R-21EC newbie question No. 3 -- Mooring buoys

[johnniethek]

I plan to take my boat out for a first-ever overnighter sometime next week. I may just anchor up in a cove someplace here in the South Sound. But I also like the idea of using a mooring buoy at one of the several state marine parks here.

But I've never used a mooring buoy. So here's my question: How do you use a mooring buoy, and what are the best strategies to employ in doing so?

Thanks, again, for everyone's continuing contributions. Maybe I should start a blog: Cruising 101 for Dummies! 🙂

John

 

[captain's cat]

John, how is your anchor attached to your anchor line? Should have a "shackle" there. That's a horseshoe shaped thingy with a bolt through it that goes through the anchor shank and the chain on the end of your anchor line if you have one. If you don't have a windlass, there is probably a shackle between the anchor chain length and the anchor line itself. You may not even have a length of chain, but you should.

In any case, the easiest way is to latch onto the mooring buoy with a boat hook and bring it into the cockpit if you can. Then, using a shackle, hook your anchor line to the ring on the top of the buoy. Throw the whole shebang back into the water and walk it back to the bow and make it "fast" (hook it up) to the big cleat on the bow after leaving enough between the boat and the buoy to swing free but not so far that you'd swing into other boats at other mooring buoys if there are any.

Have fun. This is much more secure than anchoring, you don't have to worry about "dragging" your anchor!

Charlie

 

[johnniethek]

Hi Charlie,

I have the bow anchor that came with the boat. It has 25 feet of chain and 150 feet of rode. No windlass. There is a shackle attaching the chain to the rode. And I do have a boat hook.

Do I open my shackle and put the ring on the top of the buoy into it, and then close it?

Perhaps I'm thinking too literally here, but I would think you would hook up to something underneath the buoy not to something on top of it. Guess I'll just have to figure it out as I go along.

J

 

[captain's cat]

You are probably right. Once you haul the buoy out of the water, there should be a ring there hooking the mooring chain to the float on the bottom. That chain goes to whatever heavy thing they put on the bottom to keep it in place. They may just use an old Bayliner full of concrete! :lol: . Just hook your shackle to that ring. Keep your chain on the boat, that's too much weight to put on the buoy, it'll probably sink it!

Have fun..

 

[Larry H]

If you are picking up a Marine Park bouy in the Puget Sound there is a ring attached to a chain at the very top of the bouy structure. Grab the ring by hand or boat hook and pull on it. The chain will slide up thru the bouy and then you can connect to the ring. I have found that using a bow dock line (long enough to reach the cockpit) is good.

Use a bow dock line that has one end already attached to the bow cleat. Lead the line outside the bow rail and to the cockpit. Then pull the boat alongside the mooring bouy, grab the ring as above, and pass the end of the line thru the ring. From a low cockpit, you can just thread the line thru the ring without having to pull the ring up to or into the boat. Hold on to the end of the line and pull some line thru the ring. Now walk the line back up to the bow, leading the line outside the bow rail and attach the line to the bow cleat. You will now have a loop of line going from the bow cleat, thru the ring on the mooring, and back to the bow cleat. Adjust the length to put the boat not too close to the mooring bouy. To leave the mooring, release the end of the line, and pull it thru the mooring bouy ring and back onto the boat. This loop thru the bouy ring and back to the boat allows you to adjust or cast off the bouy with out having to pull the boat up to the bouy, possibly damaging the boat.

For a quick lunch stop at a bouy, you can use a stern dock line the same way, cleating it off to the stern. This is easy, does not involve any walking to or from the bow and can be quickly be released. For safety, do not remain stern tied to a bouy during strong winds or overnight.

Google search on Washington Marine Parks for more information.

 

[K7MXE]

I used to do the Washington State Park buoys a slightly different way. I did this from a sailboat
and physically pulled the ring in the center of the buoy up a bit to my bow roller and got it fairly close
to the roller. This kept the buoy a distance from the bow of the boat and the boat never crashed into
it in the middle of the night as it was kept in place by the ring and chain. Myself after they went up to
ten bucks their day was over. Do not think they are safe because they will die and float away with your
boat still hooked to them, maybe not often but it does happen. That ten bucks might be spent on
something you will enjoy a lot more. To lift the ring and chain up its a pretty good pull, fair warning.
I was younger then. Bob Heselberg Eatonville Wa

 

[johnniethek]

Thanks, guys.

I've decided to do precisely as Larry suggests. As it turns out, John Livingston, the owner of Ranger Tugs, told me exactly the same thing earlier this afternoon.

I may practice a few times this weekend before I actually do it for an overnighter. Thanks to all for their great suggestions.

J

 

[j&lgray]

Instead of running your bowline through the ring on top of the mooring buoy, use a tip I picked up from a veteran boater who showed me how easily a bow line can be chaffed through on these rings from the sea-saw motion of the boat: Get a 4 inch long stainless carabiner and tie it in the middle of a 8 foot, half inch line that has loops on each end. This mooring line is quite handy and easy to use. Just clip the carabiner onto the mooring ring and run the ends of the line on each side of the bow, through the deck chocks and to the the deck cleat. You will sleep peacefully in a blow knowing that you are secured.

By the way, the $10 a night for the mooring is a great deal. Better yet, get an annual state park pass and it pays for itself on the 7th night. If you live and boat in the Pacific Northwest and you cannot spend 7 nights in a year at this glorious state parks, then something is wrong . . .

 

[captain's cat]

Do not think they are safe because they will die and float away with your
boat still hooked to them, maybe not often but it does happen.

Bob, don't understand.... Are these things alive in the PNW? 😱


Charlie
K4KBA

 

[johnniethek]

Speaking of permits, I did buy the year-long permit for marine parks online yesterday. It cost $73.50 ($3.50 per foot x 21 feet) and I printed it out on my computer.

The real one arrives in 2-3 weeks, so I'm taped the printed-out version to the inside of a cabin window to alert rangers that I'm legal. I wonder, though, how much real enforcement there is of this permit requirement. Does anybody have any info to pass along in that regard?

Cheers,

J

 

[doke01]

Don't know how windy it is in the South Sound but you should approach the buoy from downwind. You come up on it much slower that way so it is much easier to grab.

Doug
Nauti Dream

 

[Auklet]

Try mooring without paying and you will find out. The ranger does come around and if you are not paid up he/she will politely hand you an envelope. I personally do not begrudge the permits and fees. The legislature has cut their funds and the thought of losing these gems is far worse than than any fee that I can think of. I always buy the permit whether I use it of not. I think of it as an investment in our quality of life in the PNW. Sorry for the preaching.
By the way, I know of one state park that does not collect moorage fees, but I ain't talking.

 

[johnniethek]

Thanks for the info, Auklet and Doke01.

I'm going out tomorrow and practice on a few of them. Because I have an R-21, I have a low stern which should make for easier buoy-snatching!

 

[K7MXE]

Thinking you will be trying the ones at Owens beach remember the current there does not
always go the direction you think it would and recommend you float by near the buoy first
as they can be harsh to the side of a boat. I did buy a 70 dollar permit last year up next
to EQ Marine and used it once but can say the Ranger checked the vehicles in the parking
lot every morning. After all Washington is the enforcement state. Bob Heselberg Eatonville Wa

 

[johnniethek]

Actually, I think I'll skip the buoy at Owen's Beach. WAY too much current for this newbie.

I need buoys that are frozen in time, or at least standing still in slack water! 🙂