On Fri, 30 Jun 2006 01:10:02 GMT, "Lester Evans"
wrote:


How do you approach a mooring for pick up? The boat has a full keel so she
is heavy. The mooring is in a tight area. I want to do a one time pick up
.. no going around and trying again.

We sail a 50 ft sloop with the deck 6 ft over the water. Picking up a
buoy is always a puzzle cause
a) the boat has a lot of windage and we do not have a bowthruster.
b) We have 2 propellors and the rudder is in the middle so there is no
steering power with low speeds
c) from the rel. high deck the buoy is hard to reach even with a hook.

What works for me:
At very low speed and with the wind on the bow the boat will be blown
away in a few seconds but for the same reason the boat is much more
stabile with the wind from behind. This will be different for
different boats of course but I expect most boats to be more stabile
with the wind from behind. A propellor in slow reverse tends to
stabilize even more.
When needed you take the current into account here.
I approach the buoy downwind and very slow. I let it pass. In slow
reverse (steering is done here with both propellors but you can use
the rudder) I get as close as possible to the buoy without being blown
away or being set aside. From the aft deck or even the swimming
platform I can reach the buoy much easier than from the (higher) bow.
Not being blown away I have enough time for attaching a line.
"Lasso-ing" the buoy with a sinking line that has a bow-line knot in
the end and that is attached to a cleat on the bow is one option.
Being moored that way you can improve things to your own liking.
The mob alike pole sounds good to me cause it improves reachability
from a rel. high deck.

Fair winds, Len.

On Fri, 30 Jun 2006 17:14:57 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

"Brian Whatcott" wrote

NEXT: How to winch up the mast, single handed?


Get a four part tackle like a boom vang with a cam cleat and a line
long enough for it to go all the way up the mast. Hoist it up with a
jib halyard; not one with an external block like a spinnaker halyard
unless you trust it with your life. Then pull yourself up. If the
cleat or your hands slip, you'll come down fast but still a lot slower
than on a single part. You'll also be able to squeeze the tackle to
stop if you screw up the belaying.

Once you price all the gear to do this, you'll realize you can have a
yard guy go up two or three times for the same amount. Let them do
it. They're lighter, younger, and more expendable.


Hehe...good answer! But I had in mind erecting the mast on
an SC23 using a winch line through a block on top of a 6 ft.tall
trailer strut hooked to the the forestay; the mast foot pinned a la
Hobie, while the mast rests on an 8 ft strut placed in the rudder
gudgeons. If I try this single handed - the mast weaves sidewards -So
I have one person each side holding lines from the side stays.
(One crew, one innocent bystander usually)

Regards

Brian Whatcott

First thing I learned in sailing school was how to pick up a mooring under sail
alone.
If you can't do that, you shouldn't be taking a 30 footer out by yourself. What
if your motor fails? I guess it's a call to the Coast Guard, if they can get
there in time.
What if the weather turns bad? Do you know how to handle that?

Sherwin D.

Lester Evans wrote:

Going out single this weekend. Not worried about leaving and sailing etc ..
it is the coming back in that has me in butterflies.

This is a 30' sailboat. Not huge, but not small.

How do you approach a mooring for pick up? The boat has a full keel so she
is heavy. The mooring is in a tight area. I want to do a one time pick up
.. no going around and trying again.

My thought.. get the boat going in the right direction. Once I am getting
close, put her in neutral. Try some coasting. See if I can coast up to the
mooring, leaving the mooring ball on the starboard side ( this way, if I
must go on I can turn to the port which is where the escape route is,, the
deep water ).

Anyway,,, I will have my mooring pick up stick at the ready. Once I grab
the line, get the line on deck and cleated..

I thought that I might ask for help if there is a friendly boater around.
The boat is at a dock now. I must move it to the mooring or $$$$$$.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,,

Now THAT was helpful.
If you are bored, go look up the difference
between anodizing and electroplating.



sherwindu wrote:
First thing I learned in sailing school was how to pick up a mooring under sail
alone.
If you can't do that, you shouldn't be taking a 30 footer out by yourself. What
if your motor fails? I guess it's a call to the Coast Guard, if they can get
there in time.
What if the weather turns bad? Do you know how to handle that?

