Mooring a DS1

[mfeldman]

I moor my DS1 for the entire summer and I was wondering whether it was better to attach the mooring line (pendant) to the bow cleat or to the bow ring?. Whichever one I use, I'll attach a backup line to the other, but I'm not sure which one is sturdier and should take the force of the boat pulling against the mooring.

Thanks,
Mike

[ctenidae]

I don't have a bow ring in mine, so I tie off to the foredeck cleat. In my case, I'm sure it's quite secure, as it's a attached to a 2x6 length of red oak that's firmly attached to the underside of the deck and glassed to the hull at the bow end and to the stringer that the panel leading into the under deck space attaches to at the aft end. The whole foredeck would need to rip off for that to come loose, in which case, it's unlikely anything else would have held it, either.

[K.C. Walker]

Mike,

I think either one would be fine as long as you set up your mooring properly so that you minimize shock load. I think if you hook to either one and then back it up with the other it's definitely belt and suspenders. You should be fine.

[Bob Damon]

As part of your annual maintenance, I would check to make sure the nut(s) on the bow eye are tightened. Over time they loosen up with the vibration. I replaced mine with self locking nuts. The bow eye should be fine for mooring.

[Baysailer]

Sort of on topic here's a mooring horror story I came across last week. Actually its an impressive story if you read to the end.

http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/ ... Ensign-796

I attach the mooring line to the bow cleat and use the bow eye as a backup. I do check the bow eye nut like Bob recommends.

[GreenLake]

I've had a bow eye break on me (the bolt broke clean through). With the trailer at the launch and the boat in the water...

[Alan]

I haven't had a failure of either a bow cleat or bow eye, but on a related topic:

I had a winch rope, standard hardware store nylon stuff, snap near the clip that attaches to the bow eye during a launch. The immediate fix was to tie the broken rope to the clip, and later I replaced the winch with an old one, with steel cable, inherited from my father-in-law.

Then I started thinking about what a snapped steel cable might do, so I bought a 20-foot seatbelt-type strap to replace the rope in the old winch. Cheap peace of mind for the over-imaginative...

[GreenLake]

My wire has long been replaced by 3/16" (or 1/4" ?) Amsteel. I spliced a metal eye into it for the snap shackle to the bow eye. Amsteel is really easy to splic, being a single braid. It has worked well for me. Should be strong enough to lift boat and trailer vertically... but very light, hopefully reducing injury if it ever fails.

Belt type material is a great way to go as well, if you can get it.

Nothing helps, of course, if the bow eye gives when under full load...

In my case, the failure could have been precipitated by someone banging the bow eye from the side (docking?) with a stress crack and finally corrosion failure. Luckily, when it went, it was at low tension.

[TIM WEBB]

If anyone wants to buy the seat belt webbing, you can get it here:

http://www.paragear.com/templates/parac ... parent=193

It's the Type 24. You can buy it by the yard or roll ...

- Tim

[Alan]

Thanks, Tim. I found a ready-made strap here:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/ ... t104632380

but I've been wondering if 20 feet is long enough, so a source of extra webbing material is helpful.

[GreenLake]

The maximal distance I've ever had to cover is from the winch to the rearmost roller. On my trailer, that distance is definitely less than the length of the boat. So, for that configuration, 20' would probably do.