Single handed catching a mooring in rough seas

[epoxyman]

Hello All,
I have been sailing a 39 ft Cal on my day sails single handed most of the time. However as I get older (mid 60's) I realize running to the bow in strong southerlies and chop (Midcoast Maine), is getting trickier and somewhat more dangerous. This coming season I would like to try an alternative technique and I have read about methods of tying a line to the bow cleat, bringing the bitter end back to the cockpit and catching the mooring at the cockpit, feeding the end through the mooring pennant eye and walking in back to the bow. What I am looking for is some honest insight from folks that have experience in a method to weigh in. To be clear, catching a mooring on a light wind day (<12kts) without much current or chop is a piece of cake walking up to the bow and catching the pickup, however on those days when the wind picks up and there is a 2+ knot current with chop, in a crowded mooring field has got me seriously concerned. Please share your experience and techniques.
Thank you

[Chotu]

How about this?

Install an ultra long pendant. If it’s your mooring.. If not, tie one on to the existing pendant when you leave.

The ultra long pendant could be as long as you can practically fit into your swing room there. Make sure it’s the kind that sinks. Dock line. Have a float on it as well so you can find it.

Pull up to the mooring as normal, use your boat hook, and start pulling up that extra long line. Just get it cleated. You will have a long, long time before it runs out. Once it is cleated and the boat is secure, you can play around with putting it on a winch. Then pull the boat in with the winch and use the real pendant once you are close enough.

Some tweaking to the general idea might be necessary

[hurricanehole]

Lots of methods. I drift down on ball midship and follow the ball as it bumps along the boat fwd to snag the pendant. 70 yrs around the sun for me so far

[tkeithlu]

Both should work, but the first method avoids the possibility of getting the line caught in a propeller. Conceptually, they differ by whether the connecting line is attached to the boat (first method) or the buoy (second method). There's a docking single handed analogy - a midship line, either attached to the boat and ready to throw over a piling (first method) or left around the piling ready to be grabbed from the boat and cleated (second method).

Yeah, we have to work these things out as we get old. Do wear your auto-inflate jacket while doing this, embarrassing as it would be to find yourself floating in the water while the boat drifts away.

Consider the concept of making haste slowly. It's moving quickly, as in your trip to the bow, while being very methodical about it, attending to where each foot goes and what you are going to grab. It's really just as fast as being in a hurry, with a much lower error (splash!) rate.

[sck5]

I used this method for years and it worked fine. Also put a large carabiner on one of the lines to be able to make a quick first attachment. It is that first one that is the pain to get done! Once I have that I can continue at my leisure (more or less) to do it right

[psk125]

The longer pennant sounds like it should work well. We use something similar to avoid mess-ups even fully crewed. Boats in our harbor are moored in strings, tied off both bow and stern. We motor to and pick up the aft mooring first. We tie a line that's been cleated at the stern to it and then continue forward to pick up the bow mooring. The extra line keeps us attached to the stern mooring, but gives us the slack we need to make sure we can go all the way forward to pick up the bow mooring. Once that's cleated we can tighten up the stern. Adding a boatlength-long pennant on your mooring would give you more slack so that you could simply come in in parallel to the pennant, put the engine in neutral, pick up the pennant from the cockpit, and pull in the pennant while walking it forward to the bow.

[Richard Harper]

I used a similar system for years at the exposed moorings at Dinner Key, takes most of the pain out of catching a mooring. Tie a latching hook with a long line around a bow cleat and back to a winch and a short line to a stern cleat. Keep the lines on deck. Approach down wind, stop when the pennant is in reach and attach the hook. Then take a breath and take your time to reposition.

[grantmc]

Assuming that the mooring is just a floating buoy in the water, secured by line to the seabed.

I just use a line with a small grapnel anchor. As slowly as I can I pass by the mooring (pointed in to the wind) and throw the line past the mooring. The anchor catches the mooring buoy's tether, voila you're attached, I can then leave the cockpit and pull in from the bow and secure in the normal manner.

It's a cheap, easy and safe solution, sure beats trying to catch buoys with boat hooks.

[Rackman]

I don't change much from catching a mooring with someone. I approach from downwind and time it to put the engine in neutral, then walk up to the bow with a boat hook and grab the pennants.