Sherwin D.

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
First thing I learned in sailing school was how to pick up a mooring under
sail
alone.
If you can't do that, you shouldn't be taking a 30 footer out by yourself.
What
if your motor fails? I guess it's a call to the Coast Guard, if they can
get
there in time.
What if the weather turns bad? Do you know how to handle that?

Sherwin D.

Lester Evans wrote:

Going out single this weekend. Not worried about leaving and sailing etc
..
it is the coming back in that has me in butterflies.

This is a 30' sailboat. Not huge, but not small.

How do you approach a mooring for pick up? The boat has a full keel so
she
is heavy. The mooring is in a tight area. I want to do a one time pick
up
.. no going around and trying again.

My thought.. get the boat going in the right direction. Once I am
getting
close, put her in neutral. Try some coasting. See if I can coast up to
the
mooring, leaving the mooring ball on the starboard side ( this way, if I
must go on I can turn to the port which is where the escape route is,,
the
deep water ).

Anyway,,, I will have my mooring pick up stick at the ready. Once I grab
the line, get the line on deck and cleated..

I thought that I might ask for help if there is a friendly boater around.
The boat is at a dock now. I must move it to the mooring or $$$$$$.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,,

I believe he said... "The mooring is in a tight area." So, this isn't the
place to practice. Sometimes, it's nearly impossible to do it under sail,
unlike anchoring where you don't have to be quite so precise.

What if your motor fails? ... start sailing and go somewhere where it isn't
so tight.

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

there is always someone. leave the guy alone, he is learning in the best way
possible. So he makes a couple of mistakes - big deal.
"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
First thing I learned in sailing school was how to pick up a mooring under
sail
alone.
If you can't do that, you shouldn't be taking a 30 footer out by yourself.
What
if your motor fails? I guess it's a call to the Coast Guard, if they can
get
there in time.
What if the weather turns bad? Do you know how to handle that?

Sherwin D.

Lester Evans wrote:

Going out single this weekend. Not worried about leaving and sailing etc
..
it is the coming back in that has me in butterflies.

This is a 30' sailboat. Not huge, but not small.

How do you approach a mooring for pick up? The boat has a full keel so
she
is heavy. The mooring is in a tight area. I want to do a one time pick
up
.. no going around and trying again.

My thought.. get the boat going in the right direction. Once I am
getting
close, put her in neutral. Try some coasting. See if I can coast up to
the
mooring, leaving the mooring ball on the starboard side ( this way, if I
must go on I can turn to the port which is where the escape route is,,
the
deep water ).

Anyway,,, I will have my mooring pick up stick at the ready. Once I grab
the line, get the line on deck and cleated..

I thought that I might ask for help if there is a friendly boater around.
The boat is at a dock now. I must move it to the mooring or $$$$$$.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,,

In article KR_og.2315$TC1.1920@trndny08,
"Lester Evans" wrote:

How do you approach a mooring for pick up? The boat has a full keel so she
is heavy. The mooring is in a tight area. I want to do a one time pick up
.. no going around and trying again.

I know I'm late in this, but you'll be learning for a while and I didn't
see anyone mention this:

When things are a bit nasty, I have no compunction about picking up the
mooring at the stern, which is quite a bit closer to the water -- and
essential controls -- than the bow. Midship may be better for you, of
course.

I've even been known to back the boat up to the mooring, though I know
it looks a little strange to do that. And we're not talking about a few
feet at dead slow, but for enough distance at enough speed that the
rudder actually controls the boat. Because the mast is now aft, we don't
fall off the wind that way. Just at the mooring, a quick burst of
forward is quite a bit easier to judge than most boats' reverse when you
can't see the mooring 30+ feet away.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

On Tue, 11 Jul 2006 05:52:30 GMT, Jere Lull wrote:

I've even been known to back the boat up to the mooring, though I know
it looks a little strange to do that.

I used to do that all the time with my old sportfish. The trick there
was to scramble down the ladder from the flybridge before the boat
drifted too far away from the pick up stick. Grabbing it from the
stern was just about the only possible way and it also gives you
better visibility of exactly where to stop the boat.

The big trick of course, is getting the boat flipped back around with
the mooring at the bow but that's another chapter.