how to tie up properly

[matty40s]

 

I would never trust my ropes to hang my boat off a cliff like that.

[bizzard]

A happy calming and satisfying pastime is the making of Daisy-chains and they don't cost any money. Select Daisies with the longest stems and pluck them cleanly low down. Slit the stems open a little about 1/4'' from the ends with a finger nail and then thread each Daisies stem through each others little stem slits pulling through until each Daisy flower brings up on the slit stem of the previous one, same as threading a sewing needle. Keep threading away at it until you have mooring chains that are long enough. You can add to their strength by twisting multiple lengths of daisy chains together, but not too many as they might be too strong to come part in the event of an emergency. Unfortunately Daisies once picked will die and rot quite quickly so the chains need to be made quite frequently.

Hope this helps.

[Naughty Cal]

I do the same , it takes a few seconds to tie a centre line on or pin it in and really what's the use of it just sitting ontop the boat , it may just be the line that keeps you attached to terra fima . I also chained up whilst on my winter mooring and will do the same on a river , you never know if some drunk likely lad thinks it a good idea to untie your lines .

I'm sorry but I wouldn't call mooring with a centre line mooring properly. The anchorage point for a centreline , ie the middle of the roof, is too high up and will induce rolling. We have witnessed too many boats now that have been moored on lock landings by just a centre rope and then the owner has wondered why it is tipping.

 

Mooring with spring lines is a more sensible idea and as for mooring with chains in a river well to my mind that is down right dangerous. At least with a rope you can cut it if the need arises.

 

We do the vast majority of our boating on rivers and have yet to have a problem with people messing with the ropes. We tie up using all four ropes and ensure that they are tied back into the boat.

 

Setting the spring lines properly also means that you can accommodate fluctuations in water level and moor in a fashion that reduces surging from passing boats.

[luctor et emergo]

Like I said before, front line at 45degree angle away from the boat, rear line at 45degree angle away from the boat. Of course, you need to tie them tight... Cross the mooring pin if in soft ground.

 

Using proper tyre fenders (or tupperware sausages..) will stop any banging against the side.

 

Unless you need to deal with the surge of big commercial barges, you don't need springs on the canal.

 

And mooring by the centre line is not only making your boat roll, it pulls up the coping stones with mooring rings in them, dislodging them...

[Lady Muck]

I'm not a fan of centre ropes on a river.

Not sure about chains on a river

Me neither. Have witnessed a couple of sinkings up here due to boats being chained up tight or moored with ropes too tight. Then the levels fluctuate and the boat sinks via the skin fittings. Not very nice to see a boat arrive in the evening, moor opposite us and leave and then we wake up in the morning to see only the top six inches of chimney.

If we notice people mooring too tight, we do holler across the river and explain why it's a bad idea, we also retie those that are baldy moored if they look like they're going to hang up, but unfortunately you can't catch everyone. The worst thing is to chain up tight with a padlock. Have had 2 calls from enforcement asking if we know this boat or that boat, because it's about to sink and they can't get the chains off.

There are ways of tieing off so that idiots can't untie you so easily without making an impossible cats cradle out of the thing.

[ditchcrawler]

I would never trust my ropes to hang my boat off a cliff like that.

That is because I couldn't tune the photo after uploading to Igmur

Edit due to red wine, that should be turn not tune

Edited May 19, 2013 by ditchcrawler

[Maffi]

snip

what's the use of it just sitting on top the boat,

snip

Because it is a handling rope not a mooring rope!

[Peter & Maureen H]

I like my boat to be free floating at all times even when moored, so I don't winch the ropes mega tight . Just breast ropes at 90 degrees front and rear with a little slack. These control the sideways movement of bow and stern, and tightish springs to cope with current or arrest the fore and aft surge as boats pass. Two rope fenders is the most I ever seem to need, sometimes only one if moored on a convex bank. Only ever use the centre line if I take it off and set it as a long spring.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Peter & Maureen H

[Guest]

Tie up like that anywhere we cruise and your breakfast will be on the floor. Some of the big cruisers can shift a surprising amount of water around for their size.

 

Why do some people insist on mooring so badly. No doubt they shout at every passing boat to slow down as well

Couldn't agree more (or should that be moor?) I have been chastised for going past moored boats very rarley, but when I have, they have had a centreline from the roof for a mooring rope. I have seen people leave a line in this fashion as a sort of backup, but those that have thought about it leave that line slacker than the bow and stern rope. Still not for me though; two mooring lines bow and stern, and springs when needed.

Like I said before, front line at 45degree angle away from the boat, rear line at 45degree angle away from the boat. Of course, you need to tie them tight... Cross the mooring pin if in soft ground.

 

Using proper tyre fenders (or tupperware sausages..) will stop any banging against the side.

