Mooring with a bow pulpit

[islander16]

Hello Everyone,
The Florida boat made it to Maine a month ago. I have a question for you about mooring a Parker with a bow pulpit. What have you tried and what has been successful? I am hesitant to run a mooring line through the bow pulpit because of the stress it would put on the bow pulpit during a nor'easter. Has anybody tried a double eye around both sides of the bow pulpit? Anybody added a mooring bit or different cleats? It seems like the obvious place to put a mooring bitt is where the windlass would be. I'd like to think that someday I will add a windlass. The local accepted method is mooring with a one inch hawser.
Any help would be appreciated if you have experience with this situation.
Thanks,
Charlie

 

[DaleH]

Here's my pulpit:

Astride the pulpit are two big chocks. I spliced up a 'Y' bridle from the mooring ball, with one line coming up to each side. On top, centered on the bow deck, I have a sampson post that the lines go to. But you could have each line go to the cleats that Parker typically installs.

Put chafe guards on the mooring pennant where they go thru the chocks ...

 

[jeffnick]

Would using the bow eye be an option?

 

[Bryan 2530]

You need to add bow chocks.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7639&p=85928

 

[DaleH]

Would using the bow eye be an option?

I see some do that, but it is a pain to get to and the only fasteners are spring-loaded hooks, that I would not trust under a load. Can be difficult to get off fast too, in an emergency.

I'm inclined to believe that a Y-bridle is the way to go, even if chocks needed to be added. I used 316L series SS bolts through the deck and thru a 3/4" HDPE backer board, cut to fit the curved profile of the forward hull sheer/lines.

 

[islander16]

I am inclined to agree with you Dale, the Y-bridle seems like the best way to go. I wanted to see if anyone had come up with another solution. I will probably increase the size of the cleats and add backer plates and definitely add chocks. Dale, do you get much tangling with the eyes and the pick up buoy line and how much trouble is it to get the second eye on the cleat?

 

[DaleH]

If mounted on the bow deck where the windlass pad is, your cleats should be OK, as the deck there is almost 2" thick, see below. You can tell easily enough by sticking your head in the anchor locker and looking up. Even then the rest of the bow deck is still darn thick.

I don't get much tangling and attaching the 2nd eye loop to the bollard/sampson post is easy enough. When I drop off the mooring I tie the 1st loop off, swing it around the pulpit, then loosely tie it to the loop that is still on the post. This is tied at the bottom of the loop still on the post, so when I come back up, there is only the one eye to wrestle around the post, as the 2nd is hanging well down past that 1st eye. My pickup buoy is also tied directly to that 1st or main loop on the Y-bridle.

 

[jeffnick]

Why not install cleats instead of beefed up chocks?

 

[Gobbler66]

Dale,
Your pic showing the various thicknesses is a great tool. I have a 2009 2120. Do you know if the thicknesses changed a lot with mine compared to yours by chance?
I realize the two boats are different but I have been curious to the various thicknesses on mine in the same areas that your pic shows.

 

[Megabyte]

Would using the bow eye be an option?

I see some do that, but it is a pain to get to and the only fasteners are spring-loaded hooks, that I would not trust under a load. Can be difficult to get off fast too, in an emergency.

An observation on using the bow eye which has nothing to do with a mooring...

When I first bought my boat, the motor had some issues that needed to be sorted out.
During that period of time, I had occasion to be towed by TowboatUS twice. :x

Different towboats each time, but they both had a tow hawser with a snap on it that they attached (and released) to the bow eye using a telescoping 'boathook'.

Probably not something practical for a mooring line, but for a tow line, it was pretty slick.

 

[DaleH]

Why not install cleats instead of beefed up chocks?

Good point, if his cleats are on the EDGE of the rail that is, otherwise chocks should be used to re-direct the pull back to the cleat or post.

 

[DaleH]

Dale,
Your pic showing the various thicknesses is a great tool. I have a 2009 2120. Do you know if the thicknesses changed a lot with mine compared to yours by chance?

