Thank you for this excellent guide to mooring in the Mediterranean. Instead of using the windlass to tighten the chain, I would have used the engine in reverse. This is also useful for proving whether the anchor has grabbed the bottom. I'm afraid the windlass doesn't have enough power to do that.
I agree, would it be better to first engage the grip in the anchor and then release it gradually as you approach the dock, keeping it nice and tight at all times?
as a person going to be chartering a lagoon 46 next April these videos are so so so helpful as I'm going to be in the med and haven't done these maneuvers before the videos give me great confidence in how i will be able to moore the lagoon thank you so much.
Thanks for your feedback. We will attempt to get some of this footage at some stage however all our 630MY and SEVENTY 8s in Australia are privately owned. We hope to soon have some more travelling across the Atlantic as this has certainly been done before in the Motor Yacht range.
Nice video, couple of things worth thinking about though, when using the anchor if your in a big yacht like the lagoon 46 and the leeward boat is small like a 30 ft mono and you have a cross wind you could cause their anchor to drag if you rest on them. So you might want to try to put minimum weight on any leeward vessel. Also on the mooring lines gloves are advised,
Really important to have ball fenders off the sterns as that will save your boat if the anchor loosens or is lifted by onather boat. Also durring the acctual approach especially if there is wind.
Nicely filmed and clear instructions. I would just add that if you find yourself using bow lines (as most wharfs, docks and marinas do in Croatia) then the sequence of attaching lines is determined by wind direction. If the wind is blowing onto the wharf the first lines you attach are the bow lines. And obviously if it's from an angle onto the dock then it's, the front ´windward side first. then the windward stern line , then other bow and last the stern leeward. The bow line system is good and all but it really is the cause of many a fouled prop and marinas make decent money charging for divers and repair of their lines. When it's windy (Croatia!) you can sit on a wharf and watch boat after boat catch other boats bow lines or the marina lines. And with most catamarans the prop is designed to come off if tangles (to protect the sail drive) so after fouling a bowline its not unusual to lose a prop the next day as you drop into reverse for the first time ; another money make for marinas.
Hi ho , nice videos ! Thanks a lot. In france you often have that mooring line concept - pays of to use gloves since they often have a lot of grime and sometimes muscles on them. Also be careful if you pass ships moored stern to - the lines catch easy in your propeller ESPECIALLY if you have the props so close to the board as a lagoon.
Good run through. In the second case, make sure you keep the 'slime lines' well away from your props. As you come in, you might need to stop the marinero from pulling the slime line (mooring block lead line) out of the water too soon. Leave it until you have your aft lines on to minimise the risk of fouling your props. Otherwise, it's mask and snorkel time. I speak from experience on that one!
Thank you -- super helpful. Re: future content, you might consider some parent categories like "sail handling" or "maintenance," whereby you could develop lots of videos under each of those broader categories. E.g. replicate the engine maintenance video but for electrical systems, plumbing, sail/rigging and general boat maintenance. What tools do you carry for each of those areas, what routine inspections do you conduct, what does preventative maintenance look like in each of those areas? Re: sail handling - I enjoyed the trim video but this might be extrapolated a bit.. e.g. sail selection for light wind vs. heavy winds, up vs. downwind, pros/cons of different sail plans, common issues with flying spinnakers or self-tackers, etc. Thanks again, keep going!
Hi, great video. As a relative newcomer to cats, I have a query. If there is only one lazy line available, should you take it windward or leeward side of the boat? Obviously in a monohull it would be windward but I've seen a teaching video for a cat where it was taken to the other side and it said would keep her better aligned... Thanks
Good question! Its personal preference. Bearing in mind when you attached snubber and release chain you'll move back towards to dock. If you plan on doing this, just make sure you are a little further off the dock when initially set so you'll have plenty of room once the snubber is tight. Thx, Joe
1:00 this is also the reason that in the med cats arent realy popular because the dock fees are 1,6-2x of those for a single hull boat, because the cat need two berth, the marine will charge you for that. Average marine in the Med will charge 50-100 EUR per day for single hull 12m/38ft boat.
I will disagree with the popularity. Over 50% of the charter boats in the Turkish side of the Aegean are Cats and this number is growing practically daily as the demand for them continues to grow. The opposite is true for private boats but the number of monohulls across the board is decreasing. I have spent 5 months so far this season working in cats and only two weeks on monohulls.
