Best Practices: How to with Mooring Balls?

[Sundancer]

Just wondering how this is typically done. Cleat to ball and back to the other cleat? Quick clips to the bow eye? Some shackle device that prevents twisting? I usually go from cleat through the mooring ball eye and back to the other cleat. There aren't many around here, but more and more are showing up. What's recommended?

 

[Asureyez]

If the Ball only presents you an eye at the top, you should consider making up a special painter about 1.5 X your boat length with a stainless shackle with a locking pin on one end. The shackle should be well protected from chafe. Cleat off your painter on the bow and lead it back to the leward side of the stern. Pick up the ball off the leward stern as its lower and shackel your painter to the ball and then let the wind/current drift you off the ball.

When I was boating on lake Geneva, Wis., they used a special shackle for bouys that was quite clever. It was bronze and was shaped like two question marks facing and overlaying each other as opposing claws. When pulled together tightly they formed a closed ring and were held together atop each other by a strip of leather. They worked great and were very easy on and off the mooring. I kept mine made up with the shackle spliced on. These shackle's had a funky name for them like "***** mooring shackle".

None the less a simple anchor shackle will do although more difficult to get on and off.

I would not recommend use of a carabine shackel as these can not take the loads and can foul and open unexpectedly.

Nor, do I recommend simply looping your painter through the eye and back to a second cleat as you will not ride true and the painter will saw through in a blow. Get metal to metal on the mooring.

 

[Four Suns]

What's a "****** mooring shackle"? Did you try and say 8oatflx?

 

[Henry Boyd]

I respectfully disagree with Chad. The type of attachment for a boat to a mooring will be covered by the harbormaster authorizing the mooring. In any event mechanical fasteners, carabiners, Halyard clips (the hardware Chad described), snap loops etc, should only be used as security devices. The reason is that moorings are dynamic and mechanical fasteners are at risk of breaking, or failing from corrosion, and popping open.

As for using line, it is the practice here in New England to use either one, or two (depending on regulations and circumstance) pennants. A pennant is similar to a dock line, except that it has a thimble on one end that is used to shackle it to the mooring chain (never the ball - chain is stronger than plastic balls) The length of which is determined by harbormaster, but at a minimum 1.5 times freeboard dimension of the boat. In my case I use two pennants on the bow and one in the stern. I like to loop off one pennant on the bow cleat, and on the other side use a longer pennant, bring it up through the boa cleat, cleat it off and then drop the loop over the deck cleat.

Henry

 

[estebanj]

When I last chartered in the BVIs, where mooring balls are common, there were two common practices. One is to run two lines, from port cleat through painter's eye to s/board cleat.

The other, and what I was advised to do, is to run two lines, from back to its original cleat. So port cleat to painter's eye, back to port cleat, and same for s/board cleat.

You will also see many boats run only one line from either cleat, or the anchor cleat. I would say this is OK for day stops, but for overnight use the two line method.

If the mooring ball doesn't have a painter (or it's in poor shape), look for another ball.

Esteban