Chafed Mooring Line

[Sandero]

On Friday Oct 28, the winds in Northport blew steady 20 all day beginning at about 9 am or so ending at 6pm. There were gusts to gale force of over 35 at times.

I was at home 50 miles away working. On Saturday we drove out to check on the boat. The season had pretty much ended for most and of the several hundred moored boats in the harbor there were perhaps 25 still moored. Saturday was a beautiful day in Northport and it began for me by pumping out 5 inches of water in the dink!

The Yamaha was a bit stubborn in firing up, but it did and off we went for the 3/4 mile trip to our mooring. YIKES there were several boats washed up on the Eastern shore, among them was a 35+' ketch The Wanderer. There were several smaller racing sloops on their sides on the beach north of Center Island Yacht Club.

Northport has a bit of a mooring problem. There is an 8' tidal range and winds are of course variable coming mostly from the SW but frequently from the NW and Easterly especially in the Fall. The net effect of this is that boats are rotating around their mooring (balls) and their mooring lines become twisted... and never seem to untwist.

Shiva is restless at anchor and on her mooring and has a stainless steel trim screwed to the teak rub strake. No problem for chafe of the mooring line unless she veers off quite a bit in strong winds... And she does. The result of this has been a lifted off ss trim at the bow on the rub strake and some chafe to the line...

To counter act this problem I installed a very stout bow eye which is attached with a backing plate inside the anchor locker. Shiva has had this rig for about 6 years or so through several hurricanes and intense micro bursts and squalls. In all of those weather events boats around Shiva were lost and washed up on the shore... in Sag Harbor, Dering Harbor and now our home Northport. During one micro bust that came through Sag Harbor, one of our painters pulled the ss trim off and chaffed a bit as well but held the boat. The bow eye is rated for 16,000# didn't do as well. The bow eye broke! And the Wichard Snap hook was worn and bent. WOW that must have been intense. The system I use has the line to the bow eye shorter and the *working* line, the second line is longer and secured to a bow cleat. It doesn't see any force unless the bow eye *breaks*. And in that micro burst it did, the second line then lifted the ss trim, chaffed a bit but held the boat. The rudder was freed from it locked position and pushed side to side during the storm. The steering quadrant had to be re centered as well. The boat survived.

Sandy was another test... and again there were a handful or yachts which were washed up onto the West shore. Not Shiva. This time she dragged her mooring 750 feet to the southwest through the largely at that time empty mooring field. When I got to the boat... the wheel had fall off... probably again from the rudder being pushed back and forth for hours stop to stop, loosening the nut. Again the steering was fine, just bolted the wheel back.

The bow eye this time was very worn, but held but the Wichard snap hook deformed and was pulled off the bow eye. Security line held fine and had no chaffe. This was the 2nd time Shiva survived intense weather on her mooring with the bow eye line which was sacrificed at some point. A small price to pay to not lose the boat.


This past Friday the bow eye held perfectly.... a bit of worn metal, but the security line chaffed off. It looked like a clean break almost as if it was sawn thru. When we arrived the loop end was dangling about 7 feet from the bow cleat and the part still obviously attached to the mooring.

The mooring lines had twisted several times and somehow managed to wrap themselves tightly around the mooring chain BELOW the ball. The only way I could undo this mess was to raise the chain using a halyard couple of feet. The ball was "free enough" to lift and allow me to untwist the lines which were detached from the boat. There were no winds and we were moored from the main halyard! I would not attempt this with any wind. But there was damage to the security line and perhaps that was where it parted. The bow eye line was undamaged. The helm was still locked as I have been applying a lot of pressure to the locking know post Sandy.

Chafe is the enemy of the sailor. If I could find stronger bow eye and Wichard snap I would upgrade. We can't do anything about the mooring twisting in that harbor.

Avoid chafe at all cost. Third close call. And it all starts again next Spring. On Wednesday I sail Shiva to protected in water winter storage.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

[capngeo]

Great Post!
A couple observations:

1. You have a tough anchorage!
2. If you can drag your mooring 750'..... You need a bigger mooring!
3. An industrial swivel will save your pendant from twist
4. Have you ever thought of a proper hawse pipe to reduce chafe to your deck fastened line?

[Sandero]

There is a huge swivel on the top of the chain/ mooring ball. It doesn't seem to swivel however... I think perhaps... it is hitting the ball itself.... not sure. All the moorings on this harbor with 2 mooring lines are twisted!

My mooring is a 500# mushroom. Maybe a larger one will prevent the dragging in a hurricane. I didn't drag this past week an inch... but in Sandy it was quite amazing. There were just a couple of boats in the Harbor during Sandy so no collisions when I did drag. And this was one of the reasons I was not too concerned leaving the boat on the mooring. I had almost nothing to hit if I dragged and the only concern was if the lines parted.... and they didn't... one remained in service. A hurricane in a crowded field would be disastrous in that harbor. My boat on it's mooring can be seen on Google Earth (first row second from the right) a few hundred feet east of the small boat house on the west shore out by the Vanderbuilt mansion. I prefer to be at the edge of the mooring field rather than the middle for a number of reasons... less waking and traffic and noise/disturbance. The risk is the west shore is pretty close... and that a lee shore in for easterly blows... and not great if the storm passes to the east.... which they usually do.

The anchorage is lovely... the town fabulous... no hotels or motels...great restaurants, a lovely park on the harbor, long town dock... not full of marinas... the best in all Long Island Sound... bar none.

[Sandero]

Added info to image

[zeehag]

you are in a tidal mayhem and need desperately to sail south

[Pete O Static]

Sandy also hit just when the full moon and sun were alignment, giving a super spring tide combined with a storm surge. That could have been a factor for dragging your mooring.

My worry in mooring fields is the "other guy". I have a boat on a mooring and each and every other boat leaves the anchor on the roller and year after year, they saw through the pennant and go adrift taking others with them.

Glad you are not one of those!