Mooring set up/rigging preferences?

[Carpediem44DB]

We are planning on a trip to a favorite weekend respite in the Bay, Ayala Cove next weekend. This will be the first overnight trip on the 506 on a ball. The mooring area there has 20 or so balls and you are supposed to use two, one on the bow and one on the stern. For those of you that routinely moor, do you tie on to both forward cleats, use the center bow cleat between the windlass and the anchor sprit or use the bow ring? The cove is quite peaceful but the passing fishing boat fleet that head out the gate go right past the cove and it gets pretty wild so I am interested in tying off in a manner that give the best security. Any input would be appreciated.
Carpe Diem

 

[Skybolt]

We are planning on a trip to a favorite weekend respite in the Bay, Ayala Cove next weekend. This will be the first overnight trip on the 506 on a ball. The mooring area there has 20 or so balls and you are supposed to use two, one on the bow and one on the stern. For those of you that routinely moor, do you tie on to both forward cleats, use the center bow cleat between the windlass and the anchor sprit or use the bow ring? The cove is quite peaceful but the passing fishing boat fleet that head out the gate go right past the cove and it gets pretty wild so I am interested in tying off in a manner that give the best security. Any input would be appreciated.
Carpe Diem

I made a bridal for just what you are describing. On the bow I have a 1" line 20' long that has loops at both ends. I used the given loop for the one that is passed through the moorings ring or single pennant line. The other end, with a self tied knotted loop, is already on the one of the bow cleats. So yes, use the port/starboard bow cleats. The line it self was a total of 25' long. This works out real well and of course you can just use a regular dock line for the same thing. I have never heard of two mooring balls but that can't be any different then anchoring out with a stern anchor. When I use a stern anchor, I always sleep the best.

Using a bridal to the ring or pennant line helps the boat stay centered and not pull more in the wind and if done right helps keep the bow a little cleaner at the same time.

 

[Carpediem44DB]

I made a bridal for just what you are describing. On the bow I have a 1" line 20' long that has loops at both ends. I used the given loop for the one that is passed through the moorings ring or single pennant line. The other end, with a self tied knotted loop, is already on the one of the bow cleats. So yes, use the port/starboard bow cleats. The line it self was a total of 25' long. This works out real well and of course you can just use a regular dock line for the same thing. I have never heard of two mooring balls but that can't be any different then anchoring out with a stern anchor. When I use a stern anchor, I always sleep the best.

Using a bridal to the ring or pennant line helps the boat stay centered and not pull more in the wind and if done right helps keep the bow a little cleaner at the same time.

Do you find that the bridal chafes on the ring or in clam conditions for a night or two its not much of a factor. I have read different tacks on that and some suggest two lines so the line does not move thru the ring. I imagine there are many ways to do it depending on the conditions. They require using bow and stern lines to keep all the boats oriented into the prevailing swells regardless of the wind direction.
Thanks

 

[Skybolt]

Do you find that the bridal chafes on the ring or in clam conditions for a night or two its not much of a factor. I have read different tacks on that and some suggest two lines so the line does not move thru the ring. I imagine there are many ways to do it depending on the conditions. They require using bow and stern lines to keep all the boats oriented into the prevailing swells regardless of the wind direction.
Thanks

Haven't had an issue to date with chafing, but I do replace the line when it gets a few years old. That said I use twisted nylon over the braided. Using two lines will not allow the boat to center itself and will cause pulling in wind. But with two mooring balls, I don't see an issue with that happening. In my old harbor we had a permanent 1000lbs mooring ball and that had two pennants off of it with an extension pole straight up to hang the pennants on when you leave. So that was the same as two line's off of the ring/pennant line.

 

[Carpediem44DB]

Haven't had an issue to date with chafing, but I do replace the line when it gets a few years old. That said I use twisted nylon over the braided. Using two lines will not allow the boat to center itself and will cause pulling in wind. But with two mooring balls, I don't see an issue with that happening. In my old harbor we had a permanent 1000lbs mooring ball and that had two pennants off of it with an extension pole straight up to hang the pennants on when you leave. So that was the same as two line's off of the ring/pennant line.

Pennants would be nice, these balls as I remember just have a fixed ring. Been going for years in our smaller boats but usually just stop for lunch. It can be entertaining watching folks maneuver back and forth getting the lines taught, kinda like watching the antics at the ramp on a Sunday afternoon.

 

[Henry Boyd]

We are planning on a trip to a favorite weekend respite in the Bay, Ayala Cove next weekend. This will be the first overnight trip on the 506 on a ball. The mooring area there has 20 or so balls and you are supposed to use two, one on the bow and one on the stern. For those of you that routinely moor, do you tie on to both forward cleats, use the center bow cleat between the windlass and the anchor sprit or use the bow ring? The cove is quite peaceful but the passing fishing boat fleet that head out the gate go right past the cove and it gets pretty wild so I am interested in tying off in a manner that give the best security. Any input would be appreciated.
Carpe Diem

We kept the 280 on a two point mooring for many years. We used two equal length pennants from the ball to the bow cleats. These were not set up like a bridle, but as two independent lines with their own shackles. The risk with a bridle using a single point on the ball is if the line parts, the entire bow connection fails. The stern was attached with a single line to the rear ball. In our case the stern ball was to keep the boat from spinning around the ball as the tide changed.

