Picking up a mooring buoy 1.

I frequently see boats approach a mooring buoy, the crew pick up the mooring, but before they can make it fast to the boat, the rope comes under load and they have to let go, sometime the boat hook can not be released and is ripped out of their hands.

Many times, this is followed by the skipper blaming the crew.

It is never the crew's fault if they can not hold on to a buoy. It is unreasonable to expect some one to hold on to several tons of moving boat and stop it. This is exactly what is expected in the above situation.

Instead, the boat must be stopped and remain stopped, until the mooring rope is made fast.

This means that the helm must be judging fore and aft motion and speed by looking to the side. This allows you to compare object in the foreground with the background to determine speed and direction. This is especially true when close to the buoy and it disappears from sight!

Once the boat is stopped, it must remain stopped. This may require short bursts on the throttle and big tiller movements to hold the boat's head up to the buoy.

This is not always easy, especially on a windy day or when the tide is running very fast, but it is the helmsman's job to put the boat where the crew needs it, and to keep it there long enough!

 

 

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