Pole Mooring ropes

[Elaine and Tony]

Not too sure if this is the right group in the forum but I have a question on mooring ropes for my Manta 42 Catamaran

I am on a pole mooring in the estuary by my home. It is fairly sheltered but does get some decent gusts. Having brought my new boat home I want to set up with some decent mooring ropes and seek advice.

The boat sits perfectly between both piles with something like four meters of clearance fore and aft to the pole. I have put pole rings onto the poles and my intention is to have fixed length rope at the front and not at the back.*

1 - what thickness/type of rope would you use for a boat of this size in this situation.
2 - assuming I get them made up already spliced do you think having a separate but more flexible docking line attached to a shorter mooring rope is a risk?
3 - any other advice from pole mooring experts
thank you

[Perfect Ride]

Hello Elaine and Tony,
Love KeriKeri, and Bay of Islands. I would imagine you already have this all sorted out, but as there were no others I will offer some insights, though I am by no means an expert. We have just been in a lot of pole moorings around the world on our 44' cat.

We use 3/4 to 1" three strand line that floats with abrasion resistant hose on the eye loops (you can get this at Arnold Franks in Whangarei) Attach a connecting line between the four mooring lines from each poll so you can gaff them easily: to keep lines between poles while away, vs drifitng away from poles due to current or wind. The connecting line should long enough to handle issues from strong winds, currents while single handing but not so long to cause excessive wrapping around the poles. Floating lines may have poor UV ratings so inspect and replace as needed. Once you have bow line attached you walk the connecting line from bow and then you can swing on the bow line with motor while pulling in rear lines. If everything is floating line, you can actually do all of this single handed. Floating 'painters' on the lines can be of help rounding the lines to the second hull. These can be spliced to the pole side of the eye so you can tension until the eye can loop on to your cleat. Also some visible floats with reflective tape may help passing dingy from running into lines while you are away. If away for long while, you might place hooks on the pilings and place your mooring lines out of the water, requiring a dingy to grab second piling when you return. Curious, what did you end up with? BTW our hearts are with your loss in South Island.

[Elaine and Tony]

HI there

we are pretty sorted now and have tried a few things as we worked through the process. Being novices it took a bit of working out but we are almost there. How we have ended up is this. On each pole mooring we have a pole ring custom made with four attachments equally apart around the ring. Fore we have shackled the rope with thimble to the pole ring for port and starboard at the front. It is a permanent length at the front with braided loop for each cleat, length arrange for the boat to be mid piles. Aft we have done the same thing although that has no loop at this stage for the cleat as we are about to get new piles and I want to wait until they are in place before finalising. Coming into the mooring, more often than not the wind is aft and I try to time things so the tide and wind work together. I have attached 2 hooks to each pile for the ropes. I have prepared docking lines with a large stainless steel spring clip so as I come in slowly past the stern pile on my port side, my lovely wife unhook the starboard mooring line and connects it to the starboard docking line with the spring clip (docking line already attached to the starboard cleat) and tosses it aft into the water. Going slowly allows the port rope to also be collected and attached to the docking line extender so then both aft lines are attached. The docking lines are marked (and therefore tied off) to the length that will allow the boat to drift or be motored forward to within a 1-2 meters of the forward pole and that makes it easy to collect the forward mooring ropes and attach to the port and starboard cleats. All that is then required is to let the boat move backwards, tie off and remove the extenders. I haven't done it yet starting forward and connecting that first but imagine it will be the same in reverse. Let's see!

Thanks for your comments and also of course your thoughts, the nation is a bit shocked by this.

cheers

[jmorrison146]

For clarity and consistency, please refer to the poles as "pilings" and the ropes as "mooring lines". "Ropes" on "poles" drive old farts like me crazy. With few exceptions, once a rope comes aboard a boat its called a line. Poles are on land, pickings live in the water.

[jjorgenson3]

Definitely appreciate the terminology communication as well.

[Elaine and Tony]

Originally Posted by jmorrison146

For clarity and consistency, please refer to the poles as "pilings" and the ropes as "mooring lines". "Ropes" on "poles" drive old farts like me crazy. With few exceptions, once a rope comes aboard a boat its called a line. Poles are on land, pickings live in the water.

All good and thank you for what has generally clarified for me. By way of some explanation (rather than excuse) I refer to the mooring here in New Zealand as 'pile mooring' and thus referred to the structure as a 'pile'. When I have done so in this and other forums the majority have referred to them as 'poles' so I did so myself in order to conform. Very happy to have been corrected.

When my mooring line is hanging on the 'piling' is it ok to refer to it as a line or is it a rope because it isn't on board and becomes a line once I bring it onboard?

