In search of Anchoring/Mooring upgrade wisdom

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Techo, IMO while t he toe rail is strong enough to be used as a mooring point, a proper cleat is far more useful than something one must thread a line through for attachment.

Jim

If the toe rail is one of those alloy things with predrilled holes you might be able to turn the cleat on it's side and bolt it directly to the toe rail?

Having the bow roller extended forward away from the hull on a bowsprit does wonders for your paint work around the stem. Almost a necessity on a cruising boat where the anchors are being deployed and retrieved all the time in all conditions.

[Teknishn]

All, as the OP I want to thank you all for all of the input. This will be my final post on this thread as we don't need another thread about mooring systems that just goes on and on

My previous sailboat was a 27-footer. Learned some lessons there during the couple of years that I owned the boat. Made some mistakes with that boat that I don't intend to repeat. As such, moving onto this 27-footer does allow me a bit of a luxury of being able to do some armchair planning...but I know things will be different when actually aboard. Some things are hard and fast.....types of anchors, chain lengths, rode length. Others aren't. I am fortunate enough to have a full copy of the builder's drawings from the PO.

Ann's statement about living onboard before changing things is good advice, and it is much appreciated. Not going to change the interior habitability stuff until I liveaboard for a while. Topside? I feel I have to have a plan for anchoring and mooring before I get to the boat in preparation for Nor'easters and anything up to a Cat 2 Hurricane. These plans may change, and probably will once I am on the boat early next year.

So, thank you all for all of the input/advice/recommendations! It has been taken onboard and is much appreciated!

Fleming

[JPA Cate]

Ranger42C, et al,

I must apologize, I did not write clearly. What I meant was "for the purpose of being tied up at a dock," I think it is okay to use a strong and well attached toe rail to locate fore and aft spring lines. I wrote "docking", and that was misleading.

On this boat, we use the midship cleat for a "brake line" during the process of docking, so that Jim can motor against it and keep the boat in position while I set the lines, for tie up, which works pretty well where there are current swirlies. Once the boat is stable, all the lines get readjusted till she is "just so".

When leaving the boat for a long time, I think it's a good idea to tie it up to withstand a cyclone force wind. If one has to be away for months, there will be plenty of time for chafe. If you're in a particularly windy area, we've also used an additional line from the stern to the same cleat the bow line goes to, in a single finger slip to help spread the loads. It depends how beamy the boat is, you may have to attach near to the max beam point if she does not carry her beam far aft.

Ann

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Ranger42C, et al,

On this boat, we use the midship cleat for a "brake line" during the process of docking, so that Jim can motor against it and keep the boat in position while I set the lines, for tie up, which works pretty well where there are current swirlies. Once the boat is stable, all the lines get readjusted till she is "just so".

Ann

I don't have a midship cleat so I run a line from a winch, forward around a chain plate and have a loop which I drop over the cleat on the dock. A pull on the self tailer end takes up the slack then the motor in idle ahead holds the boat in place whilst I rig the other lines. Works like a charm.

A midship cleat would be handy, just never got around to installing one.