So far the only way I know is to pick up the mooring bail, bent down and
thread a rope through the bail. From the bow of a sailboat it can become
difficult when the weather is bad. I only wish I could learn a better way
to thread the pennant trough the bail hook.

Denis Marier wrote:
So far the only way I know is to pick up the mooring bail, bent down
and thread a rope through the bail. From the bow of a sailboat it
can become difficult when the weather is bad. I only wish I could
learn a better way to thread the pennant trough the bail hook.

There really _is_ no simpler method. I once picked up a mooring at Indian
Harbor (CT) while handling a 46 footer, where the mooring pennant had
already been removed (very late in the season). It was blowing 25 - 30 SW
and the youngsters manning the club's VHF had directed me to that specific
mooring. I realized only after the fact that the pennant was long gone to
storage. Meanwhile my soon-to-be wife was driving the ship with about 2
hours experience, trying to hear my shouts over the wind. We didn't sink
or hit anything hard, but it was close at times.

Repeat: There is no simple method and the best tactic is to grab that ball
with the pole and pray.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare

In "Armond Perretta" writes:

Denis Marier wrote:
So far the only way I know is to pick up the mooring bail, bent down
and thread a rope through the bail. From the bow of a sailboat it
can become difficult when the weather is bad. I only wish I could
learn a better way to thread the pennant trough the bail hook.

There really _is_ no simpler method. I once picked up a mooring at Indian
Harbor (CT) while handling a 46 footer, where the mooring pennant had
already been removed (very late in the season). It was blowing 25 - 30 SW
and the youngsters manning the club's VHF had directed me to that specific
mooring. I realized only after the fact that the pennant was long gone to
storage. Meanwhile my soon-to-be wife was driving the ship with about 2
hours experience, trying to hear my shouts over the wind. We didn't sink
or hit anything hard, but it was close at times.

Repeat: There is no simple method and the best tactic is to grab that ball
with the pole and pray.

I do not understand this, here in Europe we have a multitude of gadgets
that help you to pick the moorin and fasten the rope to the loop or eye.

In some cases you can leave the hook (the length can be anything from
about a feet to six feet so it is easy to remove it without bending head
down to the moorin buoy, or you can just thread the rope through the eye
and pull it back to your boat and have a double rope to the mooring and
when you leave you just pull the rope away.

- Lauri Tarkkonen

Lauri Tarkkonen wrote:
In "Armond Perretta" writes:


Denis Marier wrote:

So far the only way I know is to pick up the mooring bail, bent down
and thread a rope through the bail. From the bow of a sailboat it
can become difficult when the weather is bad. I only wish I could
learn a better way to thread the pennant trough the bail hook.


There really _is_ no simpler method. I once picked up a mooring at Indian
Harbor (CT) while handling a 46 footer, where the mooring pennant had
already been removed (very late in the season). It was blowing 25 - 30 SW
and the youngsters manning the club's VHF had directed me to that specific
mooring. I realized only after the fact that the pennant was long gone to
storage. Meanwhile my soon-to-be wife was driving the ship with about 2
hours experience, trying to hear my shouts over the wind. We didn't sink
or hit anything hard, but it was close at times.


Repeat: There is no simple method and the best tactic is to grab that ball
with the pole and pray.


I do not understand this, here in Europe we have a multitude of gadgets
that help you to pick the moorin and fasten the rope to the loop or eye.

In some cases you can leave the hook (the length can be anything from
about a feet to six feet so it is easy to remove it without bending head
down to the moorin buoy, or you can just thread the rope through the eye
and pull it back to your boat and have a double rope to the mooring and
when you leave you just pull the rope away.

- Lauri Tarkkonen



At the clubs I frequent here in Nova Scotia, they usually have two
briddles of polyproplyne rope that floats. We just ensure that we're
heading upwind to the ball and have someone on the bow with a boat hook
directing the helmsman.
It used to be tricky when I sailed my 17' Siren singlehanded and had a
British Seagull outboard without neutral or reverse.

Lauri Tarkkonen wrote:

I do not understand this, here in Europe we have a multitude of gadgets
that help you to pick the moorin and fasten the rope to the loop or eye.

In some cases you can leave the hook (the length can be anything from
about a feet to six feet so it is easy to remove it without bending
head down to the moorin buoy, or you can just thread the rope through the
eye and pull it back to your boat and have a double rope to the mooring
and when you leave you just pull the rope away.

