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Mooring Technique

Ray

By Ray
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Ray

Ray

Posted
Posted

You know when you see a whole line of stern on moored boats and there is just one boat sized gap in the middle of them. There is a bit of cross wind, maybe like me stern mooring is not your best and you really don't want someone's mud weight rope round your prop so you decide in the end to cruise on by?

So, if you have a nice bathtub like my Safari mk3, why not just moor bow first? It wouldn't take much to run a mooring line to each side of the bow and drop a mud weight off the stern. If you aren't actually underway the bow and stern are virtually interchangeable with a door each end.

I've often seen it done and done it myself in home marinas but would I be in danger of appearing ridiculous if I just simply "parked" my boat under the circumstances described?

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Wussername

Wussername

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Ray said:

You know when you see a whole line of stern on moored boats and there is just one boat sized gap in the middle of them. There is a bit of cross wind, maybe like me stern mooring is not your best and you really don't want someone's mud weight rope round your prop so you decide in the end to cruise on by

I've often seen it done and done it myself in home marinas but would I be in danger of appearing ridiculous if I just simply "parked" my boat under the circumstances described?

Sounds good to me. I would and have moored bow on to the bank. Some boats however would be difficult if not impossible.

Andrew

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Hockham Admiral

Hockham Admiral

Posted
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It certainly is the problem with mooring a fwd steer bathtub, isn't it?

Rod, on Sally B, an Alpha 35 fwd steer, used to open his roof and stand on his seat. He then used his bow thruster paddle with his foot and throttle with his hand... amazing and it worked to the wonder of onlookers!    :default_icon_bowdown:   

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TheQ

TheQ

Posted
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Although my mooring has side telegraph poles at the rivers edge, I always go in bow first, as not only do I have to take account of which ever way the wind is going, But I have to take account of which way the tide is going too.. I tried going is stern first once or twice but life is too short for all the messing around when you get it wrong.

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Vaughan

Vaughan

Posted
Posted

As some have said, there is no reason why you should not pull your boat stern on into the mooring with the ropes, rather than trying to drive it in, with a cross wind. Just stop across the bows of the other boats moored and you will probably find that people on the other boats will be glad to help you with the ropes.

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charlesa

charlesa

Posted
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Yes, can be quite a tricky manoeuvre. I rarely manage to succeed 1st time reversing into a single space at Womack in a wind.

The trouble with a boat like Juliette is that you can't really go in bow first unless you are feeling particularly athletic as the bow is about 5ft above the ground at times.

The key for me is to keep the speed to an absolute minimum and trust to luck and a bit of help from other boats ( I am usually on my own).

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LondonRascal

LondonRascal

Posted
Posted

It can go really well, or terribly wrong. I have had both happen the most spectacular messing around was last year on Bronze Gem at Ranworth, where I successfully moored side on across the dinghy dyke!

But you can help mitigate against such by taking some pointers firstly what way is the wind blowing and roughly how strong is it blowing? Then you need to take account of your own boats 'prop walk'. It can help you as much as hinder, so get this on your side and you have a helping hand.

If you have a cross wind blowing you to the right for example, then make your turn 'to the left' of you intended final position, as more of the cross wind 'see's' the side of your boat, its effect will grow and will of course take your boat sideways with it. So by making the turn before your slot, letting the crosswind take you a little all that is left is to pick the right moment (and only trial and error over time will really tell you when that will be) to go astern into the slot.

At Christmas when on Broad Ambition we came into moor at Ranworth, it was pretty breezy so to counter that I had to come in rather quickly to give some steerage way and then a few feet from the quay a blast of ahead to a stop and Shelia was off with the lines.

Letting your crew know things helps too - if the cross wind was blowing right to left then they want to get a line on the mooring post on the starboard side of the boat sharpish to counter the bow drifting to left once you have come into the mooring. The reverse applies if the crosswind is coming from the left.

I have had very little experience  so far of mooring Independence, but I will say this - the larger and heavier the boat the better things seem to be. Sure if you did hit something the damage will be greater but things tend to happen far slower smaller lighter boats may seem easier to handle but they tend to be effected far more by the wind. Small lightweight planing boats are just a bag of laughs like Brinks Sonanta which simply wanted to go wherever the wind was blowing.

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Wyndham

Wyndham

Posted
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Someone, somewhere, told me that in a situation as described to line your boat up a little way out and drop your mudweight,

then reverse into the gap while dragging the mudweight, which is supposed to keep the bow from wandering off line.

I've never tried it so can't say if it works or not but it seems reasonable.

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ExMemberBobdog

ExMemberBobdog

Posted
Posted

I promise you that if you come close to the kind of gap you describe, and shuffle back and forward a couple of times looking incompetent, there will be a rush of people out of the cabins of neighbouring boats offering to guide you in with ropes, especially if the gap is beside even a half decent private boat.

 

Works for me every time.  :default_beerchug:

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Cockatoo

Cockatoo

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, Wyndham said:

Someone, somewhere, told me that in a situation as described to line your boat up a little way out and drop your mudweight,

then reverse into the gap while dragging the mudweight, which is supposed to keep the bow from wandering off line.

I've never tried it so can't say if it works or not but it seems reasonable.

Someone told me that years ago when I was mooring at Ranworth. I've used it since and it definitely works.

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Cheesey

Cheesey

Posted
Posted

In the Med, that's nearly how we do it. Nearly all marinas are stern on so we drop the anchor, keep that line tight as we motor back ready to pick up the lazy lines for the stern. Believe me the cross winds are quite something but the bow is steady and from personal experience at eccles, that is how I do it.

 

 

 

 

 

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