HOWTO BOAT MASTERPick up a mooring buoy
MBY’ defi nitive guide to boat handling. Watch the accompanying videos at mby.com/howto
Words Jon Mendez Pictures Richard LangdonThe first part of this series dealt with
learning how to hold your boat steady
by balancing it against the wind and
tide. A mooring buoy is the perfect
place to practise this and prepare you
for the next step of picking the buoy up.
First, look how surrounding craft
are lying to buoys and approach from
a similar angle. Bear in mind that all
craft will sit at slightly different angles.
Hang back from the buoy by at least
a boat length so you can establish
your balance angle and work out howquickly your boat is responding to the
elements. Once nicely balanced you
can begin your approach, keeping
your speed low so your crew has time
to pass clear instructions on the
buoy’s precise location. Successful
mooring buoy work relies on good
communication with your crew as the
buoy is likely to disappear from the
helmsman’s view as you approach it.
You may be able to communicate
verbally but I prefer to use hand
signals as the person on the bow isusually facing away from you and their
voice is easily lost in the wind.
Different buoys have different
attachment means. Some have a
pickup loop you can grab with a hook
and secure to a cleat. On larger motor
boats, the bows are often too high off
the water, so you may need to reverse
up to it or use a lasso to drop round
the buoy and lift it up to boat level.
Reversing up to the buoy also works
well for buoys which just have an eye
on the top to attach to as the person
on the bathing platform can more
easily thread a line through it. For
short stays in calm weather, you can
simply rig a line from the stern but forlonger stays you may need to rig
a long line all the way from the bow
to the bathing platform taking care
to ensure it runs outside all the rails.
Balance the boat stern to the buoy,
reverse slowly towards it, thread
the line through the eye and walk
it from the stern back to the bow,
pulling on the line as you walk to
rotate the boat
so you end up
secured bow on.
Careful use of the
bow and stern
thrusters can
aid this process
on a heavier boat.88mby.com/howtoSEE THE VIDEOSPONSORED BYBates Wharf is a family business dedicated to customer service.
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