Thanks for your comment. Yes, this is advised to ensure that the anchor is holding before you get too close to the dock. If it is windy, the other option is to let out plenty of chain, get the vessel in and secure with lines on the dock, then hoist the anchor and watch for any signs of dragging. Doing it this way is find, you just need to be prepared to drop lines and go again if your first attempt hasn't bedded the anchor well enough. You want to be confident in the anchor set well as this is all that is stopping the stern of the boat coming into contact with the dock. Regards, Joe
Yep absolutely because unlike Ozzie docks most town wharfs are solid concrete (no rubber bumper) Most boats have big ball fenders just for that purpose.
Probably know this by now but, when med mooring with your anchor it's difficult to use a bridle and correctly determine the distance back to the dock. Not impossible but because you attach the bridle and let it play out till its tight you have to be pretty good at guessing that distance especially given you are doing all this with the anchor chain under a bit of tension and backing against a finite distance; the dock. Often you don't really want to bump up against the concrete wharf even with fenders off the stern and in many town docks the sea floor rises up to the dock so you have concerns of rudders or sail drives hitting..so most often you play it safe and don't bother with a bridle.
Thank you very much, very well explained. I didn't know "resting" against another vessel while docking was a thing. Lol . I probably would have been upset.
Thank you for this excellent guide to mooring in the Mediterranean.
Instead of using the windlass to tighten the chain, I would have used the engine in reverse. This is also useful for proving whether the anchor has grabbed the bottom. I'm afraid the windlass doesn't have enough power to do that.
I agree, would it be better to first engage the grip in the anchor and then release it gradually as you approach the dock, keeping it nice and tight at all times?
as a person going to be chartering a lagoon 46 next April these videos are so so so helpful as I'm going to be in the med and haven't done these maneuvers before the videos give me great confidence in how i will be able to moore the lagoon thank you so much.
Perfect, we are so glad we could help!
8,52 the tiying off is a work of art, I'm learning this move.
Been binge watching these videos. Thank you for the value you are producing.
I would like to see a video of your power cats in rough sea conditions.
Thanks for your feedback. We will attempt to get some of this footage at some stage however all our 630MY and SEVENTY 8s in Australia are privately owned. We hope to soon have some more travelling across the Atlantic as this has certainly been done before in the Motor Yacht range.
Joe would make an excellent RYA instructor!
Simple, clear and concise video, thank you very much
Glad it helped.
Great video, thank you
Nice video, couple of things worth thinking about though, when using the anchor if your in a big yacht like the lagoon 46 and the leeward boat is small like a 30 ft mono and you have a cross wind you could cause their anchor to drag if you rest on them. So you might want to try to put minimum weight on any leeward vessel. Also on the mooring lines gloves are advised,
Another GREAT video! Thanks 😊
You make it look so easy! If only!
Very useful videos, great camera work and editing, thanks
Really important to have ball fenders off the sterns as that will save your boat if the anchor loosens or is lifted by onather boat. Also durring the acctual approach especially if there is wind.
Great video and info please keep them coming -Thx
Nicely filmed and clear instructions. I would just add that if you find yourself using bow lines (as most wharfs, docks and marinas do in Croatia) then the sequence of attaching lines is determined by wind direction. If the wind is blowing onto the wharf the first lines you attach are the bow lines. And obviously if it's from an angle onto the dock then it's, the front ´windward side first. then the windward stern line , then other bow and last the stern leeward. The bow line system is good and all but it really is the cause of many a fouled prop and marinas make decent money charging for divers and repair of their lines. When it's windy (Croatia!) you can sit on a wharf and watch boat after boat catch other boats bow lines or the marina lines. And with most catamarans the prop is designed to come off if tangles (to protect the sail drive) so after fouling a bowline its not unusual to lose a prop the next day as you drop into reverse for the first time ; another money make for marinas.
Hi ho , nice videos ! Thanks a lot. In france you often have that mooring line concept - pays of to use gloves since they often have a lot of grime and sometimes muscles on them. Also be careful if you pass ships moored stern to - the lines catch easy in your propeller ESPECIALLY if you have the props so close to the board as a lagoon.
Great video Joe, thank you.
Good run through. In the second case, make sure you keep the 'slime lines' well away from your props. As you come in, you might need to stop the marinero from pulling the slime line (mooring block lead line) out of the water too soon. Leave it until you have your aft lines on to minimise the risk of fouling your props. Otherwise, it's mask and snorkel time. I speak from experience on that one!
