Mooring problem

[bony]

Greetings everyone,

I'm only a small boat owner (small boat that is ) so I don't have to wrestle with a large cruiser or yacht like some of you fellas. But even so, I have a real battle each time I try to tie my boat at it's jetty mooring pen and I hope someone can offer some suggestions to help resolve the problem.

I've attached a drawing below to help explain the situation. The drawing is not to scale.

The problem is caused by the fact that the mooring pen is about 45 feet in length but my boat is only 20 feet long. This means when I steer the boat in to tie up bow first (as is the regulation here) I'm too far away from the mooring pylons at the rear to physically reach my stern mooring lines, which are permanently attached to the pylons, and are about 20 feet away. I can drive in and get the bow lines fastened to the jetty ok but by the time I mess around with a boat hook trying to grab hold of the stern lines the boat is captured by the current and ends up at an acute angle inside the pen. This makes it even more difficult to secure the stern and makes me look like an idiot as well.

Driving slowly in bow first, in forward gear, I've tried securing the stern lines to the boat as I pass slowly by the rear pylons when first entering the pen but by the time I get forward to secure the bow lines to the jetty I'm too late and the current has got the boat all skewiff again.

The larger boats on either side don't have a problem because the pylons are within easy reach for them. I feel there has to be an easier way to carry out this simple task. Perhaps there is a better way to set up the mooring lines to make things easier?

I'd be grateful for some expert advice please.

bony.

[CHAZ]

Hi bony,
no expert advice from me but why not put two 45 ft lines
between the pylons and the jetty above high water level and kinda
fence yourself in ?
Could make it easier.

Fair winds
Martin

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by CHAZ

Hi bony,
no expert advice from me but why not put two 45 ft lines
between the pylons and the jetty above high water level and kinda
fence yourself in ?
Could make it easier.

Fair winds
Martin

Yep, seen it done lots of times with ropes down each side.

I've even seen people set up a V-shaped rope bridle (?) to catch the bow as you pull in.

[RedHerring]

How about a variation of "midships line first" method? Although I've only seen it done on a finger pier so far.

1. Attach a 40+ ft line and some adequate fenders on, say, starboard midships. Hang fenders horizontally so that they don't roll out of position when they make contact.
2. Approach close to stbd pylon. Wrap the midships line around that pylon and keep the free end in the cockpit.
3. Let the boat slowly go forward. Cleat the mooring line off when she is far enough in.
4. When the line tightens, the boat will pivot around the pylon and come side to side with the stbd neighbour boat.
5. Leave her in gear at low RPM. Your boat stays in the same position, while you are fixing the other lines.

[ranger58sb]

Interesting, that bow-in thing. How do you get off the boat?


Anyway, if you can pick up the outer lines as you pass the piles, you might not have to secure them immediately. Grab 'em, make sure they stay aboard, carry on to do your thing with the bow lines, then secure the stern?


The sidelines from piles to jetty certainly could help, and you can maybe hang your stern lines from those, too.so you can more easily reach them from the boat?


-Chris

[bony]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Interesting, that bow-in thing. How do you get off the boat -Chris

It's actually easier to get off the boat bow in. It's just a matter of stepping over the bow rail onto the ladder attached to the jetty. It also means I can fully attach my boat cockpit cover before leaving the boat.

The side lines are a good idea and there were lines attached on each side when I first got the mooring pen. However, the owners of the larger boats removed the side lines between their boat and mine. As they are local fisherman and I am a newbie at this port I will need to find out the reason for the removal before I go putting a side line up again.

I like the idea of a V shaped cradle(?) but I don't how you'd set it up to be useful at various tide heights. At low tide the cradle would be well above my boat.

There is a variation of RedHerring's "Midships Line" procedure on Youtube. I'll give it a go and see if it works in my situation.

I will also check out the the suggestion of using the side lines and attaching my stern lines to them. It sounds like it might solve the problem.

I've attached a photo of the harbour showing my little boat in it's pen. There are some boats moored stern first but these are visitors to the area. All the local vessels are tied up bow first.

Thanks for the replies.

[RedHerring]

Having looked at the photo, I'd be scared to try the midships line thing here. The other boat is too far behind the post, you may end up hitting her at an angle.

[osirissail]

Posts #2 and #3 are the best solution. You pre-tie lines from the dock so they come together in a "V" pattern and then extend those lines back to the pilings in a much larger "V" shape. This makes a slot that you can use as you steer your boat into the slip. The lines will keep the boat in the position you set up.

Additional lines from the pilings, dock, or the guide ropes themselves will secure the boat in the slip.

[valhalla360]

If you have more than 2-3' of tide, the V-shaped lines, likely won't work.

[skipmac]

I agree that the tidal range may eliminate the V lines as an option.

I would try this. Coming back to the dock determine which will have more effect, the wind or the current. Usually a current will have more effect on the boat unless the wind is very strong or you are at slack tide.

Once you figure out which way the boat will tend to drift as it comes into the slip you pick up the line just on the piling upwind or up current and leave the other so you should have more time to get to the bow, set the bow lines then come back for the other stern line at your leisure.

[bony]

The V shaped lines cradle idea sounds good but won't be feasible at my port because of the tide height variation, at low tide my boat would go under it.

A few techniques have been suggested that I will try. The fitting of side lines on each side from the jetty to the pylons will definitely help.

Thanks to everyone for the good advice, much appreciated.

bony.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by bony

It's actually easier to get off the boat bow in. It's just a matter of stepping over the bow rail onto the ladder attached to the jetty. It also means I can fully attach my boat cockpit cover before leaving the boat.

From the pic, looks like there's a ladder in place for each slip? And what's the tidal range? Can you always climb UP?

IFWIW, n our situation, we'd have to go over the bow rails and then deal with a 5-6' DROP to the main pier. Hence finger piers for each slip, and usually stern-to works better for most boats.


Maybe your neighbors removed the previous sidelines simply because they became groady over the years... In any case, you can probably use a nifty hitch (perhaps a truckers hitch) to tighten them, make 'em look ship-shape.

-Chris

[bony]

Hi Chris,

Yes, there are ladders at each pen.

At High Tide you still climb up but only use the top two or three rungs. The rungs go down below the low water line but at low tide you need to be careful using them because they are covered with marine growth and very slippery. The jetties at this port a fairly high so most boat owners here would still have to climb up at high tide.

Cheers,
bony.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by bony

Yes, there are ladders at each pen.

I think I would hate that. We shopped on our present boat specifically to find one that did not have a ladder to the flying bridge (has stairs, instead). I'm not doing ladders anymore!



-Chris