Both your comment and Don's assume that an actual pennant is fitted to the
mooring ball. In the case I cited, the standard pennant had been removed,
and I found myself hanging off the bow of a 46 footer (about 2 meters off
the water), trying to thread my own line through the mooring ball ring in 25
to 30 knots of wind. Only later did I fully realize that due to our late
season arrival the mooring pennants had already been removed by the club
staff.

I freely admit that I am not very good at holding a 46 foot motorsailer into
a 25 knot wind using a boat pole attached to a mooring ball ring.


--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare

Armond Perretta wrote:
Lauri Tarkkonen wrote:

I do not understand this, here in Europe we have a multitude of gadgets
that help you to pick the moorin and fasten the rope to the loop or eye.

In some cases you can leave the hook (the length can be anything from
about a feet to six feet so it is easy to remove it without bending
head down to the moorin buoy, or you can just thread the rope through the
eye and pull it back to your boat and have a double rope to the mooring
and when you leave you just pull the rope away.


Both your comment and Don's assume that an actual pennant is fitted to the
mooring ball. In the case I cited, the standard pennant had been removed,
and I found myself hanging off the bow of a 46 footer (about 2 meters off
the water), trying to thread my own line through the mooring ball ring in 25
to 30 knots of wind. Only later did I fully realize that due to our late
season arrival the mooring pennants had already been removed by the club
staff.

I freely admit that I am not very good at holding a 46 foot motorsailer into
a 25 knot wind using a boat pole attached to a mooring ball ring.


There are a variety of gadgets that deal with this. One form is a
snap hook that can grab the ring on the top (or even the chain, I
suppose). The hook is attached to a pole with a slider and pops off
as soon as you're hooked.

The other flavor is a cute little thing that's impossible to describe.
You first push and then pull - the result is that a light line is
fed though the eye and you can use it to pull a large line through.
West sells several versions of this - I have one that clips on my
utility pole.

Of course, both of these require that you can position the boat long
enough at the mooring for the person forward to do the work. This is
one more reason why I like our catamaran. The bow is 15 feet wide so
the entire crew can hang over and curse the person that removed the
pennant.

"Armond Perretta" wrote:

Denis Marier wrote:
So far the only way I know is to pick up the mooring bail, bent down
and thread a rope through the bail. From the bow of a sailboat it
can become difficult when the weather is bad. I only wish I could
learn a better way to thread the pennant trough the bail hook.

There really _is_ no simpler method. I once picked up a mooring at Indian
Harbor (CT) while handling a 46 footer, where the mooring pennant had
already been removed (very late in the season). It was blowing 25 - 30 SW
and the youngsters manning the club's VHF had directed me to that specific
mooring. I realized only after the fact that the pennant was long gone to
storage. Meanwhile my soon-to-be wife was driving the ship with about 2
hours experience, trying to hear my shouts over the wind. We didn't sink
or hit anything hard, but it was close at times.

Repeat: There is no simple method and the best tactic is to grab that ball
with the pole and pray.

Bob made, and you can buy, a gadget to pick up a mooring ball whether
it has a pennant on it or not. He bought the parts in Miami at a
marine store (don't remember which one) and mounted them on an old
broomstick (with the broom part cut off). I can use it (usually it
works better for us to have me try to get the mooring ball and him to
steer especially in any kind of wind, although for anchoring we do it
the other way around), but he has to explain it to me each time, so
I'm not sure I can describe it very well. It's kind of a snap hook
device, and he threads the line from the boat into it.

I'll ask him when he comes up to bed tonight.


grandma Rosalie

"Denis Marier" wrote in message
...
So far the only way I know is to pick up the mooring bail, bent down and
thread a rope through the bail. From the bow of a sailboat it can become
difficult when the weather is bad. I only wish I could learn a better way
to thread the pennant trough the bail hook.


Denis,

here's link for the happy hooker... works great...
http://www.firstmatescabin.com/page12.htm

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Capt. JG wrote:
"Denis Marier" wrote in message
...

So far the only way I know is to pick up the mooring bail, bent down and
thread a rope through the bail. From the bow of a sailboat it can become
difficult when the weather is bad. I only wish I could learn a better way
to thread the pennant trough the bail hook.



Denis,

here's link for the happy hooker... works great...
http://www.firstmatescabin.com/page12.htm

Yea, that's like the gadget I got from West for about $20. I'm sure
this one works 22 times better.

Rosalie B. wrote:

I'll ask him when he comes up to bed tonight.

Rosalie, it's 2030 here in NJ. Are you already _in_ bed with your computer?

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http:\\home.comcast.net/kerrydeare