Trimaran mooring question

My last boat (a catamaran) was on a swing mooring so by simply turning into the wind, picking up the buoy was simple.

The new trimaran is entirely a different matter and before I sail for the first time (it was only recently launched) please consider:

• It is on a fore and aft mooring - one block in the water and two blocks on the bank with bridles
• Although protected from the Southerly gales, it is wide open to the prevailing NE wind that can be of vicious strength
• This is not helped by the wind funneling down the main river and/or up or down the creek in which the boat is actually moored - see sketch

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Returning to the mooring and picking up the lines worry me, because inevitably, the wind picks up as the day progresses and disaster looms so experienced multihull sailors please comment and make suggestions:

I'll motor past the mooring and turn if necessary so I approach it up wind
Then I'll pick up the buoy attached to the forward lines and secure them temporarily on the centre hull's sampson post. The problem arises if there is a boat on the adjacent mooring because mine could swing into it. Obviously, I cannot pick up the aft lines first because of lack of space.

Once the bow is secure, I can try to retrieve the aft lines from the boat with a boathook if I can reach OR get into the water (it is shallow) tie a rope between the lines and the stern and haul the boat round.​

Finally, I'll move the forward lines to the amas where they provide better spacing to prevent swinging​

It ain't gonna be easy - at least initially, so comments please (other than find a different mooring)

Alan

 

Practice makes perfect...I'll suggest the unglamorous safe approach......Tie a line connecting your stern mooring lines to the bow whenever you go sailing, leave a float in the middle so people can see it. When you return coast along the shore and turn up/stall and drift into your line and tie up. Alternatively or in strong winds drop your anchor upwind with a release line attached to pull it out then pay your anchor line out till you reach the mooring and pull in the anchor after you are secured. When alone I don't try to pick up my mooring in strong wind but drop the hook close by and use the dink to attach a line to the mooring. Then I'll pull in the anchor and use a winch if necessary to snub up to the mooring. Having the 2 moorings connected saves the wade and gives you a bigger target. Think aircraft carrier tailhook.

 

Your idea might work with a minor variation

Thanks Cavalier

I think you mean tie the aft lines to the forward lines with a buoy in the middle. Actually, that was the way the mooring contractor set them up but when the boat was launched - (in strong wind). it proved impossible without untying that setup.

However, your suggestion is still a good one and leads to a possible solution, namely to tie the aft lines to the fwd lines with a rope long enough to reach the stern. Then after the fwd lines are secured, it would be possible undo the tie line and drag the aft lines around the boat to the stern

I take your point that practice will make perfect. It is the practice that worries me!

 

You've got what I meant. You'll get the hang of it, just keep an anchor ready! Before long you'll say no worries. Like landing an airplane keep in the holding pattern till you work out your approach.

 

Come in slow and use lots of fenders and have an anchor ready as a stress out option. I think Cav's approach of dropping the anchor nearby and picking the lines up with a dink is a good one. I can remember setting a bridle against an anchor once on a very windy day off the fore and aft cleats on a trimaran float to get down to a pile berth. The wind had not abated the next day when we left and we had to carry the anchor out in the dinghy and reverse the procedure, kedge off to get ourselves enough room to start the outboard and maneuver.

 

Yes Corley

You remind me of the bad old days when my former 30' cat was moored between pairs of pilings with less than a foot to spare either side. It is the main reason I transferred to a swing mooring. The row out was nothing compared to the stress of getting into that berth

 

Those pictures show a very interesting mooring set up, very different than what I am used to.

My big tri is just on ball mooring A bit off from our yacht club's dock, I pick it up by motoring over it slowly and bringing the ball under the beams and grabbing it with a boat hook off the transom.

 

would you be able to drop an anchor and buoy off of the starboard side of your boat so that you could come in and pick that up head to N/E wind? then get your fore and aft lines to the main mooring buoys

or, is there room to come in head to a N/E wind and moor up to the bank then get your lines sorted

Its never a bad idea to have a bail out/back up plan for moorings like this. Is the bank gentle enough that you could drive the bow or a float up onto it? It wouldnt be the end of the world if you ended up alongside your neighbour as long as you had fenders to hand.

 

Yes, it is a very difficult arrangement but the options on the S coast of NSW are very limited and fore and aft moorings are the most common due to restricted access in the channels.

Actually, in extreme conditions, going in bow first might work. There is a depth of only a couple of feet of water close in to the bank so either it will ground or I might be able to pick up the lines that normally go to the stern. The former would not be ideal due to the bits of rock, oyster shells and other debris that will inevitably cause damage. If the boat is secured "wrong way round" I can turn and secure the boat later (except it can blow for days sometimes).

My preference in moderate conditions is to pick up the fwd lines at the bow using a long intermediate rope to the stern lines as mentioned earlier. Having a kedge will certainly help though. Throwing it out from the stern on approach with the strain taken on a winch would hold it until the bow is secured by the fwd mooring lines. Once it is safe, other ropes would haul the boat round into its normal mooring setup.

What do you think?

Alan

 

Sounds safe and controlled. Good to see the winch, I don't know how big your tri is but once the wind gets over 20 knots even the low Vagabond has enough windage to make mechanical assistance handy.

 

I can't thank you guys enough for your positive comments. The boat is 6.4 metres long and with an overall beam of 5.4 metres.

I'll be going to the boat next week to sort out those mooring lines and a kedge, put the sails on, get the motor started and install a "platform" in the cockpit to give the dog more space and to stop him falling over the side. (This German Shepherd rules my life).

Weather and time permitting, it will be time to go for a first sail and I'll let you know how I get on with the return to the mooring

Thanks again

Alan