Thanks for this addition. I actually was going to add this as an afterthought.
great point, thank you.
Good job Captain!
Excellent and very informative - thank you
Outstanding lesson, thank you
Thank you -- super helpful. Re: future content, you might consider some parent categories like "sail handling" or "maintenance," whereby you could develop lots of videos under each of those broader categories. E.g. replicate the engine maintenance video but for electrical systems, plumbing, sail/rigging and general boat maintenance. What tools do you carry for each of those areas, what routine inspections do you conduct, what does preventative maintenance look like in each of those areas?
Re: sail handling - I enjoyed the trim video but this might be extrapolated a bit.. e.g. sail selection for light wind vs. heavy winds, up vs. downwind, pros/cons of different sail plans, common issues with flying spinnakers or self-tackers, etc.
Thanks again, keep going!
Thanks for this fabulous inspiration. We will try to draw on your feedback for our future content.
Great video! Thanks for making them. Just bought a Leopard 50 and we are learning as we go.
Very nice lesson.
Hi, great video. As a relative newcomer to cats, I have a query. If there is only one lazy line available, should you take it windward or leeward side of the boat? Obviously in a monohull it would be windward but I've seen a teaching video for a cat where it was taken to the other side and it said would keep her better aligned... Thanks
Thanks for the great video. I was curious why you used the snubber as a safety instead of letting some rode out to take the load off the windlass?
Good question! Its personal preference. Bearing in mind when you attached snubber and release chain you'll move back towards to dock. If you plan on doing this, just make sure you are a little further off the dock when initially set so you'll have plenty of room once the snubber is tight.
Thx, Joe
Great vid! Thank you very much!
Thank you!
As you mentioned does your catamaran have a passarrel or is not the case that cats don’t and why not
1:00 this is also the reason that in the med cats arent realy popular because the dock fees are 1,6-2x of those for a single hull boat, because the cat need two berth, the marine will charge you for that. Average marine in the Med will charge 50-100 EUR per day for single hull 12m/38ft boat.
I will disagree with the popularity. Over 50% of the charter boats in the Turkish side of the Aegean are Cats and this number is growing practically daily as the demand for them continues to grow. The opposite is true for private boats but the number of monohulls across the board is decreasing. I have spent 5 months so far this season working in cats and only two weeks on monohulls.
would be great also to show proper undocking, thank you
Your crewman did the cleat hitch wrong.
7:37 why is he making the knot wrong way (too far around)
How do you know what kind of mooring the Marina will have you use? (
This will be dependant on where you are. Hopefully there is a way to call up prior to arrival or a way to look this up online.
Guide books can tell you but I usually also go in and have a "run through" to see before I begin docking.
Question...Do you not need to SET the anchor first like you would normally do at an anchorage?
Thanks for your comment. Yes, this is advised to ensure that the anchor is holding before you get too close to the dock. If it is windy, the other option is to let out plenty of chain, get the vessel in and secure with lines on the dock, then hoist the anchor and watch for any signs of dragging. Doing it this way is find, you just need to be prepared to drop lines and go again if your first attempt hasn't bedded the anchor well enough. You want to be confident in the anchor set well as this is all that is stopping the stern of the boat coming into contact with the dock.
Regards, Joe
do you use bridle when using anchor style? for some reason i did not see any
would you use fenders on back of the boat for safety
Yep absolutely because unlike Ozzie docks most town wharfs are solid concrete (no rubber bumper) Most boats have big ball fenders just for that purpose.
As a newly, why would I not use the bridle instead of a snubber and take the load off the capstan?
Probably know this by now but, when med mooring with your anchor it's difficult to use a bridle and correctly determine the distance back to the dock. Not impossible but because you attach the bridle and let it play out till its tight you have to be pretty good at guessing that distance especially given you are doing all this with the anchor chain under a bit of tension and backing against a finite distance; the dock. Often you don't really want to bump up against the concrete wharf even with fenders off the stern and in many town docks the sea floor rises up to the dock so you have concerns of rudders or sail drives hitting..so most often you play it safe and don't bother with a bridle.
Legend!
8:57 Ben does it wrong
Thank you very much, very well explained. I didn't know "resting" against another vessel while docking was a thing. Lol . I probably would have been upset.
Hi Mathew, due to the amount of boats and limited berthing in the Med this is quite common there.
Why the dearth of videos about metal hull trimerans