BRe mooring line question

[emf]

As fate would have it, I've got a mooring available for the summer.  The question is whether to use the bow eye, used for winching onto the trailer, or a brindle, routed through the fairleads to the forward deck cleats.

Of interest is both security and ease of mooring/unmooring.  On a previous boat, moving forward and reaching down off the bow was easy.  On the BRe, going forward of the cockpit is to be avoided.

Many thanks.

No sailing today, we just had 14" of snow in a spring storm...

[Llafurio]

... Of interest is both security and ease of mooring/unmooring.  On a previous boat, moving forward and reaching down off the bow was easy.  On the BRe, going forward of the cockpit is to be avoided....

Use a good strong rope with a carbine hook for clicking on the mooring buoy. Lead the rope from one cabin roof cleat forward -INSIDE OF SHROUD- through one of the bow fairleads. Cleat it off so it protrudes the bow by 3-5 ft.., which is then the distance between booat and mooring buoy.

To unmoor, you stay in the cockpit, pull the rope in, release again, and then you hav slack to shake it loose out of the bow fairlead. The boat will then lie sideways, held by the shroud.
Now lean forward, grab the rope on the outside of the shroud, and pull the boat up to the mooring buoy. Unclick, and sail away. Keep the mooring rope cleated, just lead the slack with the carbine hook back to the cockpit, and keep it there. No leaving the cockpit so far.

To moor, you sail or motor up to the buoy, grab it from inside the cockpit when it's abeam, and click the mooring rope on. Now you are already safe on, though the boat still lies a bit sideways, as the mooring rope is held by the shroud.
From here you have two options: Either climb the foredeck and put the mooring rope into the bow fairlead, OR get into your punt, and put the mooring rope into the fairlead from outside before you row ashore.

The mooring rope with the carbine hook at the outer end, once cleated to the proper length, can stay cleated for the entire season.

Over the season, the mooring rope would rub and chafe a groove into the gunnel hardwood strip. To avoid, you can put a brass strip there, or a sacrificial hardwood strip. And you can change sides every other year.

BTW, the BRE will always be swaying somewhat on the mooring, regardless what you try to avoid. My own mooring is tidal so I cannot leave c/board of rudderblade down. I just let it sway. Tank full or empty, no matter.
C.

[Sea Simon]

Have a look at this...

https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/?page_id=17&URL=https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php?topic=1912

To be fair, going forward on a BRe at a mooring is not as bad as you might first think. At least it's  not too tippy.

I tended to take the bridle ropes out of the fairleads on arrival at boat, from dinghy. Also then release my "storm chain" , when in use.
Reverse at departure from the boat.

As Llafurio says, the BRe will sail about a lot to her buoy. Hence my obsession with anti chafe measures.
Cover on or off, ballast in or out.
Also very "wind rode", which can be an issue in some scenarios.
My mooring dried on spring tides, so no board or rudder down. .
I even tried buckets, old tyres etc as drogues which did dampen the swing, but lost several to the river as tye purposely light ropes securing them to the boat chafed, or parted due to weed/sticks etc overloading the drogue line.
She would turn and lie to the tide once foils down. Sometimes useful.
Spring tide heights here regularly 5.5m plus. Not outrageous, but can result in a stream of 1 knot or so.

Was successful for 4 seasons. No issues...and I  never fell in the river!...at least not while mooring my BRe!

Where is that snow?
Spring has sprung here in Cornwall, for a few irregular days at least...I was working on the fore deck of my other boat last week, shirt off, for the first time this year. We've had gales since...

[emf]

Thanks for the link to your earlier thread and photos.  I'm mooring on a lake, so no drying out, but the company putting in the mooring says a big storm from the west will kick up 5 to 6 foot waves - so the chafe protection is needed.  Normal waves are minimal, the prevailing wind is from the south and there isn't much reach there.

I'm in Vermont USA, so long winters are to be expected.  Getting a mooring on Lake Champlain this year, 1300 square kilometers of water between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York, with a bit poking up into Quebec (with a navigable river and canal to the St. Lawrence seaway).  Stunning, and good sailing.  I've been out for a day here and there, and really looking forward to exploring it.

[Graham W]

One thing that always bothered me was the idea of the mooring strop sawing through my plank bowsprit bobstay, or vice versa, particularly with the yawing about to which our boats are prone.

When I moored on temporary self-laid buoys off Loch Linnhe and Corfu, I had the usual reinforced mooring strop (one side only, normally to port) but with a large carabiner spliced in exactly the right place to snap on to the towing eye.  That kept it well away from the bobstay.  Photo of the general arrangement below, with Albania in the background.

As you’re moored, you probably need to use a dinghy to get to and from your boat, so a quick diversion to the bow to deal with the carabiner isn’t an onerous extra task except in a big blow.  No dinghy was required off Corfu as it was warm enough to swim to the boat.  Those were the days…..

[jonno]

I think Graham’s point about the BRE bobstay sawing through the bowsprit is a good and important one.  It’s one of the reasons I chose the remote anchoring system option for my red BRE Ella (sadly now sold).   The anchor warp is led over a pulley halfway along the bowsprit.  Under normal use, I don’t think the warp could come into contact with the bowsprit.  The system works well.  If buying again, I’d specify the same again.  And, as has already been pointed out by one of you, an added advantage of having the anchor stowed horizontally under the bowsprit is that it scares the hell out of the opposition.

John