"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
"Capt. JG" wrote

The only thing I would add is to not run anywhere on the boat.

Good point. I consider "running" on a boat a brisk, controlled walk but
that wouldn't be clear in my post.

I figured... :-) I saw one guy do this single handed and he ambled. I think
he was thinking of stopping for a cigarette break or something on the way...
totally unhurried. It was fun to watch.

My boat falls off pretty fast with the fin keel and the windage of the
roller jib forward so bringing the buoy back very far can be awkward. I'm
either pulling against the friction on the side or trying to pull the bow
upwind to it. Getting the pendant briskly on board slack and hooked
quickly over the cleat works best for me. Most pendants in this part of
the world are short and heavy enough that not having the buoy right under
the bow means moving the boat with the pendant after you have the slimy,
barnacle encrusted thing in your hand. I find the risk of dropping or
losing it while trying to get it under the pulpit and hooked up with
strain on it greater than not finding the buoy in the right place when I
get to the bow with the boat hook.

The only place that mooring balls out here that I'm aware of for day use are
at Angel Island. There are no pendants, so you have to put your own on the
ball. Quite a hassle. I use a Happy Hooker. It's either that or you have to
be an acrobat or not have much freeboard. :-)

Several responders seemed to have missed the *singlehanded* word in the
original post.

Yeah... :-)

When you do have a crew member, a very helpful instruction to give is to
have them stand in the bow constantly pointing the boathook at the buoy.
That tells you where it is when it goes out of sight as well as letting
you track other factors more easily beforehand. Most people will take
their first stab when too far away so that's a good signal to goose up the
throttle for full reverse.

I made the mistake of having a very inexperienced crew member attempt to
hook one in another place. I told him specifically not to get the boat hook
inside any loop in the pendant, just grab the line itself. Of course, he put
it through a loop and when I couldn't hold the boat in one spot long enough
for him to sort it out, he had to drop the boat hook. :-)

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