I love this and now use this method everytime. So easy to back into in any wind whilst watching the 3 big guys bext door yelling and screaming and doing donuts around the buoy!! 😂 Thanks!
Excellent, cheers mate!! Really useful as im in a 28ft fin keel in the south of the uk so often strong wind and tides, a lot of the time single-handed and yes, have panicked a few times! Haha! Great advice!
This is really helpful and clear, one thing I did notice is that you stepped inside your line. Never step inside a line but walk around so it can't make you trip or even worse pull you overboard.
I like to use a pole with a line that's attached to a detaching safety clipped hook ( the hook detaches from the pole once the hook engages and locks on to the ring of the buoy). I approach with the buoy on the side of the boat usually 4 to 6 feet away in either direction.
Nice vid!! I’m definitely keen to see a stern pickup in windy conditions, then how you transition to the bow with control. I often find some crew struggle to pick up a mooring on the front of my Bene 523, so stern pickups are gonna become the norm. Add wellington wind to the picture and you know the drill 😂
Great thanks mate! Maybe a silly question but what would happen if we stayed moored by the stern? I actually practiced a bow mooring single handed but picked the buoy up on the swimming platform last week in Telascica. It was much easier than going down to the bow and just have to make sure the line is set up in advance.
No problem staying on the mooring from the stern. Sometimes I prefer it when there is only a slight breeze (and its hot!) this way the wind comes directly over the stern and into the cockpit and into the yacht. If there is a small wave you will find it may slap on the stern loudly. As long as you are secured well and the swing it safe then no issue at all. For sure > always set up in advance. And a tidy ship helps, if it is always tidy and organised the manoeuvres are much easier.
Mainly because this does not solve the issue of control. If you thread this long line through you still need to manage the line back to the bow cleat with the potential wight of the yacht coming on to you line - and you then trying to hold it. In very light winds and no danger near by, by all means. This manoeuvre is great for getting secured easily, then being able to run that bow line with no pressure or rush.
hi there, first of all, greating for all your video i ve seen; i love them. You pick up the mooring from the top: my question is: we should pick up from the bottom?
Thanks Jackers :) Yes I would always tie the mooring line with one looped through the base of the mooring ball, gear at the bottom, and one through the top. This way if anything not visible inside the bouy, or if there is not structure through the bouy, you are anchored securely to the mooring line below. I need to publish another video on this! I have already shot it lol. Perhaps I will get to that this week!
Again Nick, thank you for that video. Once i did it slightly different, not into the wind, but with the wind. I approched the bouy a little bit more to the starboard side (not completly central at the plattform) and after i had the line through, the boat drifted backwards, with the buoy on the starboard side until it got locked up on the bow cleat. It was a tight spot and land was close on the leeward side, thats why i did it that way. Would you agree, that this could be done in these conditions? Regards Sascha
Hi Sascha. Yes for sure it can be done like this. I mean clearly, as you did it! My main concern would be, if you are indeed close on the leeward side, about you moving from the controls when you take the unsecured line to the bow. With a lighter yacht, this could be ok as it is light enough to pull around. With a heavier yacht, especially in windy conditions, the yacht can drift and gain momentum very quickly which, especially close to shore, could very easily turn bad! Personally, I don’t want to be in the position where my arms and strength are the only things holding the yacht to the mooring. I want engine control and a control line holding the weight.
@@45DegreesSailing Totally agree, i was not single handed in that case, but with an unexperienced crew and of course i was at the helm and on the engine all the time ;) Would not do that close to shore alone.
I've been a deckhand (so to speak) on several yacht cruises in the Mediterranean and I've never understood why our captain insisted on catching the mooring directly with a boat hook. As you can imagine, any error or misjudgement on approach leads to the boathook in the water, because you can't hold a yacht with your arms. I would have done exactly what you teach in this video, with one exception: I would have run the line from the bow alongside to the bathing platform, then cleat it at the back. Let the bow settle into the wind, at which point your can take the line to the bow cleat. you will likely loose a few feet of line while doing that, but you can always motor into the wind and pick up the slack if necessary. What do you think?
