Tagged: mooring
Moorings
In the old days, if you were lucky enough to own a small boat as a kid, handling the mooring part of the operation was simple and cheap. First, you gathered up some sections of an old, heavy, steam radiator. Second, you tied a nylon rope around the pieces. Third, you tossed the radiator collection overboard where there appeared to be space between the incumbent boat moorings. The steam radiator pieces were substantial, the mud was gripping, and the “pull” generated by the small outboard boats was minimal. Nowadays, it’s a different story. Boats are typically larger and [...]
Mooring Maneuvers
Boating season has started and there are a multitude of boats operating on the local waters. Oftentimes, in this area, people will take short afternoon trips to easily accessible areas such as the local islands or shallow water beach areas. In the latter areas, boaters usually drop the hook, but at many Island locations they pick up one of the empty moorings. Once secured, moorings are great, however there are many opportunities to have mishaps. Sometimes, q small women or child will try to stop the momentum of 40’ cruiser through a boat hook connected to the buoy. Other times, [...]
Easy Does It
The season is winding down and boaters are attending to last minute details from changing out the summer pennant for the winter stick to hauling the main boat and dinghy. There are some refreshing reflective moments to cherish, and, unfortunately, some potentially dangerous situations to be cognizant of. For example, while pulling up the heavy mooring chain in the small dinghy the other day, I noticed that there was only about 5” of freeboard, making the boat vulnerable to any tall wakes thrown off by passing boats. A few days later, while removing the dinghy from its dock space during [...]
Seadog Submerges
This past Saturday morning, I grabbed a breakfast sandwich at the local Dunkin Donuts and went down to the harbor to look at the boats. While sitting on the park bench, savoring the tasty bacon, egg, and cheese combo, I noticed nautical-looking dinghy, Seadog, lightly swinging back and forth on its mooring. After mentally trying to guess the name of the mother ship for a few minutes, I finished off my sandwich and moved on to morning chores. Later, about 4pm in the afternoon, when returning my boat to the mooring, I noticed the Seadog had taken on a very [...]