Mooring pendant twist

[mahalocd36]

Boat has not (to my knowledge) changed its relative position to the ball. Something is rotating here and it's not the boat.

It's the ball then, and the bottom line is not swiveling around the ball as you think. Looking at your photo, I think "how would I untwist this. Well, I'd turn the ball clockwise (from the top) and that assumes that line is 'fixed' onto the bottom of the ball.

(Or I'd just grab the line, without twisting the ball, but I don't think that is what's happening. I think the ball is rotating and the line is fixed to it) Can you check underwater to see if the line is wrapped or not?

[tartansailor]

Andy,
Looking at both your first, then last pic, it appears to me that the buoy is always spinning clockwise facing the boat. Now I could be wrong but that suggests to me that the buoy is not perfectly concentric.

Now to prove that, disconnect the buoy, flip it 180°, then reconnect, and see if it spins counter clockwise; in which case a meeting with the vendor would be in order.
IMHO
Dick

[Ann and David Brownlee]

We've never seen two pennants that were not both attached to either the top or bottom of the mooring ball, and we suspect that that is a great contributor to the problem. After several years of keeping our CD 27 on the strongly reversing waters of the Susquehanna, where the pennants would wrap around the mooring chain and abrade severely, we settled on two pennants leading to a much oversized swivel on the top of the buoy. The idea of seizing the two pennants together for about half of their length is appealing.

[chase]

Hi Ann and David, is your mooring ball the type that the chain passes through?

Chase

[Ann and David Brownlee]

No, ours is the type with a steel shaft that passes through the ball, with rings on top and bottom.

[Ann and David Brownlee]

We also seized small floats (the type used for ski tow lines) to each pennant, to keep them from wrapping under the buoy.

[novotny]

I have had boats on a mooring for over 20 years in front of our place on Chautauqua Lake, NY.
I have always use two pennants attached to the top and they used to twist on me also. I believe the twisting occurs during calm when there is no load on the lines and the boat meanders around. . I solved the problem by placing one ft length of 3/4 inch PVC pipe on each line and somehow that seems to discourage twisting and/or the lines wrapping around the mooring chain during calm. Perhaps it's the slight added weight on the line that helps to keep the lines separate. Worked for me. Good luck

[Parfait's Provider]

Andy,

Did you ever figure out how this is happening? Could it be that the rode gets tight and the longer arm of the bridle just gets washed over the ball?

A couple of us are less than pleased with the width of our slips during storms. Who controls moorings in Broad Creek?

Are there other holes around?

Ken

[Markst95]

My understanding was the rod mooring balls are NOT designed to have the pennant attached on the top, the galvanized rod isn't strong enough. They are designed to be hooked to the chain directly underneath with a good shackle. Only the tube through the center bouys can be hooked up on top. Here's a pic from the Taylor site.


http://www.boatcovers.cc/cgi-bin/catalog.pl?item_id=62

[Andy Denmark]

Ken,

Please call (or personally email me) about the mooring situation in Broad Creek before you contact anyone else.

Thanks

[chase]

The tube through center with a shackle on top are superior to those that connect underneath IMHO. It has eliminated all twist, the need for binding and floats, or wrapping barnacle encrusted chain under the water.

edit: Mark, you're right about that rod not being meant to handle loads, and I recall manufacture says as much, probably indicated in your link. Good call. The nut rusted on mine and Irene would have ripped out the rod with a laser or sunfish attached!

Does anyone use bottom paint on their buoys?

Chase

[Markst95]

I didn't use bottom paint this year and got tons of barnacles- plan on using it for next season. It changes from year to year, last year wasn't as bad. I think your right about the tube bouys should help with the twist.

[Ron M.]

I always use bottom paint on my mooring ball - without it barnacles grow like weeds. I should take a dive and check the prop - I tried rustoleum galvanizing paint on it this year, $7.00 vs. the $40.00 petit product with exactly the same formula, we'll see. So far I haven't noticed any drop in performance usually common with growth on the prop.

[chase]

It would make sense to paint them. I've been hittin' the high spots to keep the barnacles at bay but will use a little leftover bottom paint in the future.

c

[SurryMark]

Looks like she has been practicing secret rolls in the night. Are there broken eggs on the overhead? Do you have a "tall boy" pickup? Are you careful not to add a twist when you haul it on board?

I just noticed the above post, but I did not post it. Look familiar to anybody else? Any thoughts, moderator?