Always wondered why they bothered to put the throttle control there. The Hanse models you did a walk-through on earlier, did a splendid job putting it all together next to the bow thruster and plotter 👌🏻 Is this the Bavaria 52?
Thanks Jochem. This is the Bavaria 46. 51 and 56 have it in a similar spot. Once you get up to the Hanse with the pedestals and have the electric throttle option it is much easier to put it anywhere.
I used to do this by tying a stern to bow bridal. We'd reverse past the buoy keeping to it's leeward side. When the buoy was forward of midships, release the aft end of the bridal and take it forward around the outside of everything including the bow and make off to form a bow bridal. All was well on monos but It went wrong the second time we tried it on a catamaran though. It was windy and we ended up not being able to get the bouy forward of midway. So on monos, I aim to try adding a 2nd line through the buoy loop to drag it forward, along a shorter and tighter beam bridal. What do you think?
Exactly what I would have done, see my other post. Much easier to do and control, the only thing you really have to watch out for is the anchoring chain of the mooring and your prop. I imagine you could even let the wind do the work, provided the line is smooth enough to run through the eye of the mooring. What do you think?
@@joergmaassYes. I like it. I think the bow to stern line needs to be as taught as possible if you're heavily blowing off the buoy otherwise it won't be bow settable and will become a beam bridle that will trap the buoy halfway. I like the idea of another line threaded through the buoy lead's loop (as a line "set to slip") to help pull it forward if your beam bridal does form. But don't drag the buoy forward though. While temporarily hanging off your beam bridle, just take both ends of your extra slipped buoy line, outside of and around the bow, to the windward bow cleat and make one end off. Then pull on the loose end (doubling your mechanical advantage) to pull the buoy forward along the beam bridle, a few more feet, rotating your ship's bow nearer the buoy. Tie off. Now you have your windward bow line already. Just go pickup the stern end of your leeward beam to stern line and walk it forward as the buoy heads forward of the bowroller and tie off to the leeward bow cleat and balance the bow lines' lengths. You now have two buoy attached bow lines for added safety, each with both ends on the same cleat. Both set to slip, ready to go. I love it. Don't you?
@@joergmaass I have thoughts on single handed buoy release too. Tell me what you think. I haven't done this yet. To prepare to leave, add a long shoreline. Thread it through your buoy loop as a bow bridle. Each end through fairleads or just around stanchions, the rest inside and along the opposing decks to coachroof Winches. Adjust the length of the line you will release to ensure that it's not long enough to reach from the bow to the propeller....or just as short as it can be at the winch. Remove and store the original buoy lines and you're ready to go. Engage engine in tickover forward....or just have it running in neutral. Grab a hold of the winch tail of the safe-length line and a bight of its other end from near its winch. Unwind and release the tail while walking the bight back to the helm. Prop is now safe because you've shortened the line. Adjust throttle and heading, while pulling the line into the cockpit as and when you can.
@@junglelap here in Croatia we do not med moor with anchor very often. Most docks/piers have lazy lines with mooring lines to blocks. So effectively if there are mooring lines, you don’t drop anchor as you could snag the blocks and chains. There is one spot in Korčula that you drop anchor like this, the town pier in Cavtat and another spot on Otok Drvenik near split.
Yes you can. It depends on the size of swell and the yacht. This Bavaria 46 the swim platform is quite high from the water so its ok in a small swell. Anything bigger you need to keep it closed and collect the mooring with the hook over the stern. I often prefer this in a swell as the bow really jumps up and down when head into bigger waves, can be quite dangerous for the crew. The stern will still jump around (up and down and slap the waves) but much better control and access.
Just be aware that this procedure cannot be as easy as it looks depending heavily on the boat you sail. Your boat can steer pretty much the same way as you steer a car. An old long keel boat would not listen in the same way.
Thanks Mike, yes for sure long keel's will have significantly more prop walk and steering bias. In this case I tend to get my momentum up then drop into neutral a long way out and carry it in without any power on as the steering reacts much better like this.