With a two point setup using a single pennant on the bow (as long as it is proper size) is fine as there is no spinning.

 

[importmonkey]

I used two lines. One from the forward port cleat and the other from the forward starboard cleat. Each looped through the mooring rigging and back to its respective cleat. Worked well for me.

 

[ttmott]

I've tied off of a lot of moorings in the Bahamas. Only used a single mooring especially in a crowed location like Fisher's Bay in the Abaco. That way the boat will swing like all the other boats and not interfere. I always use a bridle on the mooring loop and the bridle is tied off on the two forward side cleats; really no different that on the anchor. My "crew" has a difficult time picking up the mooring loop from the bow so we back into the ball and pick up from the aft and then walk it up to the bow and secure there. Windy days are especially challenging but we have a system and it works.

 

[FootballFan]

We do something similar, catching the mooring at the stern.

In advance we rig our lines on the bow cleats. Then take a long line on the mid cleat which we carry back to the stern. We initially attach the long line from the stern then walk the line up to the bow.

At the bow we run a 25ft line off the two forward bow cleats. Once we get the mooring line up, run each bow line through and then tie them back to their respective cleats.

Gives the effect of a bridle, but two separate attachment points, two independent lines.

 

[my3sons]

Never have had to tie to a bow and stern ball, but sounds a little challenging without a dinghy or more than one deck person.
In most cases i just do what importmonkey does. Easy if you don't have a bridle. She puts the eyes of two 40' lines on the two forward cleats and picks up the pendant with a boat hook. Passes the ends of the lines through the thimble of the pendant and each line cleated back to their perspective cleat.
Here's what it looks like.

That's fine for short duration (a few days to a week) if your not expecting any storms.
Harsh conditions or leaving the boat unattended for long periods of time would require a set up like Henry used for his boat. If you have a bridle, you could just use that like Tom does.

 

[ttmott]

Oh, and, whatever you do don't drag that filthy mooring pendant onto the boat; get your lines through it off of the boat - from the school of hard knocks....

And, as an FYI - my boat has broken a mooring and drifted with a long length of the mooring in tow. This happened to us in a bit of a midnight thunder storm. I set the anchor drag alarm which is what prevented who knows what. The big issue is we had to get that long mooring line off of the boat bridle so it didn't get tangled up into the propellers. Running in circles in reverse at midnight on radar while the crew was on the bow trying to get the bridle retrieved and disconnected was no doubt a comedy.....

 

[Captain Spike]

We are planning on a trip to a favorite weekend respite in the Bay, Ayala Cove next weekend. This will be the first overnight trip on the 506 on a ball. The mooring area there has 20 or so balls and you are supposed to use two, one on the bow and one on the stern. For those of you that routinely moor, do you tie on to both forward cleats, use the center bow cleat between the windlass and the anchor sprit or use the bow ring? The cove is quite peaceful but the passing fishing boat fleet that head out the gate go right past the cove and it gets pretty wild so I am interested in tying off in a manner that give the best security. Any input would be appreciated.
Carpe Diem

Such a beautiful spot. We used to frequent it in a 32’ Grand Banks the low walk around decks made it much easier. The bow line I would pass through from port cleat to Strbd like a bridal but would run a single line to the stern buoy. All was easier when I brought the Zodiac for the stern.
You may need to pick up the bow line from your swim step and walk it forward if you are higher off the water. Enjoy! Watch that crazy current in there though.

 

[Carpediem44DB]

I ended up using a long line staged from the forward port cleat across the bow and down the out side of the railing all the way a cleat on the stern. When we arrived I backed down to what would be the forward ball, passed the line through the ball ring from the swim platform and secured the bitter end to a shorter line staged from a cleat on the gunnel. I then just used that line to fetch the end of the bow line and walked it forward using my remote as I backed down yo the stern ball. All was going just perfect until the ball ran along the hull spinning as the boat passed by and left me wondering which line to pull. I guessed wrong as I pulled the line back out of the ball ring! By that time our fellow cruisers were secured and dinked over to lend a hand. There was little wind or current so the whole thing was pretty relaxed. Single line to two cleats on the bow and a single line on the stern was just fine for a couple of nights in a calm mooring.
Thanks for all the tips
CD

 

[Captain Spike]

Sounds like it was a good plan similar to what I have done. Dinghy’s are always welcome.
Used to pull it off with my wife and two little girls. During the season the sailboats would be thick as thieves and never helpful. I spent a lot of time helping all boats when I had the Zodiac along. Beautiful spot !