Lastly I am assuming that a 'picking' is a typo or is there something else I am missing out of my vocabulary.

cheers

[syohana]

I have moorings in the Kerikeri river too! Which row is yours in? I also have an all-tide private jetty which I rent out, you could moor alongside there if you get bored of rowing out to the mooring.

Don't leave the lines in the water as sharp little shells will grow on them very quickly and tear your hands up.

The best way is a string tied to the middle of the mooring line going over a pulley at the top of the pile with a weight on the other end. It will hold the line up out of the water even as the tide rises and falls. when you pull on the line with a boat hook to use it the weight just lifts up.

The Kerikeri river has been known to rise right up nearly to the top of the piles in extreme floods. Might only happen once every hundred years but it was very messy when it happened in 1983, lots of piles got pulled right out of the seabed by the mooring lines! Most of the piles in the river were replaced after that flood which is why they are all coming due for replacement at the same time. So... Make sure your pile rings are free to slide all the way up and always moor facing upstream. And don't be alarmed, the river is placid nearly all the time, probably won't be another big flood in our lifetimes but best to be prepared.

Always check which way the water is flowing before mooring. Due to the river water flowing in the top, the direction of flow is often downstream even when the tide is rising.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the pile replacement programme. Very little info coming out of the council.

[syohana]

Ps the council have rules about size of rope, from memory I think they require minimum 20mm diameter although it doesn't seem to be enforced, I see some boats on the river moored with string and ready to break loose in the next good storm! If in doubt ask NRC, they have a published set of guidelines, it might even be on their website.

[Elaine and Tony]

Originally Posted by syohana

Ps the council have rules about size of rope, from memory I think they require minimum 20mm diameter although it doesn't seem to be enforced, I see some boats on the river moored with string and ready to break loose in the next good storm! If in doubt ask NRC, they have a published set of guidelines, it might even be on their website.

HI there

thanks for both of your replies - I bought four 20mm nylon ropes through an outfit in Christchurch that seem well made and do the job for me. My mooring is in a row of 7 at the bottom of Kemp Road/Blacks road. I must motor past you every time I go out. I do look with jealousy at the jetty moorings along the river but unfortunately on the estuary where I am my concrete ramp doesn't get above the mud once the tide is 2.5 hours of slack tide and I couldn't build one. 40 meters along however my neighbor has one on the same side as I would like. Just the luck f the draw with tidal estuaries.

Good to see someone else from my location who knows the area

cheers

[Elaine and Tony]

Originally Posted by syohana

Always check which way the water is flowing before mooring. Due to the river water flowing in the top, the direction of flow is often downstream even when the tide is rising.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the pile replacement programme. Very little info coming out of the council.

after a couple of messy attempts at mooring I now stop in the river for a few minutes prior to mooring to get the flow, also checking out the other boats on the other moorings to see where they are leaning towards. You are right, tide is only one aspect where I am moored. I had two letter from council but seen nothing else since. To be honest I am happy to have them replaced and pay for it, I believe in good quality maintained moorings. Looking up river however there are some pretty crappy ones that surprise me they stand up!

[chris14679]

Sounds like you're on the next row up river, our jetty is off riverview and I have moorings there, at skudders beach and in Waipapa stream. We're off cruising at the moment but I'll look out for your Manta and say hi when we get back.

The replacement programme is definitely due, what I object to is that in future they will require replacement every ten years, despite the last lot lasting 40 years!

[Elaine and Tony]

Originally Posted by chris14679

Sounds like you're on the next row up river, our jetty is off riverview and I have moorings there, at skudders beach and in Waipapa stream. We're off cruising at the moment but I'll look out for your Manta and say hi when we get back.

The replacement programme is definitely due, what I object to is that in future they will require replacement every ten years, despite the last lot lasting 40 years!

please do

cheers

[offline]

Originally Posted by jjorgenson3

Definitely appreciate the terminology communication as well.

Thankfully not everyone is grumpy.

[jmorrison146]

Originally Posted by Elaine and Tony

All good and thank you for what has generally clarified for me. By way of some explanation (rather than excuse) I refer to the mooring here in New Zealand as 'pile mooring' and thus referred to the structure as a 'pile'. When I have done so in this and other forums the majority have referred to them as 'poles' so I did so myself in order to conform. Very happy to have been corrected.



When my mooring line is hanging on the 'piling' is it ok to refer to it as a line or is it a rope because it isn't on board and becomes a line once I bring it onboard?



Lastly I am assuming that a 'picking' is a typo or is there something else I am missing out of my vocabulary.



cheers

Yes, sorry, "picking" was an autocorrect typo. Should read "piling". A mooring line resting on a piling awaiting the boat's return is still a line, part of the boat's gear.