@@45DegreesSailing exactly. But I never pick up mooring in that way with my long keel. I prefer to sail on the side and clip on when the mooring reaches the cockpit or if I have the chance I will just quick walk forward and catch it half way midship.
The wind will blow through the cockpit and down the companion way making it annoying when it’s windy. And if it’s really hot, the hatches all face the wrong way so you won’t get good airflow through the whole boat if you need it. Plus if it gets rough, the stern will slap and get the cockpit wet. The bow is much better at cutting through chop.
I love this and now use this method everytime. So easy to back into in any wind whilst watching the 3 big guys bext door yelling and screaming and doing donuts around the buoy!! 😂 Thanks!
Haha yes!!!
Excellent, cheers mate!! Really useful as im in a 28ft fin keel in the south of the uk so often strong wind and tides, a lot of the time single-handed and yes, have panicked a few times! Haha! Great advice!
Glad it helped! Thanks for the comments, keep em coming and share the video if there is someone that it can help!
Simple, to the point and clean. Great video.
Hvala Micael Freer
Well played!
Thanks for the great demo.
Thank you. Hope it was helpful 😌
This is really helpful and clear, one thing I did notice is that you stepped inside your line. Never step inside a line but walk around so it can't make you trip or even worse pull you overboard.
Good spotting!
Thank you man, your advices are always very useful!🙏
Most welcome Alvise.
Great video as always! Knowing this move can be really helpful to know when you're out there with a more inexperienced crew!
Absolutely! And it still works of you have a closed transom yacht, not quite as easy but the control is there.
Okay now you almost make this look easy 😅 Helpful video, as always. Thanks! Looking forward on how to in a tight anchorage between the rocks!
Haha... ok that gives me an idea. Have some footage I have been sitting on. Not a tutorial but I can narrate it a bit.. stay tuned!
It is easy, on a calm day, with bow thrusters and a swim platform.
Great video as usual ! Impatient to see med mooring 😉
Thanks Jean Marc. I'll make em as fast as I can!
I like to use a pole with a line that's attached to a detaching safety clipped hook ( the hook detaches from the pole once the hook engages and locks on to the ring of the buoy). I approach with the buoy on the side of the boat usually 4 to 6 feet away in either direction.
Yes I have seen those poles. Never tried one though. Yet!
Nice vid!! I’m definitely keen to see a stern pickup in windy conditions, then how you transition to the bow with control. I often find some crew struggle to pick up a mooring on the front of my Bene 523, so stern pickups are gonna become the norm. Add wellington wind to the picture and you know the drill 😂
Haha completely know the wellington wind! Yep will work on this one next time we are out. Hopefully will get the conditions!
@@45DegreesSailing cheers man. Looking forward to it. It’s not often your hoping for shitty conditions 😂
Shitty? Hahaha. I love the wind 🙃
Great thanks mate! Maybe a silly question but what would happen if we stayed moored by the stern?
I actually practiced a bow mooring single handed but picked the buoy up on the swimming platform last week in Telascica.
It was much easier than going down to the bow and just have to make sure the line is set up in advance.
No problem staying on the mooring from the stern. Sometimes I prefer it when there is only a slight breeze (and its hot!) this way the wind comes directly over the stern and into the cockpit and into the yacht. If there is a small wave you will find it may slap on the stern loudly.
As long as you are secured well and the swing it safe then no issue at all.
For sure > always set up in advance. And a tidy ship helps, if it is always tidy and organised the manoeuvres are much easier.
Nick
Why not directly attached a long line from the bow and make the same manœuvre to catch the buoy ?
Mainly because this does not solve the issue of control. If you thread this long line through you still need to manage the line back to the bow cleat with the potential wight of the yacht coming on to you line - and you then trying to hold it. In very light winds and no danger near by, by all means.
This manoeuvre is great for getting secured easily, then being able to run that bow line with no pressure or rush.
Hi Nick, great but should have lasso'd the bouy as many don't have an ring on them. André in Sydney
Yes we will cover the lasso technique when we get a chance, from bow and stern. Great skill to have up your sleeve for a rainy day.
hi there, first of all, greating for all your video i ve seen; i love them. You pick up the mooring from the top: my question is: we should pick up from the bottom?
