How To Pick Up A Mooring Ball (Sailing Virgins) Ep.08
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2024
- We at Sailing Virgins are creating instructional videos on how to sail that aren’t lame! Join us as we travel through the Caribbean, Croatia, Tahiti, and more and show you the ropes, literally.
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We are the world's #1 sailing school for millennials-lessons, courses, classes in the Caribbean, Croatia, and Tahiti.
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In this episode:
March 2020 update: we are suspending our sailing courses given the travel restrictions and will be shooting new episodes over the next two months. Please support us through Patreon. Support starts at $3 per episode. Thanks! / sailingvirgins
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Picking up a mooring ball and securing it effectively to your boat is a particular technique.
If it is not done correctly, your line can chafe through, leaving you adrift when you least expect it. Nobody wants that. So listen up and we will share with you our tried and tested method.
Our Patreon page is here: / sailingvirgins
For the full blog post on this episode, check out: info.sailingvirgins.com/blog/h...
Conclusion
Whether you plan to pick up a mooring ball every day of your vacation, or not at all, it helps to know the proper method of securing a boat to a mooring ball. Remember these three key points:
1. Use two lines;
2. Work on one line at a time;
3. Check what the ball is attached to.
-----------Contents-----------
00:00 Intro
02:42 The Set-Up
04:13 The Approach
05:20 Stopping the Boat
06:00 The Pick-Up
07:08 Securing
08:52 Bonus Tip - The Lasso
10:21 Checking
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Thanks to Andy for the jeep ride!
Here is the Facebook page of Marias Café: / marias-cafe-restaurant...
Thanks to Charles and Cornelia to let us visit their home, here you can find Charles' book on amazon:
www.amazon.com/Moonhole-CHARL...
Music cred:
Sydji - Weedsday
/ sydji
Video cred:
Celine Freixe
www.celinefreixe.com
Great presentation style, and very clear instructions done with fun. Awesome job guys. Thanks very much 👏
I’d never think of two lines .. but when you consider sleeping on the boat at night, so close to a lee shore ... why wouldn’t you ?
Utterly brilliant guys. Well filmed and concise.
Great trick to learn. And please don't stop having fun making these video's, you guys crack me up!
I skippered a 55ft sloop out of there in the 80's, and that harbor has changed. Back in the day, my 55 was the largest yacht there!
Ok Guys, I thought he we ago again, something for the beginners . Just put a line in the ring and that’s it. But you came up with some other ideas which was great. I learnt something today. I been sailing all my life and was first officer on a tall ship for 9 years. I will never forget what you have taught me.
Educational, fun, inspirational...Great video guys!
Hi guys. Just returned from the BVI's on a bareboat trip. Watched a bunch of your videos since it had been over 20 years since I owned my sailboat. Great refreshers and your tip on the lasso throw to secure the mooring ball saved us! Only 2 mooring balls left in Great Harbor on Peter Island-both with the leads missing. Was a windy evening and no way to reach the eye with the boat hook. Lasso move did the trick! Thanks for all the great content!
Picked up a great trick with lassoing a mooring ball. Thanks for the tip. I solo most of the time on a 45' trawler so picking up a mooring can be tricky.
Best mooring ball pickup video on RUclips. Thanks!!
Love these tutorial videos mates! keep it up!
well done , no such thing as full redundancy in boating haha ... A+ mate!
Excellent series guys! We just found your channel and we will certainly be recommending around to others!! Thumbs up! Keep up the great work!
Thanks for that Thirteen Winds! Much appreciated.
I’m looking to leave my beloved dock to take the next step in sailing, so I was looking up moorings. Thank you so much for helping with my adventure!
Glad to hear we can help out John!
Just found your channel and I subscribed. Keep the videos coming. Happy Sailing.
Loved this video. Nice and concise, and easy to understand.
Andy introduced us to Charles and Cornelia on our last stop in Bequia, and it was one of the hilights of our visit. We ran out of time, so didn't get to visit Moonhole. But what an amazing story they have! Nice footage! Thanks for sharing that! Steph and Tim on s/v Endless Pleasure
Thanks Steph and Tim :)
Interesting suggestions. But the easiest is to have the bow line brought back to the stern of the boat and approach the buoy backwards which allows both the helmsman to see exactly the distance to the buoy and the other crew member to be closer to the water level and to have it easier to seize the buoy's eye. Then you only need to take up the slack to get the bow close to the buoy.
really great guys and a real help.
