[C320-list] Using bow cleats for mooring

[Rick]

Hello Scott & Graeme,
My mooring arrangement experiences involved spending in excess of 220 overnights on  our 320 attached to buoy at Put-in-Bay in Western Lake Erie over 22 seasons. 

First: I resolved the mooring buoy hull contact issue by placing around the buoy two half ring sections of a $5, wide diameter swimming pool noodle that has hole in the center. The noodle ring when installed fits loosely around the buoy and the assembled noodle half rings are held together by a discarded 1/4 inch flexible flat two strand electrical cord. I can remove the noodle ring easily with a boat hook or place it on the buoy by tying the ring together before sending it down the vessel's mooring buoy attachment line. Both halves of the noodle ring can be stored in the anchor locker. The rings are held together by the vinyl covered electrical cord with enough cordage left to close the rings with a few simple knots around a looped end at one side of the half ring and stopper knots to keep the cord in place at the other end of the second half ring. One could easily semi-permanently secure the noodle ring to the buoy by simply running a flat cord or line thru the buoy ring to each half of the noodle ring so the ring is not blown off the buoy while the boat is away from the buoy.

Second: I  also learned that the port side bow cleat is the preferred mooring buoy line attachment point. Over the years my 320  sustained countless gale force winds and  several severe thunderstorms in excess of 60 mph gusts during which there were large waves from an unprotected side of the mooring field. We always remained securely on board while attached to the buoy while it is sometimes unsettling to rock and roll and realize the bow and stern are getting some air time between waves while yawing back and forth...but that all serves to enhances the memories when the calm returns.  Never experienced a problem because we figured out what went wrong with the boats we observed occasionally  breaking loose over the years. We  made many adjustments early on until we settled on the best mooring buoy processes. The critical issue is to protect against the weakest failure points. We use 5/8th braided dock line attached to the buoy ring with a stainless buoy hook and that avoids a line wearing away on the buoy ring over time. I resorted to using a stainless mooring buoy hook that has a spring tensioned closing security loop on the hook that remains open while attached to my boat hook pole until I  hook the buoy ring and then withdraw the pole from the buoy ring leaving the stainless buoy hook in place with the security loop closed and secured on the buoy ring. That leaves my boat secured to the buoy. The buoy hook end of the line that was pre-attached to the boat with the dock line's loop attached to that port bow cleat before we approached the buoy. One only has to hold the dock pole and loose line with the stainless hook open and ready to hook the buoy ring. If everything is ready to go at hooking time, it is pretty easy to hook a buoy while single handling by timing the approach to the buoy into the wind in time to leave the helm and grab the dock pole with the line/hook attached and secure the buoy and then return to the helm to reverse the boats movement if necessary in higher winds.  I also use a vinyl braided hose as a chafe protector secured to the port bow cleat that is long enough to avoid having the line rub against the bow or even the anchor during those occasional violent swings during heavy wind/wave surges.

Third: I learned that in spite of having a secure stainless hook attached to the buoy ring we also routinely run a safety line through the buoy ring that is attached to the starboard bow cleat with the dock line loop first secured to the starboard bow cleat and the bitter end of that the dock line placed through the buoy ring and then secured to the cleat. That arrangement allows the safety line to be left in a slack position such that the stainless ring hook is always tighter than the safety line. The safety line  remains slack enough to stay out of the water most of the time and then the tensioned stainless hooked line  swings the boat. The first reason I use the safety line is in the very unlikely event the stainless security hooked line could become twisted around the buoy chain or otherwise forcing the stainless security hook to be jammed  open under extreme wind/wave conditions (again, very unlikely). The second reason I use a safety line is because it is then a snap when leaving the buoy. Both the noodle ring and then the stainless hook can be removed  in anticipation of leaving the mooring buoy while the safety line continues to secure the boat to the buoy. That way all one needs to do upon departure is to release the bitter end of the safety line from the starboard cleat and allow the safety line to run out of the buoy ring while the looped end is attached to the starboard bow cleat. The safety line can then be quickly gathered upon departure from the buoy if single handling the vessel.

Hope this lengthy explanation serves to stimulate some ideas that may best apply to your situations.
Rick Sulewski
My-Ria 95 320 #277  

-----Original Message-----
From: C320-list [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Scott Thompson
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2016 7:35 PM
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Using bow cleats for mooring

I keep my 1999 320 on such a mooring using a single mooring pennant led to the port cleat. I use a 12 foot by 3/4 inch Yale mooring pennant. Mooring on the starboard side causes problems with the anchor. I've had no problems through more than 12 years with this arrangement, including tropical storm force winds. I am in a sheltered creek so no significant wave action, tides or wakes. The bow cleats are less likely to fail than the mooring itself in my view. 

The only issues that I've had were due to the hull bumping against the buoy, which has scratched the boot stripe. 

Scott Thompson

> On Dec 18, 2016, at 7:05 PM, Graeme Clark <cg at skyflyer.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> My 1996 320, hull #366, has no bow fairleads, just the usual cleats either side a couple of feet back from the bow.
> 
> Here in Britain it is very common  - but I believe less so in USA - to have boats moored on a ‘swinging mooring’ rather than docked or ‘alongside’ in a marina.  This, for those that are unaware is large gauge chain connected to a heavy weight or block on the sea-bed. The chain is held up by a large floating buoy and a mooring strop or mooring chain is then connected to the top of the riser chain. The free end of this has a small “pickup” buoy attached.
> 
> Until now I have been using the mooring chain by removing the anchor and leading the chain over the anchor roller to the large central bow cleat. It works well but has two problems. It can be a pain to remove the anchor and stow it (it has to be taken aft as insufficient room in anchor locker), and it is easy to get fingers trapped when threading chain over the bow roller, especially if the sea is a bit choppy . Also the rusty chain leaves stains on the deck.
> 
> Instead of mooring chain, I am therefore considering having a double rope strop made up, to lead either side of the bow to the two bow cleats, having a soft spliced eye at the cleat end and a hard eye at the riser chain end. I envisage using some of the self-adhesive thin stainless steel sheet to protect the edge of the deck where the line might chafe.
> 
> The real question though is whether these cleats are up to the load - compared to the large central cleat.  i think they must be as they are, after all, what is used to secure the boat alongside in a dock or marina berth. On the other hand the swinging moorings are a little further off shore from the marina and have less shelter so a strong gale and choppy seas might put quite a strain on them.
> 
> I’d be interested to hear of other owners who have used or do use similar mooring techniques and any alternative recommendations.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Graeme 
> 
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