Singlehanded mooring buoy pickup

[bogey]

I bought Venetia, my LM30, to replace a much-loved Rustler 31 that l was finding a bit of a handful at 70.  In every respect but one, the LM is much better suited to my advanced age and l am very much enjoying her.  The one exception is that her windage, high freeboard and relatively light displacement means that she blows away from her mooring before l have time to walk forward and snag the pickup line with my boathook.  I've also tried lassoing the buoy with a warp made off to a boy cleat and led aft outside the shrouds and guardwires, then walking forward, but with no great success.  How do others cope with this?

[Sula]

Hello Bogey. It's not clear what particular problem you have with the method of picking it up by the cockpit on a long line (but not so long it can reach the propeller!) from the bow, but as you mention walking forward perhaps you are just looping the end of your line through the mooring and walking the loose end forward. That technique can be fine until the boat starts blowing away while you're trying to hold the rope by hand.

If that's your problem, try temporarily clipping the end of the line from the boat to the pick up buoy rope (using a carabiner or one of those patent mooring pick-up gadgets) you can now drop the line, allow the boat to drift back (or use the engine to manoeuvre it back), then haul in your temporary line at your leisure and attach the boat properly to the mooring. A further elaboration is to run the temporary pick up line from a winch at the cockpit, forward along the deck to the bow, through a fairlead then back to the cockpit outside everything. Then as soon as you've temporarily clipped onto the mooring, you can drop the buoy end and be immediately hauling in on the cockpit end of the line.

There's various suggestions to tackle the problem of single-handed mooring in these threads on the YBW Forums. A lot of repetition, but a good range of useful ideas and perspectives sprinkled throughout, and there's very likely to be something in there that might help you. -

forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/single-handed-picking-up-mooring.508927/#post-6573936

forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/picking-up-moorings-single-handed.125199/

forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/single-handed-mooring-buoy-pick-up.287472/

forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/picking-up-a-mooring-buoy.370856/

forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/single-handed-mooring.165679/

forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/picking-up-a-mooring-buoy-in-a-gale.259473/

[bogey]

Thanks for that. Just scanning through them. I've already lost one boathook, and yesterday l overran the pickup line (to which my tender was tied) and shredded one of my mooring pendants on the ropecutter! I need to get used to how long she carries her way in neutral, and how soon she loses steerage way - not far, and quite soon - both very different to the Rustler. I'll have to get a longer, stronger and buoyant boathook anyway, and l'm trying to source a grapnel. A grapnel line would have the same advantages as a spring clip or carabineer, and maybe a bit less fiddly to snag the pickup line with reliably.

[chrismunson]

Try making a large loop of yellow floating polyethylene, and leave it on the bouy upon departure. When mooring, run another line from your bow outside aft. Snag the polyethylene loop, pass the bow line thru the loop and secure to midship cleat. Once settled down and the slack is run out, and bow is into the wind, go forward and grab the regular bouy loop or line and secure.

[dingusdingo]

No bow thruster on your boat? I am just getting the hang of this myself, but have found some good fenders to be my best friend. I essentially turn in quite sharp and then jam it in reverse to stop forward thrust while the boat is still spinning into the dock. I start moving towards the dock as the boat is approaching sideways and have my ropes ready to either throw around whatever is available. Rear first as I luckily have the bow thruster to get the front back in, but often times I can reach the front in time especially if the dock has something I can throw a loop over.

but also what chris said works! I always have looong lines so I can step off and drag the whole boat back in when one side escapes. I adjust and tidy up after of course.

[bogey]

OK, everyone. Problem solved - the grapnel line works perfectly, and will be even better next year because l'll have had a new, longer, mooring pendant made up by then. No, no bow thruster, l'm afraid l find her pretty good to manoeuvre, as long as l remember that the folding prop on the saildrive kicks the stern to starboard in astern.

[oceandancer]

Hi Bogey,

Why go forward at all?

Attach a long mooring line to the bow before you get to your mooring

Bring it back aft outside of everything on the side you wish to moor and secure clear of the water on a convenient cleat. .

Get your boat hook ready on that side.

From the bring the boat upwind/tide of the bouy and bring to a stop where you can see it with it adjacent to the cockpit or maybe just ahead. (Obviously the Stbd side would be best but this may not be possible, however, you should still be able to do this on Port even if you have no engine controls in the cockpit)

Go to cockpit, calmly, and hook the buoy with the boat hook. Best to hook the actual line if you have a small pickup buoy. If there is no pick up buoy then get one.

Pull the pick up buoy on board and pass the line through the big loop for the buoy. If your mooring buoy just has a loop on top you may pass the line through this far more easily than at the bow as the freeboard is much lower.

Walk forward, calmly, with taking the line with you and then just pull.

The buoy will be pulled toward the bow and you can then moor in your own time.


Mick Legg