mooring a Cape Dory 26

[Vern/Lenore Durkee]

Good morning. This is our first posting. We are so pleased to have a Cape Dory and to be registered with this group. QUESTION: We are mooring our boat at the Ithaca Yacht Club on Cayuga Lake. We are interested in recommendations for mooring. We had heavy SE winds yesterday and one of the two mooring lines we were told to use parted.
Suggestions from fellow sailors ranged from using just one line to using two, attaching both at the bottom of the buoy(?). etc. . What do Cape Dory owners do?

When we used two lines, one invariably twisted around the other, even after untangling them. It was a nervous time for us yesterday. We have sailed only small boats (O'Day Day Sailer and Nomad) and never needed to worry about mooring lines! Any ideas that you
have would be welcomed, indeed.--Lenore and Vern Durkee

[Carter Brey]

Good morning. This is our first posting. We are so pleased to have a Cape Dory and to be registered with this group. QUESTION: We are mooring our boat at the Ithaca Yacht Club on Cayuga Lake. We are interested in recommendations for mooring. We had heavy SE winds yesterday and one of the two mooring lines we were told to use parted.
Suggestions from fellow sailors ranged from using just one line to using two, attaching both at the bottom of the buoy(?). etc. . What do Cape Dory owners do?

When we used two lines, one invariably twisted around the other, even after untangling them. It was a nervous time for us yesterday. We have sailed only small boats (O'Day Day Sailer and Nomad) and never needed to worry about mooring lines! Any ideas that you
have would be welcomed, indeed.--Lenore and Vern Durkee

Lenore and Vern,

Two lines are always a good idea. You don't specify where the line parted or why, but I would lay money on it's having happened at the bow chocks. Did you remember to use antichafe gear at the bow chocks? Even robust-looking lines can wear through very quickly in high winds without some protection against chafing.

Best regards
Carter

[Bill Goldsmith]

Welcome to Cape Dory-dom!!! You will find this to be a great group.

Here is a pretty good diagram of a typical mooring. People use several modifications of the pictured setup.

It is a very good idea to run two mooring pennants, one to each of two bow cleats. This acts as a backup, but can get twisted. Another alernative is to run a bridle (say, a 10 foot dockline) from one cleat, through an eye splice on the mooring pennant, and then around to the other cleat. This centers the effort, and will not get twisted, but chafe protection on the eye and the bridle is needed. A safety line from the ball to another cleat is a good idea as well, since the bridle method relies on one line (the pennant/eye and the bridle) staying intact.

Always inspect your mooring tackle for chafe and replace any worn pennants. Old fire hose is the best anti-chafe gear--it is better than cut-up garden hose because garden hose keeps the line wet which weakens it. You can sew or whip pieces of fire hose to the mooring pennants where they pass through the chocks, and also to the eye splice if you use the bridle method.

Enjoy sailing on Cayuga's waters, with its waves of blue!!

[Leo MacDonald]

Hi Lenore & Vern,

I use two mooring line with different lengths (less ‘sail at mooring’) , and as Carter mentioned, with chafe guards.

If you expect periodic high winds keep the ground tackle in good shape - replace if in doubt or recommended by the mooing tender.

Taking your mooring line to the shackle on the bottom of the mooring ball is a good idea, but not necessary if the ball is the type with a large galvanized bolt going through it. Inspect this bolt and your chains each season. (Not only to find corrosion and wear, but enhances peace of mind.)

Enjoy - you have a great boat

[Chris Reinke]

I can only add one bit of experience. I had my 2 pennants attached to the light chain shackle just below the mooring buoy. After casting off one day I noticed my buoy drifting away from the pick-up bouy on the end of the pennants. I thought my pennants had parted from the mooring bouy, when in fact the mooring bouy bolt had rusted through in less than one season and the mooring was drifting off. The mooring bouy had come from an reputable supplier but it is certainly the "weak link" in a mooring system if you attach the pennant to it. I would recommend the pennants be attached at the light chain shackle. I do install chafe protection on each pennant from the mooring bouy up to approximately 4 feet. This offers sufficient protection should the lines become somewhat twisted. Anti-chafe is also needed at my bow chocks.

[Doug Fallin]

Has anyone tried a helix type anchor (big screw) instead of a mushroom, concrete block or some other heavy mass. I have always wondered how you get a 500 lb mushroom out to the mooring field in the first place. I have read about the helix type anchor screws, but know of no one who has used one. Are they allowed or do they violate some ordinance that I don't know about? If anyone has experience with one, do they hold well?

[Oswego John]

Hi Doug,

I know little about a helix anchor. I've never used one. I've never seen one in use. I'm trying to figure out how a person screws one into the bottom with ground tackle attached.

Years ago, our outfit built a steel barge and we installed a three legged tripod crane which was attached to the deck. The overhead sheave extended out from the square nosed bow by a foot or two. The third leg was adjustable for this. We used a hand crank winch with a brake for hoisting and lowering.

A 500 pound mushroom, plus the weight of the chain, etc, was no problem. We'd load several on board at a time to save trip time to the mooring field.

