Swing Mooring and bow cleats

[gavman]

Hi There, I am a newbie to the site and just about to take ownership of my MacGregor 26M. I have a swing mooring in Poole, Dorset, UK and I was wondering if anyone else keeps their boat on a swing mooring and how they manage with the 2 small cleats on the bow. I have a riser chain that needs to be secured to the boat when on its mooring and thinking that I might need to install a large cleat but unsure of where to put it as space is limited up front. My last boat was a Westerly Centaur which had a substantial cleat on the foredeck which was ideal. Any help much appreciated.

[bscott]

The bow eye works best.

Bob

[GART]

I keep my 26x on a drying swinging mooring in Chichester during the summer; the PO had removed the bow roller and put a larger cleat on the starboard side (after removing the old one). I replaced the bow roller, but I should have got a better quality one, as it bent the first year, I have now strengthened it up and it is ok, but if I were to do it again I would get a stronger, larger roller, and a drop pin to hold the mooring line in place.
The boat swings about a lot on the mooring and the sideways pull is considerable.
I have a 25mm (1”) diameter multiplat rope attached to the riser chain that runs through plastic tubing over the bow roller, to the starboard (larger) cleat. I also have a slightly longer chain from the riser that goes to the original port cleat or the winching eye if I feel like hanging over the bow to fix it! This year my 25mm diameter rope broke, but fortunately my safety chain (fixed to the port cleat at the time) held.
I hope this helps

Graham

[kitcat]

Like Graham, I keep my M on a swinging mooring, but up the Tamar river, and use two ropes from a floating 'hippo' secured to what I assume is a v. large lump of concrete on the bottom, rented from and maintained by my local yacht club.

I use one sturdy rope over the bow roller and secured to one of the standard cleats and another one loosley led from the other cleat and directly over the side, as there isn't room on the bow roller for both, they both have a clear plastic tube over them to avoid chafing. The second one doesn't actually get any strain, but is there in case the first one gives out for some reason.

To reduce the swinging around that Macs have, I keep my d/board threequarters of the way down, and both rudders down, this more or less stops or damps down most of the movement. There is plenty on here about that though.

Paul

[DaveB]

I agree, with twin bridle lines , port and starboard to cleats, slacked for prevenitive measures.
Any mooring line should have protective fire hose for chafe or other means.
Dave

The bow eye works best.

Bob

[bscott]

If you want to use the bow cleats then you should tie the bitter end around the mast after you cleat the anchor line.

Bob

[jbgibbs99]

Another vote for twin bridles over port and starboard - on a swinging mooring in Scotland.

Mine are equal length (guessing 10 to 15 foot) and connected by a swivel to the riser chain, protected at boat end by some old fire hose.

I was going to add another loose chain/rope from the riser over the bow roller and round the mast just-in-case - but when I took it off for the winter everything was in good condition so I may not bother. I'm not sure it's needed, but I tie a small rope around the cleats on top of the mooring ropes just to make sure they can't "bounce" out in a storm.

Bruce

[mastreb]

Anyone care to post a simple diagram of the twin bridles? I'm not exactly getting what they do to prevent swinging.

[kitcat]

They dodn't prevent the boat from swinging, they are there as a backup in case one fails.

As I mentioned earlier, I find leaving the rudders down and most of the d/b is very effective to stop the boat moving around too much.

Paul

[gavman]

The bow eye works best.

Bob

Hi Bob,

sorry whats a bow eye?

Many thanks

Gavin

[gavman]

Many thanks for all the replies, much appreciated. I am concerned about using rope in Poole Harbour as my previous boat (westerly centaur) ate through a bridle in a week and only the chain stopped her floating off. I was lucky to spend a hour on the harbour masters rib when he was inspecting the PHC moorings for boats they had moved to temporary moorings, these boats were also chewing through 18mm 3 core in a week!.

I suppose my question is, if I use a smaller gauge chain from the riser and some plastic tube to prevent chaffing, are the bow cleats (if i hook the loop in this chain over both cleats and i was thinking of using a Dlock to lock the chain to the cleats to assist with theft prevention), are the cleats strong enough to take the strain or should i be looking to remove both and replace with one large one reinforced with a plate underneath the foredeck?

Many thanks again,

Gavin

[mastreb]

The bow eye is the metal D ring protruding from the hull about one foot below the bullnose (bow point at the deck) that the trailer winch hook attaches to.

[gavman]

The bow eye is the metal D ring protruding from the hull about one foot below the bullnose (bow point at the deck) that the trailer winch hook attaches to.

I was thinking that might be an option - is it strong enough? Cheers Gavin

[FAAbaddog]

GAV,

I have 12' of 1/2 chain attached to a helix anchor on one end and then attached to a 5/8th swivel shackle in which a split 15' worth of (halfed) 5/8th black 3 strand rope (in a bridle) is finally attached to both my bow cleats.

She (FINS UP) has been on that mooring set-up in 3'-4' of water in 50+ knots winds for hours with zero damage for 7 months at a time.

Portions of the bow rub rail have a 2-3" seams that some black 3M will take care of, other than that zero issues.

JMHO!

BADDOG

[gavman]

GAV,

I have 12' of 1/2 chain attached to a helix anchor on one end and then attached to a 5/8th swivel shackle in which a split 15' worth of (halfed) 5/8th black 3 strand rope (in a bridle) is finally attached to both my bow cleats.

She (FINS UP) has been on that mooring set-up in 3'-4' of water in 50+ knots winds for hours with zero damage for 7 months at a time.

Portions of the bow rub rail have a 2-3" seams that some black 3M will take care of, other than that zero issues.

JMHO!

BADDOG

Cheers for that! i think i have some pondering to do, Im quite worried about theft here in the UK hence using chain and a D lock. FYI the wife is an air traffic controller for NATS - i noticed you were FAA....