Practical Boat Owner - February 2016

Seamanship

Casting-off

single-handed

I

now sail alone after
my wife died and have
devised ways of getting
round the need to do
several things at once,
such as casting off the
bow and stern lines at the
same time when moving
away from a pontoon.
My solution was to delete the
bow and stern lines in favour
of one midships mooring line
that could be remotely released
from a pontoon-mounted
cleat. Or more accurately, after
starting the engine, I rig the
single line before casting off
the springs, bow and stern
lines. This is because while the
boat may be held against the
pontoon, it is not the best way
to moor any boat by a single
line for a period of time.
The obvious problem of
how to detach the temporary
mooring line is solved with a

against the two fenders,

preventing the hull from

moving. Obviously, if wind

and tide conspire to make

the use of two fenders

inadequate to control the

boat’s movement, more can be

used. The trick is to maintain

the tension on the temporary

mooring line and thus keep

the peg in place.

As soon as all is clear to

move away from the pontoon,

slackening the temporary

mooring line allows the

fl oating wooden peg to

be pulled out and quickly

recovered on board. The

bowline eye falls free and

dangles down beside the hull,

where only being a short rope

it probably doesn’t even reach

the water and defi nitely can’t

reach the propeller. Recovery

can be done at leisure.

Near horizontal

An observant reader will note

that the same technique can be

used to release a mooring line

at the bows from the cockpit

and that, depending on boat

and mooring cleat, the rope

can equally pass under the

pontoon cleat. This choice is

based on keeping the rope as

near horizontal as possible. If a

bollard is involved, turning the

open end of the bowline eye

into a cow-hitch round the

mooring line and positioning

the peg in the eye can achieve

the same results.

Temporary mooring line rigged. Because it is tailed round a
sheet winch, it can be tightened suffi ciently to compress the
two fenders slightly, adding to the boat’s stability against
being moved by the wind and tide.
As soon as the tension is released, the white cord can
pull the wooden peg out of the bowline’s eye, releasing the
temporary mooring line.

Another view of the temporary

mooring line, showing it being

slipped as soon as the 1½in-

diameter pale wooden peg is

fully pulled out of the bowline’s

eye. If the bowline is passed

under the cleat (instead of over

it) before the wooden locator is

inserted into the eye, the angle

of the cord leading to the boat’s

stern may make it harder to

release the bowline. Besides

which, the mooring line may

work at an unfortunate angle,

nearer to vertical.

Colin Haines explains why he has no need to

simultaneously release bow and stern lines

when leaving a pontoon single-handed

bowline loop on its outer end.

The loop does not go around

the pontoon’s mooring cleat,

but instead passes over the

top and under it, between

the cleat’s two support legs. A

wooden location peg, attached

to a cord led back to the cockpit,

is passed through the bowline’s

eye to stop it from retreating

backwards the way it came.

Applying tension

Applying tension with a

sheet winch to the temporary

mooring line jams the wooden

peg in place and, at the same

time, pulls the hull tight

Temporary line

around winch

Two fenders pressed between hull and

pontoon provide temporary stability

Wooden location peg

and extraction line

The same technique can be used when leaving

a raft of boats, provided that the adjacent boat

has something like a midships cleat to carry

the bowline and peg.

Things made from rope and wood will not

damage the neighbour’s boat.

If the boats are reversed in this situation, the

bowline could pass under the tubular toerail

and then be locked in place by turning the

loop into a sort of cow-hitch.