Setting the mushrooms was nothing as compared to pulling them out. Some people don't realize that through a season or two, what with wind shifts under load, the mushroom works itself deeper into the bottom. You need much more power to extricate the saucer from below the bottom surface, not to mention breaking the suction which developes in time.

FYI, a 500 lb mushroom is far more effective than a flat bottomed 500 lb cement block. Under dire conditions, a cement block can skate across a seaweed covered bottom. Under the same conditions, the angled pull on a mushroom's stock will cause the lip of the saucer to dig into the bottom.

If I were to offer two suggestions, I would first say that two swivels, top and bottom are five times as good as one swivel.

My second suggestion would be to consult with the local Harbormaster in regard to location, size, weight and any other local requirements.

Have a good weekend,
O J

[Joe Myerson]

Hi Doug,
Like everybody else who's answered so far, I'll tell you to put some kind of chafe protection on your pennant(s) where they pass through the bow chock. I've always used leather, which you can buy at any of the major marine stores. Or, there are very nice Kevlar/nylon chafe guards available--or even, if you can find it at a local fire house, a piece of fire hose.

As for two pennants: I've never used that system, but if you do, it's a good idea to make your backup pennant about 25 percent longer than your primary. That way the second pennant won't bear any weight unless and until the primary has failed.

Welcome aboard, you'll love your Cape Dory.

--Joe

[Dick Barthel]

[quote="Joe Myerson"]

[As for two pennants: I've never used that system, but if you do, it's a good idea to make your backup pennant about 25 percent longer than your primary. That way the second pennant won't bear any weight unless and until the primary has failed.]

At our boatyard which is at the mouth of a river so we can get some pretty good blows, they use a two pennant system of equal length that share the load rather than a primary with back up that Joe describes. They are both pretty heavy lines so in theory if one parted the other would certainly still hold the boat.

Dick

[bottomscraper]

We just got some from our local FD. We asked about a month ago, they didn't have any at the time but said that they would keep us in mind. They called last week, they had a hose blow when working a brush fire. They said that old hose usually just ends up in the dump.

[Joe Myerson]

Rich,

One of the articles I read on chafe protection suggested calling the local FD--but I never actually did so. When you think about it, they've got to keep their hoses in top shape, so they're probably throwing old ones out on a regular basis. I'll check with mine, too. It makes a good chafe guard for the anchor rode, too.
--Joe

[Nigel Noble]

I met an old salt at the marine store the other day. He was pushing an old household radiator on a cart. He said they make for the best mooring he'd ever had.

[GLutzow]

I have been on a mooring since I purchased my Cape Dory new in 1981....a couple of observations:

If you use a dual pennant be sure that you use a dual swivel when attaching to the mooring to avoid twist. One above...the other below the bouy. Replace the swivels annually.

I have successfully used a "Y" configuration for my pennant all these years with no problems.

Run the pennant through a garden hose where it passes through the chocks. This makes a wonderful chafe guard and you will have no worries about wear.

I use a concrete block..BUT..I ensured that the block was buried in the sea bed...no drag! During last years "Thunder Storms" here in Florida my boat rode out the weather with no problems. Note..it is amazing how well a CD rides weather, especially when you reduce the windage. I removed the mast and all rigging before each storm.

REPLACE THE PENNANT EVERY YEAR...even if it looks fine. An ounce of prevention..... I also replace the mooring chain every other year.

My two cents worth.

[Ron M.]

I have a 2 ton concrete block / with and a 11/8" eye all tied together with rebar and cast when the block was poured approx. 30 yrs. ago.
This has lasted well over time. Last week I dove on it to check on wear/rust of the eye. Amazingly found perhaps 10 - 15 % wear and little degradation of the metal , in salt water no less. The block which is approx. 2-1/2' tall and pyramid shaped has settled into the sand 18" or so.
Many harbors are not allowing these blocks, or mushrooms for that matter any longer as they take up too much room that shellfish could proliferate in. Mushrooms with heavy bottom chain scour the bottom in a negative way.
The Helix which requires less scope, so I'm told, is preferred in many locations.
The are a bit more expensive and are installed by a franchise operation
that has the necessary equipment. Don't know their longevity.
________
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[Joe Mac Phee]

Vern,

I had a similar problem when I first started using a mooring in Bristol with 2 pennants. The pennants were attached to the swivel at the bottom of the float. When the wind would go slack, the boat would drift up to the float and sooner or later, one of the pennants would flop clockwise around the float and the other counterclockwise. When the wind picks up, the swivel no longer works and the 2 pennants get sawed by the swivel and chain until one fails. At that time. the remaining pennant picks up the load and the swivel unwinds.

I fixed this problem by attaching the pennants at the top of the float. Since I did not trust the floats with a rod through the middle, I used a float with a hole through the middle. The mooring chain comes up through the hole and the swivel and pennants are all attached at the top. As a further precaution, I lashed the 2 pennants together for the first few feet so that they cannot separate and drop in two different directions over the ball.

I am not sure if this is the problem that you have but one or more of these techniques may work for you.

Joe Mac Phee