Mooring During Irene

[sailorboy1]

Looks that Irene is coming to Boston! I'm going to leave my boat on the mooring an strip it down. I have 2 1" pendants that I will put chafe protection. Does it make sense to run my anchor chain to the mooring ball as back-up to the lines, or is more likely to tangle with the lines and result in chafe problems etc that will make things worst?

[SaucySailoress]

It certainly makes sense to double u the lines, and perhaps even put an anchor out as well... But chain to the buoy? I've never heard of that one...

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Looks that Irene is coming to Boston! I'm going to leave my boat on the mooring an strip it down. I have 2 1" pendants that I will put chafe protection. Does it make sense to run my anchor chain to the mooring ball as back-up to the lines, or is more likely to tangle with the lines and result in chafe problems etc that will make things worst?

Don:

Don't know about using the anchor chain but, the additional 1" line can't hurt. Make it about 25% longer than your primary line as a backup. I think your chain idea won't allow for enough stretch under load and the risk of chafing your current lines is high.
Looks like Irene's latest track is moving it further west which may help you in Boston but, puts us here on Long Island on the bad side of things:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: AND IT GET'S SUCKIER!

[zeehag]

keep your anchor and chain away from the lines and mooring equipment -- can chafe thru and that way. 2 one inch lines should be good--i placed each line to a separate link of the chain so both dont break at one time. gooood luck and be safe in this ... she gives me a bad feeling....

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Looks that Irene is coming to Boston! I'm going to leave my boat on the mooring an strip it down. I have 2 1" pendants that I will put chafe protection. Does it make sense to run my anchor chain to the mooring ball as back-up to the lines, or is more likely to tangle with the lines and result in chafe problems etc that will make things worst?

Don:

When I got on board for some more Irene prep yesterday here on Long Island I began to rethink about your question about using the anchor chain on the mooring:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM
I was concerned about my that my Bruce anchor hanging over the bow might grab onto the lifelines or pushpit of a boat that may drag into mine. So I removed it below. I then hooked up the end of the anchor chain to a swivel and shackled it to a different link on the mooring chain that the primary and secondary line pennants are attached. I made sure the anchor chain hung down into the water and hopefully will not foul with the line pennents. I guess we'll know by Monday whether it works. Though success might mean that the boat still ends up on shore with the mooring system still attached since BIANKA looks like it will be on the nasty side of Irene.

[sailorboy1]

I decided not to attached my anchor chain to the mooring. I did take the anchor off the boa which put me in a small group in th field. Guess we will see.

[Sailor g]

Keeping you in our thoughts. Hope Irene calms down or moves offshore!

[sabray]

I ran a 1"" line to the mooring chain and six plait to the ball. Instead of taking the anchors off I set a fx and a danforth out they are not loading up but if the mooring fails then they get to do service. Boat is on south edge of a mooring field so in north and east winds if the mooring fails i fall back on the anchors and away from other boats.Pain in the ass doing all this but I am safe Currently and for the last 4 hours the winds have been kicking steady probably 40 maybe more. Water was a tad choppey especially when the wind was east, people would not believe what their boats are doing when there not here. One boat north of me is sailing all over the place looks like it's having a ball. Obviously a teenaged boat.

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by sabray

Water was a tad choppey especially when the wind was east, people would not believe what their boats are doing when there not here. One boat north of me is sailing all over the place looks like it's having a ball. Obviously a teenaged boat.

My boat tends to sail a bit. Not sure how it does with the sail removed like now. But, I deployed an anti sail drouge as part of my Hurricane Irene prep:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: LESSONS FROM A HURRICANE: AN ANTI SAIL DROGUE
Used it for the first time last year during Hurricane Earl seemed to work pretty good and I figured it can't hurt.

[IdoraKeeper]

My thoughts are with all of you. I got a closer (than I wanted) look at Irene today in Philly. Currently sitting out the rest of the mess in Atlanta till the weather moves further north.

I really hope all the boats and crew make it through unscathed. Everybody please be careful.

Todd

[sabray]

Once the winds really got cranking the boats that were sailing around are not doing that. I'm going out to look around in a few . At 25 to 30 there were boats going all over. Now at 40 to 55 they are better behaved. My advice to late strip everything have good mooring lines and run out some anchors. Do not let the anchor gear get wrapped up on your Mooring. Killets and placement of anchors are critical chafe gear . Getting kicked pretty good here on the Chesapeake boat is getting laid over a tad in gusts. Worst is this thing is big and slow. So winds are high for very long time. Hope everyone comes out the other side okay

[DHolt]

If another storm comes up you should checkout dyneema mooring pendants. There stronger than nylon and are more chafe resistant.

[Kettlewell]

A couple of things. I rode out Irene on my boat in Mass. on a mooring in a relatively well sheltered spot. Probably had some 60 knot gusts max, but most was a lot less. I've been through a lot worse just at anchor. But, I have been through this hurricane drill many times on a mooring and I always lengthen my painters, double them up, spread the loads out with every cleat I've got up there, use plenty of heavy chafing gear, and try to set one or two anchors out to back up the mooring. Most moorings depend on weight and are not very efficient in terms of holding power. After Hurricanes Bob, Carol, and Irene I saw boats on the beach still attached to their moorings sitting right next to them on the beach. In particular, the popular mushroom tends to not do much good in a hurricane. The trick is to somehow set and tend the extra anchor rodes so they don't tangle with your mooring and or the underwater appendages on your boat. This is exacerbated by the fact the winds will be clocking or backing around quite a bit as the storm goes by. At my mooring this was complicated by a strong current in the river making the boat go up and over the mooring ball in the lulls. I have yet to figure out the best arrangement of anchors and moorings for my current location, but basically the more the merrier. Sure, you'll have a mess to sort out after the storm, but that is better than the mess you'll have to sort out if your boat drags its mooring. Also, Dyneema may be great, but regular old nylon protected by heavy chafing gear has never let me down. Generally, if you use the right diameter you won't be anywhere near the strength limit on the nylon, so if you can control the chafe you will be OK.