Thanks Jackers :) Yes I would always tie the mooring line with one looped through the base of the mooring ball, gear at the bottom, and one through the top. This way if anything not visible inside the bouy, or if there is not structure through the bouy, you are anchored securely to the mooring line below. I need to publish another video on this! I have already shot it lol. Perhaps I will get to that this week!
@@45DegreesSailing thnx
@@Jackerss74 most welcome ;)
I just picked up 37ft cat and sail singlehanded. I like this idea
Hey Mark. Yep it works a treat. Of course on the cat be very aware that the props is much closer to the surface and the stern. Much easier to foul.
Here is the follow up of this video.
How to Pick up a Mooring over the Stern Singlehanded
ruclips.net/video/inemO5rkzT0/видео.html
Again Nick, thank you for that video. Once i did it slightly different, not into the wind, but with the wind. I approched the bouy a little bit more to the starboard side (not completly central at the plattform) and after i had the line through, the boat drifted backwards, with the buoy on the starboard side until it got locked up on the bow cleat. It was a tight spot and land was close on the leeward side, thats why i did it that way. Would you agree, that this could be done in these conditions? Regards Sascha
Hi Sascha. Yes for sure it can be done like this. I mean clearly, as you did it!
My main concern would be, if you are indeed close on the leeward side, about you moving from the controls when you take the unsecured line to the bow. With a lighter yacht, this could be ok as it is light enough to pull around. With a heavier yacht, especially in windy conditions, the yacht can drift and gain momentum very quickly which, especially close to shore, could very easily turn bad! Personally, I don’t want to be in the position where my arms and strength are the only things holding the yacht to the mooring. I want engine control and a control line holding the weight.
@@45DegreesSailing Totally agree, i was not single handed in that case, but with an unexperienced crew and of course i was at the helm and on the engine all the time ;)
Would not do that close to shore alone.
I've been a deckhand (so to speak) on several yacht cruises in the Mediterranean and I've never understood why our captain insisted on catching the mooring directly with a boat hook. As you can imagine, any error or misjudgement on approach leads to the boathook in the water, because you can't hold a yacht with your arms. I would have done exactly what you teach in this video, with one exception: I would have run the line from the bow alongside to the bathing platform, then cleat it at the back. Let the bow settle into the wind, at which point your can take the line to the bow cleat. you will likely loose a few feet of line while doing that, but you can always motor into the wind and pick up the slack if necessary. What do you think?
Gold mate
It's a great technique. I have another video coming on this one.
Always wondered why they bothered to put the throttle control there. The Hanse models you did a walk-through on earlier, did a splendid job putting it all together next to the bow thruster and plotter 👌🏻 Is this the Bavaria 52?
Thanks Jochem. This is the Bavaria 46. 51 and 56 have it in a similar spot. Once you get up to the Hanse with the pedestals and have the electric throttle option it is much easier to put it anywhere.
I used to do this by tying a stern to bow bridal. We'd reverse past the buoy keeping to it's leeward side. When the buoy was forward of midships, release the aft end of the bridal and take it forward around the outside of everything including the bow and make off to form a bow bridal.
All was well on monos but It went wrong the second time we tried it on a catamaran though. It was windy and we ended up not being able to get the bouy forward of midway.
So on monos, I aim to try adding a 2nd line through the buoy loop to drag it forward, along a shorter and tighter beam bridal.
What do you think?
Exactly what I would have done, see my other post. Much easier to do and control, the only thing you really have to watch out for is the anchoring chain of the mooring and your prop. I imagine you could even let the wind do the work, provided the line is smooth enough to run through the eye of the mooring. What do you think?
@@joergmaassYes. I like it.
I think the bow to stern line needs to be as taught as possible if you're heavily blowing off the buoy otherwise it won't be bow settable and will become a beam bridle that will trap the buoy halfway.
I like the idea of another line threaded through the buoy lead's loop (as a line "set to slip") to help pull it forward if your beam bridal does form.