 

Unless you need to deal with the surge of big commercial barges, you don't need springs on the canal.

 

And mooring by the centre line is not only making your boat roll, it pulls up the coping stones with mooring rings in them, dislodging them...

Pretty much what we have learned over the years. Never thought about the damage that a centre line could cause, and I guess this is why we see so many dislodged mooring rings.

Somebody said a centre line is for handling, and I agree 100%

[Peter & Maureen H]

Only ever use the centre line if I take it off and set it as a long spring.

 

 

Actually I do use the centre line as a temporary mooring on lock landings or in a lock using it as a spring with engine in forward low power tiller lashed over to the bank/lockside. Its long enough to cope with the rise n fall, and i can loose it off and walk the boat out, then strap it to a bollard out of the lock while shutting gates etc. Still refining the technique.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Peter & Maureen H

[Guest]

 

 

Actually I do use the centre line as a temporary mooring on lock landings or in a lock using it as a spring with engine in forward low power tiller lashed over to the bank/lockside. Its long enough to cope with the rise n fall, and i can loose it off and walk the boat out, then strap it to a bollard out of the lock while shutting gates etc. Still refining the technique.

I think that is slightly different, and many people do this. In fact the way some lock landings and bollards are set up around our way, it is sometimes the only option. I just hate to see boats "permanently" moored on a centre line, especially when they start shouting the odds because their boat is rocking as another boats passes!

[Ex- Member]

Like I said before, front line at 45degree angle away from the boat, rear line at 45degree angle away from the boat. Of course, you need to tie them tight... Cross the mooring pin if in soft ground.

 

Using proper tyre fenders (or tupperware sausages..) will stop any banging against the side.

 

Unless you need to deal with the surge of big commercial barges, you don't need springs on the canal.

 

And mooring by the centre line is not only making your boat roll, it pulls up the coping stones with mooring rings in them, dislodging them...

 

Yeah I've found the 45degree approach works a treat, our last 3 mooring spots all in the rough have been pretty solid.

 

I also like to tie off on board using the boats bollards, much easier IMO and deters others untieing you from the bank. Someone mentioned this doesn't happen much, but when we were moored up in Bath several years ago it happened quite a few times, especially near pubs LOL hence my approach now.

 

I never use a centre rope to moor now either. Bought a really nice soft 18mm rope, great for pulling the boat in and mooring the boat initially.

 

I'm also wondering if the braided type rope we using is somehow better as it seems to have quite a lot of stretchability so when tensioned it absorbs some energy rather than the pin taking all the strain. I haven't suffered any loosened pins for some time now.

[system 4-50]

My ropes are terrible. I tie the boat tight and a couple of hours later there seems to be one foot of slack.

[nb Innisfree]

 

Yeah I've found the 45degree approach works a treat, our last 3 mooring spots all in the rough have been pretty solid.

 

I also like to tie off on board using the boats bollards, much easier IMO and deters others untieing you from the bank. Someone mentioned this doesn't happen much, but when we were moored up in Bath several years ago it happened quite a few times, especially near pubs LOL hence my approach now.

 

I never use a centre rope to moor now either. Bought a really nice soft 18mm rope, great for pulling the boat in and mooring the boat initially.

 

I'm also wondering if the braided type rope we using is somehow better as it seems to have quite a lot of stretchability so when tensioned it absorbs some energy rather than the pin taking all the strain. I haven't suffered any loosened pins for some time now.

Being pedantic here but the pin still takes all the strain, it's just that the stretchy rope evens the load out over a longer period of time instead of it being concentrated at one point in time.

[Ex- Member]

Being pedantic here but the pin still takes all the strain, it's just that the stretchy rope evens the load out over a longer period of time instead of it being concentrated at one point in time.

 

That's sort of what I meant, but you explained it much better LOL

[PaulG]

As long as it's loose, otherwise every passing boat will set you rolling about and make life uncomfortable for you.

 

I'm not a fan of centre ropes on a river. Where we moor, in any kind of flood or water level fluctuation, I end up having to go down the river several times a night loosening centre ropes from people who tied up with them. It's a particular bugbear of mine.

I agree. Centre ropes are a bad idea on a river. I only use one going though "downhill" locks on the Avon (sssshhhh... nobody tell ANT!)

Personally I use mine for temporary mooring on canal lock landings, and occasionally for mooring on canals in areas where boats are prone to getting their lines untied.

I've seen one narrowboat sunk, putting the owner in hospital with a nasty unjury when he tried to moor in flowing water using a centre line.

[Naughty Cal]

I agree. Centre ropes are a bad idea on a river. I only use one going though "downhill" locks on the Avon (sssshhhh... nobody tell ANT!)

Personally I use mine for temporary mooring on canal lock landings, and occasionally for mooring on canals in areas where boats are prone to getting their lines untied.

