Mooring a catamaran at Catalina Island

[Kalle Wirsch]

Hi everyone! You’re favorite newbie again.
We’re currently moored at Catalina island with one hawser on the starboard bow cleat, the other on the starboard aft cleat. Harbor patrol said it’s all good because the mooring is quite empty. BUT - I really want to know how to moor properly and cannot find a website.

Shouldn’t the bow hawser go on the center cleat (or on a very short bridle)? It almost looks like other cats have the hawser line run between the hulls, not next to the boat.

Any advice much appreciated!

[fillintheblank]

Yes its normally done with a bridle off both bow cleats. Using a center cleat works if you have one but some boats will sail side to side on a center cleat, bridles can help stop that.

[Sam G]

Google catamaran anchor bridle

[BillKny]

Originally Posted by Kalle Wirsch

Hi everyone! You’re favorite newbie again.
We’re currently moored at Catalina island with one hawser on the starboard bow cleat, the other on the starboard aft cleat. Harbor patrol said it’s all good because the mooring is quite empty. BUT - I really want to know how to moor properly and cannot find a website.

Shouldn’t the bow hawser go on the center cleat (or on a very short bridle)? It almost looks like other cats have the hawser line run between the hulls, not next to the boat.

Any advice much appreciated!

Of course a bridle makes sense on a standard mooring, but people posting advice so far do not know that Avalon Harbor is different.

Moorings at Catalina (at least in Avalon Harbor) are not simple one-point ties. The harbor is packed, and there is no free swinging to a single tie. There is a line from the main ball to a stern anchor. You pick up the line, pull tight to the mooring ball on the bow, then pull the line tight to the anchor and tie off at the stern. You sit straight, and not swinging. There in no need, or advantage to using a bridle over a center cleat.

Moorings are close enough together that having a larger cat tied off to a side cleat at the bow would seriously crowd the boat next door.

The short answer in Avalon Harbor is to always do what the harbor patrol helping you pick up the mooring tells you to do.

As a side point of interest, all, or nearly all, of the harbor moorings are privately owned and sub-rented through the harbor authority when not being used by the owner.

[rtoner]

When we had our 40’ cat there they put another cat next to us. Both of us had to bridle the bow to keep from hitting each other. Normally we just tied up like normal.