But don't drag the buoy forward though. While temporarily hanging off your beam bridle, just take both ends of your extra slipped buoy line, outside of and around the bow, to the windward bow cleat and make one end off. Then pull on the loose end (doubling your mechanical advantage) to pull the buoy forward along the beam bridle, a few more feet, rotating your ship's bow nearer the buoy.
Tie off.
Now you have your windward bow line already. Just go pickup the stern end of your leeward beam to stern line and walk it forward as the buoy heads forward of the bowroller and tie off to the leeward bow cleat and balance the bow lines' lengths.
You now have two buoy attached bow lines for added safety, each with both ends on the same cleat.
Both set to slip, ready to go.
I love it. Don't you?
@@ratusbagus Absolutely. Easy to do and handle. Thanks for the explanation!
@@joergmaass I have thoughts on single handed buoy release too.
Tell me what you think.
I haven't done this yet.
To prepare to leave, add a long shoreline. Thread it through your buoy loop as a bow bridle. Each end through fairleads or just around stanchions, the rest inside and along the opposing decks to coachroof Winches.
Adjust the length of the line you will release to ensure that it's not long enough to reach from the bow to the propeller....or just as short as it can be at the winch.
Remove and store the original buoy lines and you're ready to go.
Engage engine in tickover forward....or just have it running in neutral.
Grab a hold of the winch tail of the safe-length line and a bight of its other end from near its winch.
Unwind and release the tail while walking the bight back to the helm.
Prop is now safe because you've shortened the line.
Adjust throttle and heading, while pulling the line into the cockpit as and when you can.
Great video. How about some Mediterranean mooring?
Thank you! Must have been reading my mind. Med mooring coming soon! Next up I think is anchoring with stern to the shore with lines to the rocks.
@@45DegreesSailing, Something for you to add... When do you Med Moor with anchor and when without?
@@junglelap here in Croatia we do not med moor with anchor very often. Most docks/piers have lazy lines with mooring lines to blocks.
So effectively if there are mooring lines, you don’t drop anchor as you could snag the blocks and chains.
There is one spot in Korčula that you drop anchor like this, the town pier in Cavtat and another spot on Otok Drvenik near split.
Good job;)
Thanks 😁 you don't miss a beat do you!
@@45DegreesSailing no mate, if you miss a beat I think it's called a heart attack;)
Can this be done with big swell?
Yes you can. It depends on the size of swell and the yacht. This Bavaria 46 the swim platform is quite high from the water so its ok in a small swell. Anything bigger you need to keep it closed and collect the mooring with the hook over the stern. I often prefer this in a swell as the bow really jumps up and down when head into bigger waves, can be quite dangerous for the crew. The stern will still jump around (up and down and slap the waves) but much better control and access.
Just be aware that this procedure cannot be as easy as it looks depending heavily on the boat you sail. Your boat can steer pretty much the same way as you steer a car. An old long keel boat would not listen in the same way.
Thanks Mike, yes for sure long keel's will have significantly more prop walk and steering bias. In this case I tend to get my momentum up then drop into neutral a long way out and carry it in without any power on as the steering reacts much better like this.
@@45DegreesSailing exactly. But I never pick up mooring in that way with my long keel. I prefer to sail on the side and clip on when the mooring reaches the cockpit or if I have the chance I will just quick walk forward and catch it half way midship.
Nice. Especially when the yacht does not have an open transom. Much easier to get from midship area.
First? 😂 Legit question from a noobie, what are the main reasons why you would not leave it moored from the stern?
The boat will follow the wind a lot nicer when tied to the bow (don't forget your bridle).
The wind will blow through the cockpit and down the companion way making it annoying when it’s windy. And if it’s really hot, the hatches all face the wrong way so you won’t get good airflow through the whole boat if you need it.
Plus if it gets rough, the stern will slap and get the cockpit wet. The bow is much better at cutting through chop.
Good thing that cleat is behind the helm, or I’d see how you tied it
🤣
🤣
You don’t have to see it. I secure with 0800. No secret.
too easy ;-)
Almost like cheating ;)
Wish I’d seen this vid earlier.
Uh oh, there a story there?