The preferred mooring is port side to with the bow pointing to the Southwest,
just an easy step from the dock into the cockpit where the shore power connects. The photo at left
shows the empty slip. The photo above shows Lady Kristin in her mooring.
Mooring Lines and Arresting Lines are all regular laid nylon. Nylon stretches to
absorb forces encountered in mooring and also wind and current. There are two
Arresting Lines from the dock to the Southwest Piling. The forward mooring lines
from the SW piling are attached to the arresting lines with hook/loop (VelcroŽ)
straps. The three after mooring lines are fastened to the dock
and serve as arresting lines when coming alongside starboard side to with the
bow Northeast..
The preferred state of tide is either slack or a flood in which the vessel is
pointed into the current. With a strong ebb, I have to work fast to get the boat
into the arresting lines, grab the arresting line and walk aft hopefully before
the ebb forces the stern out into the channel at which time I have to try again.
Usually, if I am unable to get the stern in and hold it there on the second
pass, I just turn into the current and moor with the bow to the North. Then, I
simply wait until slack water to shift the mooring to where the stern is North
and .
Do a mouse over on the short movie at the far right to see docking into a Flood
with winds from the Northwest on the starboard quarter. These are preferred
conditions wind and current are tending to set the vessel into once the forward
lines are down. In the movie, I am approaching the Arresting Lines faster than
normal in order to minimize MPEG file size. As the vessel approaches the
arresting lines, I am already on the way forward to unbend the forward lines
from the Arresting Line. Under these conditions, once I get the forward eyes to
the cleats, the hard part is over. Then, I simply walk aft holding the arresting
line to keep the stern in, then take the Aft Mooring lines from the dock and put
them on the after cleats. If I were landing in an ebb, the object would be to
get into the Arresting Lines, grab the Arresting Line and walk aft, keeping the
stern in, then grab the Aft Mooring Lines an place them on the After Cleats. On
an ebb, once you have the lines to the after cleats, the hard part is over. Note
that there is no need to grab the eyes of mooring lines from pilings with this
arrangement. The only need for a boat hook is if the water is high and a boat
hook is used to simply reach down and pull the Arresting Lines up to where the
vessel may be coaxed into position with the Arresting Lines. Needless to say,
this method of dockling may be rather difficult for the ordinary guy! To start
the movie, mouse over the MPEG at far right! AFL
(anything for a laugh!).