Really good way to secure, hadn't considered the out and back. Here in NZ we bring the loop up on deck, but we often have a double roller on the bow. The other easy way to pick up is along the side or back half, much easier to see, easier to communicate and really easy solo
Never heard of that lasso technique before, smart! Once time it was super windy we got the boat hook stuck and it ripped out of our hands and fell in the water. We were lucky to have someone nearby grab it for us but the lasso is a great idea. Have to give that a try!
SO JEALOUS OF THAT JEEP!! Float on!
Good demo! We have a mooring up a river with tide often against the wind and the ball keeps bumping the boat, so we found that taking a short / tight line through one of the anchor rollers, helps to keep the ball away from the boat. The lasso technique is our favorite since there is no pickup line or eye provided on this ball either.
Nice one! Sounds like a good method for wind vs. tide situations.
Great episode guys! Well done!
Thanks Stanislav!
JACK!!!! You legend. I saw you on La Vaga, I didn't realise you had your own channel. Liked and subscribed. See ya next time!!
Having prepared a line front to the back of the boat, I would approach the buoy stern to. Giving more stability keeping the boat in place against the wind. Also, the mate can work from the swiming platform. After putting the line through the ring the mates walks forward again and secures the line. The boat will turn into the wind and than the second line can be attatched. Last but not least the skipper and mate can communicate easiley while getting the buoy. Just a different way to acchieve the same.
Tijmen van leeuwen sure that's also possible. Whatever works for you!
Exactly how we do it as well, since buoys often have a fixed eye which would mean you’d have to lift the whole buoy to get the eye close. What they showed in the video seems quite a bit harder to pull off, but it might be better in high wind situations
we were in Bequia too. A cat was on a mooring attached to an engine block. With 30knts of wind we saw the engine block jumping metre by metre backwards. This is only safe with litle wind
Very informative and fun, great job!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks, I liked the lassoing idea.
Learning a lot from you guys.
As far as driving anywhere in the world, the driver should always be in the middle of the road. I.e., if it is a left hand drive, drive on the right side of the road and if it is right hand drive, drive on the left side.
Some carribean countries drive on the on the left, but import left hand drive cars from the US. Get in one of those on Grand Cayman and you'd be in trouble.
I love your really structured videos and they give helpful information during the days on land. *But I am worried about having two lines that chafe/scrub against each other*. Finally your one "secure line" will loose both lines ...
Ever try picking up stern to then transferring the lines forward? It is pretty slick!
Bring the buoy around to the stern platform and tie on from there.
thankyou very useful
Bloody awesome lads, Margaret River WA
Thanks!
I see that you guys came to Bequia. I live in Bequia all year round!
I also sail on boats.
Canyon Duncan maybe see you next time we're there!
You catch such beautiful moments of your chick. Just a flash of her smile really adds a great touch to the videos.
Nice. Love your videos. Any tips on keeping a mooring ball from banging on the hull? Catamaran advice especially appreciated.
On a mono we end up hauling the entire buoy (ball) out of the water! I guess on a cat you could use the bridle and maybe a third centre line to do the same?
I suggest you get experience in mildy rough conditions on a lake to tune your skills on setting sails and tacking. And warm water to enjoy learning.
No sure what happened to the start of this message, but it suggested to start on a lake, then progress to bigger water. Yes we agree it's reasonable to start on easier stuff, then progress to more challenging conditions. Thanks for the comment.
Great video, guys! Best I've seen on picking up a mooring. Can you make a similar video on picking up the mooring singlehanded? Because I sail singlehanded, I've never picked one up... always anchor. But sometimes I'd rather moor if possible.
Patrick Lindsay sure that's a good idea. Stay tuned!
There was another message on here above, prepare a line from the front to the stern, then back into the mooring ball to be able to easily get it from a sugar scoop or lower area, while still near the helm.
As solo sailor I prefer going stern to the buoy and the use of a (sluice) hook to pick the buoy. Due to weight it keeps the line to the buoy, sometimes work better than the lasso.
Great video except you were under power. Please show how to do it if you have to pick one up under sail with lite to med wind. Thanks.
Thanks John, we'll put that in a future episode.
I read one review where the owners tied up to a buoy in the Med, it was a new rope on the buoy so they felt happy tying up. In the middle of the night they were aground on rocks. The buoy had separated from the sea bed! Unlucky or what?
just curious... why wouldn't you (or wouldn't they) start with a bowline through cleat? It makes smaller cleats less congested, IMHO.