I've seen one narrowboat sunk, putting the owner in hospital with a nasty unjury when he tried to moor in flowing water using a centre line.

Yep we have also seen a few very worried narrowboat owners who have tied on lower lock landings on the Trent just with a centreline, most noticeably at Hazelford where the lock landing is very close to the lower lock gates. Paddles open and said boat tilts to a very worrying (for the owner) angle. Owners stands watching in disbelief as though it is not to be expected.

 

On one occassion we watched the same chap do the same thing at three different locks on the way up the Trent

[Guest]

I've been tempted to put eybolts on the gunwales to act as a sort of fairlead or cleat so that the boat can be moored with a centre rope without rolling. Would be useful on the pontoon where we moor, as the pontoon is shorter than the boat. The only thing I can see is that it might be a trip hazard?

[RickH]

I'm sorry but I wouldn't call mooring with a centre line mooring properly. The anchorage point for a centreline , ie the middle of the roof, is too high up and will induce rolling. We have witnessed too many boats now that have been moored on lock landings by just a centre rope and then the owner has wondered why it is tipping.

 

Mooring with spring lines is a more sensible idea and as for mooring with chains in a river well to my mind that is down right dangerous. At least with a rope you can cut it if the need arises.

 

We do the vast majority of our boating on rivers and have yet to have a problem with people messing with the ropes. We tie up using all four ropes and ensure that they are tied back into the boat.

 

Setting the spring lines properly also means that you can accommodate fluctuations in water level and moor in a fashion that reduces surging from passing boats.

Let me be clear , when I use the centre line , it's firstly very loose and secondly runs from the side of the boat not the middle , I merely use it as insurance in ccase the fore or aft lines are pulled out , same with the chain very loose and never left unattended for long . As I've mainly been on the canals I've not had to be too concerned about changing water levels , massive rolling etc.

[Neil2]

I'm sorry but I wouldn't call mooring with a centre line mooring properly. The anchorage point for a centreline , ie the middle of the roof, is too high up and will induce rolling. We have witnessed too many boats now that have been moored on lock landings by just a centre rope and then the owner has wondered why it is tipping.

 

Mooring with spring lines is a more sensible idea and as for mooring with chains in a river well to my mind that is down right dangerous. At least with a rope you can cut it if the need arises.

 

We do the vast majority of our boating on rivers and have yet to have a problem with people messing with the ropes. We tie up using all four ropes and ensure that they are tied back into the boat.

 

Setting the spring lines properly also means that you can accommodate fluctuations in water level and moor in a fashion that reduces surging from passing boats.

Agree 100%

 

Centre lines are just a convenient way of holding the boat in locks, but until all steel boats became the norm you didn't see them.

[DHutch]

If the centerline where secured to the post in such a way as to prevent it simply slipping through the ring, or else just tied to the rear post, it would act a spring or pair of short springs.

 

Only ever use the centre line if I take it off and set it as a long spring.

I frequently (in fact, normally) use the our centerline as a spring, typically leaving it attached to the roof, which as the angle is shallow enough works fine. If its require, normally if you cant get in to the bank and are expecting the boat to become loose as it moves inward, I add a second long rope to make the other spring. If nothing else, even if not fully required, it makes it look used rather than loose on the roof, which has become a consideration after having centreline stolen once.

 

 

Daniel

[Naughty Cal]

But a rope at that angle won't work as a spring!

[DHutch]

Well, its shallower that most, if still fairly short... hence 'it would act a spring, or two short springs'

[Collie]

Tie up like that anywhere we cruise and your breakfast will be on the floor. Some of the big cruisers can shift a surprising amount of water around for their size.

 

Why do some people insist on mooring so badly. No doubt they shout at every passing boat to slow down as well

As Dr Johnson famously said when asked why he made a mistake in his dictionary: 'Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance.'

I glower if they are going too fast.

[Collie]

Being charitable, could it be that the extra ropes are there because they've not know how to tie up fore and aft properly and have been sloshed about, so in inexperience thought, "Cripes, we need more rope", and proceeded to add a centre line? When that didn't work (as of course it wouldn't), they just added more. I note that they've tied the centre rope to both left and right guardrails, which i assume is a misguided attempt to prevent roll. It might be an idea to go, "did you know...", instead of pointing and laughing*.

 

*attempting to inform people can oft times lead to abuse, so I concur that pointing and laughing is probably safer.

I like your phrase 'being charitable'. To be fair, I have encountered nothing but helpfulness and understanding in my first inexperienced time as a boater. It's a steep learning curve, all right, but I am glad to say that so far nobody has ever pointed or laughed, even when I have done really silly things. NIne of hearts: you are a good example of the many boaters who are nice to strangers.