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One going from your starboard side through the pennant and back to the same cleat and one going from your port side through the pennant and back to the same port side cleat. Best approach is to tie a round turn and two half hitches to the ring on the buoy and if staying overnight always tie two lines to the buoy one knot fail but never two.
When youre tying off to a mooring buoy.
How to tie up to a mooring ball. Tie the line onto the mooring buoy and pull the boat forward from the cockpit until I am on the mooring buoy. Fasten the lines off to the bow cleats and enjoy a cup of tea. Tying Up to a Mooring Ball for a Storm.
To tie up to a mooring ball for a squall or tropical system use three-strand lines with spliced eyes in one end making a loop by tying a knot weakens the line far more than using a line with a spliced eye. Pass the eye through the pennant then the free end of the line through the eye. In this video Ill show you how to easily tie onto a mooring ball otherwise known as a mooring buoy how to release the lines and leave a mooring ball and.
When youre tying off to a mooring buoy. Slip your dock line through the loop on the mooring buoy rope. Tie the other end to a second cleat on your boat.
You dont need to worry about tying knots with the mooring buoy rope that probably has barnacles and grass on it. Cyclone Mooring Pendants made from Endura-12 Dyneema line were developed by Nantucket Moorings in conjunction with MITTraditional pendants are made from three-strand nylon to absorb shocks by their elastic nature. This stretch while allowing your boat a comfortable cushioned ride allows the line to move across the bow chocks creating friction and causing chafe.
Attach to one of the Pennant loops. Attach the pick-up buoy to the loop of one of the mooring pennants. Use a thin line 316.
We have our attached to the starboard loop since I am right handed typically pick up the on the starboard side of the bow and I put that loop on the cleat first. Best approach is to tie a round turn and two half hitches to the ring on the buoy and if staying overnight always tie two lines to the buoy one knot fail but never two. The round turn and two half hitches are ideal because the rope does not move very much around the ring on the buoy.
If you are planning on tying up to a mooring ball as a solo sailor the technique of capturing ball is basically the same. However you may find it easier to slowly pull alongside the mooring ball until you can see the mooring ball from the cockpit. A galvanized or Stainless Steel thimble is added to a spliced eye on this pendant line and I use a 12 inch shackle to attach the pendant line to the shackle on the top of the ball.
The thimble protects the spliced eye from chaffing where the shackle connects the pendant line to. Picking up a mooring for a short stay in calm conditions is far simpler than docking or anchoring. But many boaters never learn this simple technique and are intimidated to try in close-packed mooring fields.
Adding this skill to your arsenal will make weekend jaunts more enjoyable and increase your flexibility when choosing an anchorage. Recommended Mooring Tie Up for Storms. Here at the Boot Key Harbor mooring fieldCity Marina Marathon Florida Keys theres a special flag to alert boaters when more preparation is necessary for an upcoming storm.
On the wall at City Marina they have the flag and also an example of how they want the boats lines attached to the. Click Here to Learn More About MarineMax Vacations and Reserve Your Trip of a Lifetime. One or the other lines will wrap the the two pendants together when they are in the water.
Typically people tie the ball with a short line to the one of the pendant loops and then tie the two pendant loops together with the longer pick up stick line and clasp taking the clasp and line off when the pendants are secured to the boat. How do you grab a mooring ball. You are going to end up with two lines attached to the pennant.
One going from your starboard side through the pennant and back to the same cleat and one going from your port side through the pennant and back to the same port side cleat. The mooring pennant also referred to as a mooring pendant is attached by shackle directly to the light chain that is attached to the bottom of the mooring ball. This line is what finally attaches your boat to the security of that anchor buried in the seabed.
Tying up to a mooring ball is easy with the helper but it can be tricky if you have to do it alone. To make it easier its best to keep a line ready with a carabiner attached as a temporary link so you can pull yourself in and get a more secure connection. This means that if you tie up for 9 days it will be cheaper to pay the daily rate.
If you tie up for 11 days it will be cheaper to pay for an entire month. When we leave the boat for an extended period of time we factor this cost into the decision. Usually for us on a 45 foot sailboat the cost is somewhere around 500 for a month.