every attachment point, from the anchor up to the ball and from the ball to the pennant. The bridle helps to minimize the boats tendancy to "sail" around the mooring. I'm moored in 20' feet of water and have 40' feet of 5/8" chain from the anchor to the ball.

My boat has never dragged it's mooring, even during storms which have caused boats in our yacht club marina to drag. Those moorings were in a protected field where my mooring is in open water.

Edited by - on

Trust Me
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
71 Posts

Response Posted - 05/26/2006 : 15:00:10

Karen:
All good tips are coming your way. Having been directly involved in building the Elk Rapids marina I hope you sail over to the east arm and visit.
I believe your weather will be predominently from the NW as you practice your approaches to the mooring ball single handed while you handle main halyard, mooring hook, main sheet all at once to impress your neighbors.

I agree with the 5/8 main line to the mooring ball but then I used two 1/2 inch lines to the boat making one the main line to my bow cleat using thimbles and hardware at each "joint". I use one of the two lines to the boat as my main and kept the other "loose" for swing. I used a chlorox bleach bottle tied at the last "joint" to help retrieval and help prevent all the lines from wrapping around the mooring ball chain.

I did tie off my rudder straight to further prevent the boat from sailing around the mooring. If you like to sail at night, which I do, and you are in the middle of a mooring area buy some reflective tape say 3 inch wide by 6 inch long and put a strip on each side of the mast above the spreaders. It makes it lot easier to pass a flashlight across the tops of all those masts at midnight to find your boat from a dinghy. Another set of strips amidship helps too.
Someday you must go around the Old Mission point and head westerly across Lake Michigan (only 60 miles) to "Porte de Mort" and into Wisconsin's beautiful Green Bay and Door County.
Ron

Edited by - on

karentc
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
68 Posts

Response Posted - 05/30/2006 : 15:55:44

DJN,
I haven't done the North Channel yet in a sailboat but I did tour it about 10 years ago in a kayak (with a tent). My boyfriend's parents go up every year and we are hoping to drive up and hook up with them this summer. We both want to do it but sailing the boat up on weekends and paying for slip fees all the way up is a bit out of our budget right now. But if we can figure a way to do it where we can spend a week or so up there and not take the whole summer to do it we will (his parents Tartan 30 is looking like the best way right now!) Do you get up this way to visit much???
Thanks!
Karen :)

Edited by - on

karentc
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
68 Posts

Response Posted - 05/30/2006 : 16:00:57

Thanks everyone for the great info and advice- the drawing helped alot as I am a bit new to some of the terms. Our mooring is provided by the marina we are in, so we just have to provide the pennants to attach below the buoy, but I am going to save this great info for future reference in case we end up putting in our own mooring in the future. Thanks again!!!!
Karen :)

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 05/30/2006 : 16:57:59

Hi Karen, my daughter is home for the summer so I will not be back up there until fall. I don't have a trailer for my boat, but if I did I would bring the boat up and sail the bay for a weekend. CHeers.

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.