Mooring buoy gets tangled

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

My boat swings around all over the place as it is more controlled by the breeze than the current and wraps the mooring balls in knots.

I tie it up with short lines that hold the small buoy and loop out of the water so that it passes over the top of the larger buoy each time they cross paths. This works but is not ideal.

Am I doing something wrong ?

Do you have your boards down?

[Kiwi Dave]

Hi all - my mooring is both tide & wind rode all the time. I moor my cat to what in NZ is called a Fergie Buoy. Top rope runs up through a recess in the buoy and terminates about 1 meter (3 feet) above water level with a swivel from which the mooring pennant attaches. I use a bridle from each bow to attach to the swivel , short enough that the buoy can not hit either hull. The top rope is secured loosely as further insurance.

[thunderhoof]

Do you have a problem with boats swinging near you? If not I like the system used at Catalina. (see Mooring at Santa Catalina Island). I holds the boat orientation fixed regardless of wind or tide.
Two mooring anchors are place a little over a boat length apart. The forward anchor is attached to a mooring ball and pickup stick to the bow cleat line and to a painter leading to stern cleat line. The painter is weighted along its length to keep it clear of keel and prop.
Just a thought.
I hope you are not in a tidal gyre that spins the boat even with no wind component.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

My boat swings around all over the place as it is more controlled by the breeze than the current and wraps the mooring balls in knots.

I tie it up with short lines that hold the small buoy and loop out of the water so that it passes over the top of the larger buoy each time they cross paths. This works but is not ideal.

Am I doing something wrong ?

Dave, hi I am assuming that this is your own mooring, I would suggest that you reconfigre your mooring to a straight pick-up device, that is a small buoy with a smaller diameter line attached to the actual mooring pennant, perhaps a shortish bridle in the case of a cat, and eliminate the large buoy altogether.
Simply rock up to the small buoy, collect it with boat hook and pull the pennant on board to the mooring cleat, voila, no mooring ball to bang into hull.
If perchance it is not your own mooring then the short bridle to connect the ball between your hulls is possibly the option for you.