"Armond Perretta" wrote in message
...
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



isnt the standard technique (for a ball/mooring bouy of a reasonable size)
to drop a loop of line over it , pull in and cleat off? This holds you on
the ball while you thread the eye on the top. Done it many times

MD

Mobey Dick wrote:

isnt the standard technique (for a ball/mooring bouy of a reasonable
size) to drop a loop of line over it , pull in and cleat off? This
holds you on the ball while you thread the eye on the top. Done it
many times

I don't know how "standard" this is, but it would probably work well in many
cases.

I would not however venture to say that it would work in _all_ cases. In
the instance I cited (2 plus meters off the water in a borrowed 46 foot
motorsailer with none of my own gear on board, an inexperienced person at
the helm, a "yachtsman's gale" whooping up, no indication that the mooring
had essentially been disabled at that time of the year, etc., etc.), I am
just not 100% sure.

I don't really think, for the record, that any individual could have been
100% certain, but that's probably attributable to the narrow circles I
travel in.

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