I really don't have any idea, but with better and enhanced glassing techniques (vacuum bagging) and materials, it is quite possible that a layup got thinner ... but stronger.

 

[DaleH]

Different towboats each time, but they both had a tow hawser with a snap on it that they attached (and released) to the bow eye using a telescoping 'boathook'.

That's also done (towing) to keep the pull low and to the water, as otherwise the tow line can pull the bow of the towed boat down into seas and make her bow steer. It is also a centered single-point tow.

 

[jeffnick]

This is the square I cut out of MokeeDugway's roof (2120) for the air conditioner...balsa and paste.

 

[samsims]

Bow eye for sure, use a carabiner on each end, leave the boat end hooked on when you leave the mooring. Tie a safety line to a bow cleat in case something happens to the main line attached to the bow eye. attaching the main line to a cleat on the deck or pulpit puts the attachment point to high in relation to the mooring ball, the extra height creates more upward motion on the mooring in rough seas, that up motion can pull the mooring anchor. Never had an issue with the carabiners (big ones), issues are always with the ground tackle, anchor pulling or corroded ground tackle. Having some stretch in the system helps, i use rope in the ground tackle, rubber snubbers work too.

 

[DaleH]

4-1/2" SS carabiner with safety lock, $17 from http://www.marinepartdepot.com/new316ststca9.html

I've had tremendous luck with their parts!

 

[jeffnick]

Maybe fix one of these to attach the the mooring line to the bow eye - they come in SWL to over 9,000 lbs. They don't give the SWL for the caribiner.

http://www.mauriprosailing.com/us/categ ... levis.html

And run a stout line from the mooring line up to the deck to drop over a cleat.

As you approached with the dink/tender, undo the bow eye shackle - the boat would now swing from the other line. Board and untie to get underway. Reverse when coming back clamping the bow eye with the shackle on the way out. This way you've got the benefit of the low attachment point and a safety line to boot.

 

[DaleH]

As you approached with the dink/tender, undo the bow eye shackle - the boat would now swing from the other line. Board and untie to get underway. Reverse when coming back clamping the bow eye with the shackle on the way out.

Not a bad idea ... as long as you remember !

 

[dave-j]

Lots of good comments, but seems like we might be making this more complex than it is. Granted, I do not have a bowsprit on my 23 DVCC, but have two mooring cleats on the gunwhales. I simply have TWO mooring lines attached directly to the mooring ball. One goes port, the other starboard. Pickup bouy is on one of the eyes to get a line on quickly if needed. But usually I just come up along side the ball, grab the lines from the cockpit where it is easy to get them, and walk them to the bow, letting the wind bring the boat head to wind.

Lastly, I remember somewhere being told never to moor a boat from its towing eye. Can't remember why?? But my dad used to automatically classify those who did as less than worthy of owning a boat!

 

[islander16]

Thank you all for the comments. This discussion is just what I was looking for. I will be going with a Y-bridle of one inch line. My boat is on the mainland am I live on an island so the next time I'm off I will go see what other hardware I need and if I need to change the cleats to a larger size. Dale, you and I must think alike. I had already decided to tie the pick up buoy to the main eye before you had answered.
The idea of mooring to the bow eye doesn't seem very practical to me even though it might work well for others.
All this mooring talk really hit home when a neighbor's boat came off it's mooring early this morning during the nor-easter we are having. Hopefully this picture loads with this comment so you can see what happened. The bow was stuck under the wharf and the stern swung under the ramp down to the float. The tide was rising and the wind was still blowing around 30mph. We were able to lift the ramp enough to push the stern out from under it and then with five guys on the bow we were able to push the Annette II out from under the wharf. Another ten or fifteen minutes later and we would have had to take a chainsaw to the wharf. A shackle securing the pennant to the top chain broke. Winds were gusting into the 50s last night. She didn't seem to have any damage but we don't know what she might have hit on her way down the harbor.