Mooring Question.. Again <How to connect a mooring ball or buoy>

[Richard Bares]

It's about that time of year again that my family is headed to a cabin in Northern Minnesota. I never know if a lift is going to be available until a week or so before we leave so I need to plan ahead. I would prefer not to beach the boat as the beach can be fairly rocky and I don't currently have a keel guard on my new ('19) boat as I did on the last boat.
My question... does anyone actually moor their boat? The place I go has two mooring locations that I can tie up to but I'm not really sure how people are actually mooring. Is it as simple as connecting a line from the mooring point to the bow eye? I can find directions on how to moor a large boat in the ocean but nothing really on how to moor a much smaller boat on a lake.
Any advice is welcome.

 

[Nightmare]

I might need this too if we overnight at Catalina. I assume you just clip a line to the mooring buoy. But then we get to swim to and from the boat
I guess I could blow up a towable a row ashore...

 

[Julian]

Here is a video on how tie off to a mooring ball:

Steps are. take a docking line and tie to to one bow cleat, then take that line through the loop on the ball, and then tie the other end of your line to the opposite bow cleat.

 

[Quad]

All summer, every summer from May to October

 

[Quad]

Our mooring balls each have a mooring pendant (rope) with a clip on the end. The pendants vary in length but if the moorings you have access to are setup correctly, you can just clip the provided pendants to your bow eye and you're set.

 

[Quad]

Here is a video on how tie off to a mooring ball:

Steps are. take a docking line and tie to to one bow cleat, then take that line through the loop on the ball, and then tie the other end of your line to the opposite bow cleat.

Note that many through-eyes on mooring balls are not for load bearing, they only exist to pull ball out of the water or to clip the pendant to. Taylor Made specifically states that their balls are not designed for that type of connection.

That said, there are other types of balls that have the chain come through the ball and terminate with a shackle at a plate on top of the ball. These balls are designed for attaching at the top of the ball.

This illustration shows the two different mooring designs, the first scenario is on the right, the through-ball scenario on the left:


Here is further detail of the first scenario:


I have seen many boats floating on waters that had a mooring eye attached but nothing else. I collect balls from that type of failed mooring scenario each year too.

Bottom line - know how the mooring is designed and connect based on that knowledge.

 

[the MfM]

If the mooring has a line with a clip that looks like it came from a dog leash don’t trust it and add a dock line tied to or looped through (as noted above) the chain for a back up.

 

[Quad]

If the mooring has a line with a clip that looks like it came from a dog leash don’t trust it and add a dock line tied to or looped through (as noted above) the chain for a back up.

Totally this. I have two unequal-length pendants for when we get 5'+ waves. Haven't had one break, but I heard my neighbor's snap last summer from 2 houses down, which was seriously disconcerting.

 

[Heizen]

When your boat stays on calm waters for a short time, a simple concrete block method will suffice. A helical anchor is an appropriate method when there’s a storm. You need to screw it on the ocean floor so it won’t easily break free.

 

[Richard Bares]

So far so good. The bouy had a pendant with a u-ring. I took two of my dock lines with carabiners, attached one end the bow eye and the other to the ring. No issues so far.

 

[2kwik4u]

So far so good. The bouy had a pendant with a u-ring. I took two of my dock lines with carabiners, attached one end the bow eye and the other to the ring. No issues so far.

How are you getting to and from the moored boat? Swim? Call a water Uber? Paddle an inflatable?

 

[Richard Bares]

How are you getting to and from the moored boat? Swim? Call a water Uber? Paddle an inflatable?

Just walk out to it. It's only about waist deep. The lake is a little low this year.