Hook & Moor

K

Karll

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2019
Messages
232
Fluid Motion Model
R-29 Classic
Hull Identification Number
TBD
Vessel Name
SEAduced
Any members spend the money on a Hook & Moor to use when mooring at a buoy? Does it make it that much easier to justify the cost?
 
I have one and think it is great! I have heard some reviews that they are not as robust has they should be. I can see how people break them. The operating mechanism is not bullet proof but if you don't use it as a pry-bar you should be OK.
 
We have one and like it a lot. It’s good to practice on dry land for a while to become thoroughly familiar with how it works and what to do if it gets stuck. You have to hold the line off to the side a bit to keep it from getting jammed. And it works a little differently depending on if you’re pulling or pushing the line through. But once you get familiar with it, I think it works great.

John
 
When we got our New R27 this last spring good boating friends of ours gave us a hook and moor. After a little practice at the dock we had it down. It truly works like magic. Main part is once you put the hook over the ring it needs to be a quick pull back towards you. If you go slow it doesn’t work well. We were on several mooring balls this summer and were glad we had it. We do not us it for everyday docking as it is a bit heavy and I’d hate to drop it in the water an loose it.

Salty Bliss
 
I’m assuming you still need to go up on the bow to use this or maybe you could use it from the cockpit having lead your line aft before approaching the buoy. Am I right? Single handing makes the former difficult in anything other than a flat calm. For the cockpit “catch” I have made up a pendant with an eye splice in one end and a locking carabiner on the other. Picture in album. Catch the buoy and then adjust length at leisure. Leaving the buoy is easy even when windy. Let out the pendant to full length and then motor forward to bring the buoy alongside.

Just an alternate idea.
 
Yes the hook and moor is best used from the bow which I prefer. We always have 2 people on board. I can see it being more difficult if you are a solo boater. For me it’s a less chance of the mooring ball scratching the hull.
 
I like gadgets and that looks worth a try! Meanwhile, we have used the EZ Moor for the past year which has been excellent. https://www.easymoor.com/.

The main trick with the EZ Moor is to make sure the latch closes around the ring before pulling on it; otherwise it will pull apart.

We used to catch from the bow but now find it easier to do from the cockpit. It is closer to reach it, and also easier to see the ball from the helm and pull alongside it rather than losing sight under the bow. Have to then walk it up to bow, however.
 
In my old cabin cruiser I use to catch the mooring buoy from the bow with a boat hook. Lost one boat hook that way.
When we bought the RT-25 Classic someone gave us some great advice on a much easier way to do it.
1. First step is to set up a mooring line running from the bow cleat through the starboard bow chock the down the outside of the starboard side of the boat rails and tied off in the starboard side of the cockpit.
2. Captain at the helm, side window open so he or she gets a really good view to starboard side of boat.
3. Admiral at starboard side of cockpit with the mooring line.
4. Captain brings boat along side the mooring buoy with the buoy about 2-3 feet off the starboard side until the buoy is just off the starboard cockpit step.
5. Using stern thruster captain swings stern over to mooring buoy.
6. Admiral reaches out a bit from starboard cockpit step to put mooring line through mooring buoy ring
7. Admiral walks mooring line along gunwale from cockpit to bow with captain slowly backing up to keep mooring line slack
8. Admiral swings mooring line around anchor and through port side bow chock and back to bow cleat.

Sounds a bit complicated but it’s really, really easy once you get it down. Only time we had any problems with this method was trying to catch the buoy in a 25 knot wind at Sucia. Took 2 tries.
 
Chimo":3kfgwjxc said:
I’m assuming you still need to go up on the bow to use this or maybe you could use it from the cockpit having lead your line aft before approaching the buoy. Am I right? Single handing makes the former difficult in anything other than a flat calm. For the cockpit “catch” I have made up a pendant with an eye splice in one end and a locking carabiner on the other. Picture in album. Catch the buoy and then adjust length at leisure. Leaving the buoy is easy even when windy. Let out the pendant to full length and then motor forward to bring the buoy alongside.

Just an alternate idea.
Click to expand...

That's the technique I use in any conditions, single-handed, and low-stress.
Boating is supposed to be fun!
 
Thanks for your comments. It’s hard to believe I have been boating for over 30 years and with a smaller 24 foot boat before I bought our RT never moored at a buoy as with a family we tried to get dock space as our kids stayed on shore with a tent.
 
For those who tie a line to the mooring or by using the mentions fancy hook.....you pass a single line through the mooring ball, but how do you secure the line? Now you have a open "V" line that is free to slide back and forth through the pendant and free to chaff.
I tried to actually hook to the mooring to keep the boat from sliding back and forth through the pendant on a line.
 
A single line through the (sometimes rusty) mooring ring will chafe the worst when it is routed through the starboard and port bow chocks. When the boat swings the line will be constantly pulled back and forth under tension on the ring, sawing through the line. It is much better to route the line through the anchor roller. I saw an article one time that suggested something that seems even better to me: splice a very short length of chain in the center of the line that you draw through the ring, then tie the line off so the ring is in the center of the chain. Once tied off, the ring never contacts the line so no chafing. I have been meaning to try this but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

John
 
Wee Venture":cunntvn8 said:
When the boat swings the line will be constantly pulled back and forth under tension on the ring, sawing through the line.
Click to expand...

I've been taught by other cruising sailors that the preferred way to use line (if all you have are lines) to tie to a mooring buoy is to rig two separate lines: one to your port cleat and one to your starboard cleat. So one line secured at the starboard cleat, through the chock and down to the ring, and back up to the cleat. Then another line secured at the port cleat, through the chock and down to the ring, and back up to the cleat. This provides less wear as you swing, and also a redundant tie-off.

This is less ideal than using a metal-to-metal connection to the mooring ring, but better than the single line option.
 
FlyMeAway":1be9gev8 said:
So one line secured at the starboard cleat, through the chock and down to the ring, and back up to the cleat. Then another line secured at the port cleat, through the chock and down to the ring, and back up to the cleat. This provides less wear as you swing, and also a redundant tie-off.
Click to expand...
I had never thought of that option. And it would be easy with the Hook & Moor. Love learning new ideas. Thank you!

John
 
Wee Venture":1j6zrhpp said:
I had never thought of that option. And it would be easy with the Hook & Moor. Love learning new ideas. Thank you!
Click to expand...

No problem! I think it’s pretty common with cruising sailors in the Caribbean, but I wanted to see just how common — so I just did some googling and it seems like every mooring ball how to for the Virgin Islands suggests mooring that way. Here’s a pretty good blog post in it:

https://theboatgalley.com/connecting-to-a-mooring-ball/
 
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