Hi Guys, you both have shared some great ideas on your channel. Thanks a heap. Quick question. Is it okay to just use one rope instead of two with the mooring ball? Locking one end at the port cleat, run through the rest of the rope through the mooring eye and then cleat the remaining of the rope on the starboard cleat once you have just about equal length coming out of the eye. Will that do?
Hi, glad you like the channel! We recommend against one line. It offers no redundancy and creates a chafe point. Boats are expensive; you don’t want your boat to be cut off your mooring just because of a simple chafe problem or poorly cleated line. Using two lines solves the problem.
Where is this location? It looks beautiful
does it cost?
How much line is recommended between boat and ball? I’m sure it varies based on swing etc, but is there a rule of thumb?
Yes you're right, it depends on things like swing, currents and type of ball, but typically we normally give about 1-2m of distance between the forward cleats and the ball.
Fix that fan belt!
Like the temporary lasso technique. Only other suggestion would be to shorten dinghy painter prior to approach to avoid backing onto painter and fouling prop. Embarrassed to say voice of experience.
What is the length and type of the mooring lines you are using?
S/V Lusca nice question; we have a 12m (40’) boat and love 15 m length lines. With 15 m it’s in that “Goldilocks zone” where it’s not so long it gets muddled up in everything and it’s not so short that it can’t do its job. With the width, we like 16 mm lines. 18 gets a bit thick and 14 might be a bit on the light side (although still ok). A lot of people go super cheap on their mooring lines because they do wear through them but we prefer to spend a bit extra and have silky smooth lines because we are always using them.
Sailing Virgins Thanks for the responds, in general (since you have 15m of line) how much line between the mooring and your boat (not calculating double the lengths, back and forth)
Would I be correct in assuming if one is sailing single-handed, mooring balls would be tough?
Tough but not impossible. It's just another technique (you have just given us an idea for a new episode so thanks!).
Any recommendations for picking up a Mooring single handed?
Yes there are a few ways to do this. Ranging from a) normal method, just knowing your boat very well and knowing when to stop it, b) lasso method, a lot easier or c) bringing the ball to the stern of the boat and dealing with it there (some people love this but we're not much of a fan). At the end of the day it's whatever works best for you and your boat. Hope that helps!
If you have a smaller boat pick up the ball back along side cockpit on the windward side of the boat. Then you can hold on to it (with your hands) and walk it back to the bow and tie up.
I’m surprised that it’s considered redundancy to put both ropes through the same hole. I would think you’d always want one rope through the ring hole and the other lassoed around the ball.
P.S. that said, I’m not overly familiar with boats so I’m okay with presuming I’m wrong.
Having a line lassoed around a ball is a very temporary solution as it is unreliable. Redundancy means the inclusion of extra components which are not strictly necessary to functioning, in case of failure in other components. A second line through a mooring ball provides redundancy, which is a good thing.
Sailing Virgins - thanks for the info.
Good video except that you don’t demonstrate how to slow and stop the boat under sail!
Not really helpful to me at least. I'm usually single handed and my boat is moored in a tidal estuary with strong currents. I usually have a pontoon but couldn't get one this year so mooring up is proving very tricky.
In tide or heavy wind, I go perpendicular to the current or wind, upstream of the ball. I stop the boat and let it drift down to the ball, this gives enough time to walk to the bow and grab the mooring. Sometimes you have to shinny back and forth to get the bow in the right position, then let the current work for you.
What's your boat model?
It's a Beneteau First 40. We will be selling her soon! She is a wonderful boat.
Riley’s cousin?
Correct!
Well great job ,I’ve really became interested in retiring onto a sailboat but I’ve only been around power boats so this series of videos you are doing is excellent fun to watch seems like a tv program 👍👍
I hope the idea isn't that people can just sail up to any available mooring bouy, and then grab free mooring. I paid for mine, applied for a permit authorising me to use it and registered it to my vessel.To do that I applied for the set aside site of a mooring, and registered its GPS location, which I paid for, and I had to hire a state registered mooring tackle contractor to survey the site, officially approve it, inspect my vessel, set the tackle and authorise the mooring. If someone just came along and randomly moored their boat my site, thinking its a case of finders keepers, I think I would just cut them loose and bore holes through the hull of their vessel.
What a ridiculously drawn-out video, and by prison colony descendents no less. Anyone who needs that much explanation to pick up a ball should just stay on land. This is why we have dinghies for beginners, so that the boom can knock enough of the stupid ones off before they can cause any bigger problems.
lotta hate for people just trying to share knowledge ?