[epoxyman]

Thank you all for your responses,
Again allow me to clarify.
My 39 ft Cal is in a mooring field with 8-10 ft of tide (depending on the moon phase), along with south east exposure, so in the summer when the wind generally picks up from the south in the afternoon, there can be significant wind (15+ knots), significant current (2+ knots) and significant chop (wind to tide). I have had my boat at this marina 20 years, however as I age (60+ yo), I find in these more difficult weather conditions, the running to the bow to grab to the mooring has become more challenging. The boats are too close together to increase the pennant length (though that is a good suggestion). I am looking for alternative methods in difficult weather conditions to make the mooring grab easier and safer. The suggestion of attaching a carabiner to the pennant, is that for a bow line attachment to the pennant from the cockpit? If you could elaborate, that would be appreciated. Again, with 20 years at this marina, I have single handed dozens and dozens of time and in the past found the single handed mooring grab a price to pay to be at an amazing location, however now I am not so flight of foot and would love some tried and true options. Thank you

[psk125]

Originally Posted by epoxyman

Thank you all for your responses,
Again allow me to clarify. The boats are too close together to increase the pennant length (though that is a good suggestion). Thank you

Couldn't the pennant be as long as the boat (39') without impinging upon the other moorings? Lobster pots seem to have toggles like that with no problems. Ask the Harbormaster!

[Nekton73]

Perhaps you might try reversing up to your mooring from downwind. Sailboats tend to orient themselves stern to the wind, or slightly quartered, if left to drift and this turns out to be a very stable way to reverse towards your goal. This technique is taught by the RYA as a safe(er) alternative to picking up a mooring vs the long reach from the bow. It is quite effective even in a strong wind and moderate chop.



I don't know your boat specifically, but I looked it up and the pics I found show a pair of cleats mounted on the stern, perfect to loop your mooring pennant over once you've fished it up with a hook. Once secured to a stern cleat you can, at your leisure, take a line from the bow outside the stanchions aft along the side of the boat (or perhaps you've already prepared it, although I tend to do it after catching the pennant so I'm not concerned with which side to aim for), and slip it through the eye of the pennant. Now just cast off from your stern cleat and pull the slack through as you walk back to the bow, where you can secure the pennant in whatever manner you normally prefer. If the wind and current are quite strong, and you are concerned about being overpowered as you walk forward, just slip the long bow line through the pennant and make it fast to the stern cleat. You can then drag the pennant forward while it is captive on the line you have led.


This is my standard method of picking up a mooring when single handing my own modest 30'er, which I am most of the time, but I have also used it on much large boats. As your prop is at least two feet below the water and a couple feet inboard of the stern, you have to work pretty hard to suck a floating pennant line into it. If you misjudge and come astern too fast, just put the boat in neutral and wait until you drift clear, but I suspect after trying this once or twice you won't over shoot any more. You can practice by backing up to a buoy if you like as there should be no fouling hazard.

[pjShap]

I do what you've been doing, and go around again if I miss. With wind and current, it has sometimes taken me 4 passes to pick up a mooring pendant. As long as I get back to the cockpit by the time the boat comes to a stop, I can put it back into gear and drive ahead safely. I guess I start the walk to the bow earlier, while the boat is moving forward, so that's not a rush. The rush is getting back to the wheel when I miss the pendant. I have a remote control for the autopilot, but there's not much steerage as the boat is going too slowly, so it's not effective.

[shimari]

Originally Posted by Nekton73

Perhaps you might try reversing up to your mooring from downwind. Sailboats tend to orient themselves stern to the wind, or slightly quartered, if left to drift and this turns out to be a very stable way to reverse towards your goal. This technique is taught by the RYA as a safe(er) alternative to picking up a mooring vs the long reach from the bow. It is quite effective even in a strong wind and moderate chop.



I don't know your boat specifically, but I looked it up and the pics I found show a pair of cleats mounted on the stern, perfect to loop your mooring pennant over once you've fished it up with a hook. Once secured to a stern cleat you can, at your leisure, take a line from the bow outside the stanchions aft along the side of the boat (or perhaps you've already prepared it, although I tend to do it after catching the pennant so I'm not concerned with which side to aim for), and slip it through the eye of the pennant. Now just cast off from your stern cleat and pull the slack through as you walk back to the bow, where you can secure the pennant in whatever manner you normally prefer. If the wind and current are quite strong, and you are concerned about being overpowered as you walk forward, just slip the long bow line through the pennant and make it fast to the stern cleat. You can then drag the pennant forward while it is captive on the line you have led.


This is my standard method of picking up a mooring when single handing my own modest 30'er, which I am most of the time, but I have also used it on much large boats. As your prop is at least two feet below the water and a couple feet inboard of the stern, you have to work pretty hard to suck a floating pennant line into it. If you misjudge and come astern too fast, just put the boat in neutral and wait until you drift clear, but I suspect after trying this once or twice you won't over shoot any more. You can practice by backing up to a buoy if you like as there should be no fouling hazard.

I really like this approach. Simple and straight forward.

[Stu Jackson]

Just stop "running to the bow." I use the cockpit. With the stronger winds you describe, attaching a secure line from the bow to somewhere back aft will work. Then all you need to do is position the boat upwind of the buoy and arrange it so it falls off properly. Don't over think this. Good luck.