[C320-list] Single Handed Sailing

[Bob Borelli]

I single hand sail and pick up my mooring pendant with a boat hook from the bow deck.
I approach the mooring with bow pointed into the wind.
Put the diesel in neutral and let the boats momentum slowly move towards the mooring ball.
I walk forward with the boat hook & lift up the pendant & drop the eye on the bow cleat.
The pendant has a float, so the pendant is floating and easier to reach with the hook.
If I miss the pendant from the bow, easy to miss in heavy wind, I turn the boat around and approach again to hook the pendant from the bow deck only.

Recently in a squall, I couldn’t hold the pendant with the boat hook.
The wind blew the boat back onto the mooring ball & pendant behind me.
My friend was at the wheel, did not place prop in neutral, pendant & ball wrapped around prop.
Now the boat was stern to the wind.
A real mess.

The one time I go out with a friend, I stupidly allow him to drive my boat to the moor in a squall.
Now I’m moored stern to the wind in a squall with the pendant on my propeller.

Many, many dives under the boat that evening & next day I was able to cut thru that pendant.
All feel by hand.  Got loose.
Replaced the pendant.
Had boat hauled, inspected prop, dial indicated shaft, no apparent damage.
Very, very lucky.

I keep 2 boat hooks onboard cause easy to drop one overboard.
I like the idea of foam insulation on the pendants.
I am considering a vertical stick float on the pendant so I can also grab by hand.

Bob Borelli  C320 no. 209


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From: Christian<mailto:ccaper at gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2022 1:15 PM
To: C320-List at catalina320.com<mailto:C320-List at catalina320.com>
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Single Handed Sailing

Excellent idea on wrapping the lines with foam, I'll borrow that from you!

On Fri, Jan 21, 2022 at 12:05 PM <appleton1 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> The two pendants that hang from our mooring ball float, not just from the
> pickup stick but also because they’re encased with foam pipe insulation.
> - Joe Jablonowski
>
> > On Jan 21, 2022, at 12:39 PM, Christian <ccaper at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > "Grab the mooring pendant from the cockpit"
> >
> > I'm glad this works for you.  Just be mindful that picking up the pendant
> > from the cockpit does have the risk of getting the bridal or pendant
> lines
> > caught in prop wash and sucked down to foul your prop.  Gave me quite a
> > scare last season when this happened on getting off our mooring when on a
> > light wind day the powerboat directly downwind of me and spun swing
> exactly
> > opposite of our swing, right when we were disconnecting, and I had no
> where
> > to go but forward (our mooring field is tight), and couldn't clear our
> > mooring lines, and before I knew it was fouled on the pendant line, while
> > no longer connected to our bridal/mooring.  Had to emergency drop anchor.
> > And it took diving into the water and unhooking our bridal from our
> mooring
> > ball to unfoul and free.  Really gave me quite the scare.  Fortunately, I
> > was in very low RPM, and killed the engine immediately (but unfortunately
> > already fouled), and no damage down to prop shaft.  But it could have
> been
> > real bad.
>
>