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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 31 May 2007 |
BUOY, OH BUOY - Among the many challenges facing the sailor in the BVI—maintaining an adequate supply of ice, remembering to charge the batteries, changing water tanks—none seems to cause as much consternation as successfully picking up a mooring buoy. In light-wind areas it’s not so difficult but when the wind is blowing a bit and swirling about the anchorage, the challenge to the yachtsman increases exponentially, particularly on a single-engine vessel.  BVI Yacht Guide
It can be very frustrating for the helmsman to bring the bow of the boat up to a mooring ball only to have the crew fumble the line and allow a gusting wind to blow the bow off the mooring. Just as frustrating for the crew is to have the helmsman approach the mooring too quickly. Sometimes, you’ll see crew trying to stop the boat with only the boat hook tentatively holding the mooring, or a crew member lying flat on deck with part of their body under the lifelines gripping the mooring pendant with both hands as the boat is slowly pushed away.
The key to a happy mooring experience is the helm. He or she must be able to hold the boat reasonably stationary while the crew do their business up forward. That means practice—it’s always a good idea to learn the behavioural characteristics of the boat by spending half an hour or so just playing about with the throttle and rudder. The helm must be able to stop the boat and keep it stopped until the crew have made fast the lines. This means that the helm must be judging fore and aft movement and speed by taking quick bearings by glancing to one side or the other, allowing him to compare close objects with more distant ones and thus calculate speed and direction. Once the helm has the boat where it needs to be, it must kept there. This may require short bursts on the throttle and large movements of the rudder, and on a windy day this can be a challenge.
If it all proves too exhausting and the helm finds it impossible to keep the boat in place or the crew can’t attach the line quickly enough, why not put a crew member into the dinghy? Let them motor forward and attach the line to the mooring buoy’s pendant and then pass the lines to the crew in the bow. Remember, too, that there’s no rule saying you must pick up the mooring at the bow. Sometimes it’s easier to run the line back from the bow (outside of lifelines and stanchions) to the lowest point of the deck, perhaps by the shrouds. It is easy to lean down and attach the line to the mooring pendant and then walk it forward to the bow. There’s no point in pushing helm and crew to the point of exhaustion on deck when they could be below trying to remember the right way to bleed a water tank.
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