Do we need a pendant?

[Seevee]

All,


Do we need a special pendant for mooring? Some say absolutely, some say no, some say you need two of them (different lengths).


I do very little mooring and certainly a novice on this subject.


However, can one use a bridle? I have a two leg one that works very well as a bridle. Can I simply add a swivel and shackle to attach to the ball.... or perhaps a small chain to the ball (if not long enough)


Thoughts?

 

[Bmarler]

depends on circumstance for me. i have a couple of stainless cable setups i can deploy if i feel the need, or sometimes i just slip a snap shackle to the ring and bring the line back to the bow. if it's calm i'll just send the line through the ring and back to the same location. usually i'll put a safety line too, i can't help myself from doing so. plus if you rig a loop safety, you leave it for last when you depart. easy to slip that way.
if i was on a mooring long term i'd use a robust cable or heavy rope system with some sort of shock load snubber included.

 

[O C Diver]

I take a mooring a modest amount. Running a line from a bow cleat, through the mooring loop and back to the same cleat is simple and ideal. If you have port and starboard bow cleats, doing both in the same manner adds security. Never from one cleat, through the loop, to another cleat. This creates a sawing action.

Doing it in this fashion allows you to easily adjust the length and makes dropping the mooring on departure the simplest.

Ted

 

[HeadedToTexas]

Never from one cleat, through the loop, to another cleat. This creates a sawing action.

Doing it in this fashion allows you to easily adjust the length and makes dropping the mooring on departure the simplest.

Ted

I am a mooring ball novice too, and I would have thought that the bridle would reduce swing much like it does at anchor. Evidently not though!

On my boat, a single line from a cleat, through the ball loop, and back to the same cleat will mean pulling against the mooring at an angle. No problem with that?

 

[jleonard]

I always did it the same way OC describes unless there is already a line on the ball.

 

[O C Diver]

On my boat, a single line from a cleat, through the ball loop, and back to the same cleat will mean pulling against the mooring at an angle. No problem with that?

It will only a slight angle. If you perceive a problem or want the added security as I do, use one line off each bow cleat. Very little extra effort.

Ted

 

[koliver]

My avatar shows Retreat attached to the mooring bouy in front of my house. The current at that location changes four times a day. In a full or new moon that current runs at ~2 knots. I usually run a single line through the loop at the top of the bouy, from a cleat inside the Stb Hawse to a similar cleat inside the Port Hawse. I wasn't out to Retreat for a few days in succession last summer, and when I went out I found the mooring line twisted tightly, indicating that those changes of tidal direction had caused Retreat to turn in a circle of constant direction, so the twist was wound tighter with each revolution. There was no sawing action, so no chafing whatsoever, but undoing the twist took a while. A pendant and a swivel would have helped in those circumstances.

 

[2savage]

Moorings come in various 'flavors'. What you are about to use dictates how you use it.

Some moorings have what is called a 'tall bouy' or 'pick-up stick'. This is a tall (about four feet long) fiberglass stick that the person on the bow can grab (so no boat hook needed) and pull up. On the end of this stick will be a bridle with a loop. You can simply put this loop over your bow cleat and you are done.

Often a mooring has not one but two bridles. If there is also a tall bouy to grab, proceed as above, then grab the second bridle and hook it onto your other bow cleat. This dual bridle system will give added security, ensure you hang straight and also reduces swinging.

From time to time the loop on a mooring is too thick to drop into your bow chock. Or, can be covered in slime due to lack of use. In this case you need your own line to thread through the loop and back to the same cleat. If there are two bridles you can do this with both bridles and still keep the muck at bay.

If there is no tall bouy then use the boat hook to retrieve the bridle (also called a pennant). Then continue as above.

Hope this helps. ALan

 

[High Wire]

We do as OC D states. One line to each side of the bow through the ball pennant thimble. Mooring fields like Stuart Florida are very close spaced. Boats will hit if for some reason are opposed. You have to keep those lines short.

 

[Bmarler]

My avatar shows Retreat attached to the mooring bouy in front of my house. The current at that location changes four times a day. In a full or new moon that current runs at ~2 knots. I usually run a single line through the loop at the top of the bouy, from a cleat inside the Stb Hawse to a similar cleat inside the Port Hawse. I wasn't out to Retreat for a few days in succession last summer, and when I went out I found the mooring line twisted tightly, indicating that those changes of tidal direction had caused Retreat to turn in a circle of constant direction, so the twist was wound tighter with each revolution. There was no sawing action, so no chafing whatsoever, but undoing the twist took a while. A pendant and a swivel would have helped in those circumstances.

You’ve been lucky. Also I think heavy chop or other wave action promotes the sawing action. I ruined a very nice dock line very early in my boating experience. That was the last time I used one line and also the last time I ran from one bow cleat to the other. In the last thirty-ish years I’ve had zero trouble.
New boat has a much better anchoring situation, I’ll use a mooring ball very seldom now, I’ll leave them for those that need them more than I do.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

Two lines through the mooring ball eye each looped back to it's origin sounds like it would bridge that gap between preventing the sawing effect and stabilizing the swing. Am I reading that right?

 

[Bmarler]

Two lines through the mooring ball eye each looped back to it's origin sounds like it would bridge that gap between preventing the sawing effect and stabilizing the swing. Am I reading that right?

yes, that's the idea. you'll still swing a bit though. on my last boat i hated the stupid ball clunking up against the hull. i got so i'd run one line out over the bow roller and snug it up, then run another safety line out from a bow cleat and leave it loose.
there are as many ways to do it as there are people...

 

[Shrew]

Two lines through the mooring ball eye each looped back to it's origin sounds like it would bridge that gap between preventing the sawing effect and stabilizing the swing. Am I reading that right?

That is how I connect to a mooring ball. Line from Stbd cleat to mooring pendant loop, back to Stbd cleat. Line from Port cleat to mooring pendant loop, back to Port cleat. No sawing.

Running two pendants all the way to the mooring ball will eventually get hung up in the mooring ball.