Mooring refers to lassoing, tethering, tying, or otherwise securing your boat to a fixed object, such as a mooring buoy, rather than dropping an anchor to secure your vessel anywhere you fancy. You can moor your boat to a mooring buoy, dock, quay, wharf, jetty, or pier.
If mooring at a dock or pier with many other boats, such as at Van Isle Marina, there is a chance your boat will be occupying a dock or dock space that is the width of your boat, rather than the length. However, you will always have your own strip of docking walkway for easy loading and unloading.
Mooring your boat (sometimes called berthing) is done a few different ways and might take some trial and error until you perfect this skill. Mooring in a tight space amongst many other boaters proves to be intimidating for many new boaters.
To moor a boat at a mooring buoy out in open water, you’ll need something to grab hold of the buoy with, such as a boat hook or a line. You can either lasso the buoy with your line and pull your boat towards it to further secure it or use a boat hook to reach out and grab the buoy.
At these types of mooring locations, there will most likely be the mooring anchor, mooring chain, and mooring buoy – all you need to supply is the line or the hook to help your boat attach to the mooring area.
- mooring anchor – this is a regular anchor in a fixed position that keeps your boat steady while it is being moored. Use one that is three times the weight of your service anchor.
- mooring chain – this line connects the anchor to the floating buoy. We recommend three times the length of depth, and a quarter-inch larger than your service chain.
- mooring buoy – a floating device that connects to the anchor and marks the place where the boat is moored.
If you find a vacant mooring anchor and buoy, simply pull up as close to it as possible and attach your line and mooring buoy accordingly – using your lasso technique or the boat hook. If the buoy is not public property, be prepared to vacate at short notice if the owner turns up. To tell if the buoy is strong enough to moor your yacht, consider the size of boats on similar buoys nearby and use your best judgment.
If you have enough hands on-deck, backing the boat up will likely get you close enough to the mooring point via the stern rather than the bow, making things a little simpler, depending on the shape of your boat.
Van Isle Marina offers moorage for boats of all sizes at competitive rates per square foot.
A Word on Rafting Up: Sometimes you might come across boats that are tied together on the water. This is known as “rafting up” and is essentially a boat moored to another boat. It can come in handy when every other moorage station is full, in emergencies, or if you’re just looking to socialize with another boat on the water. If you’re looking to raft up with another boat, whether it’s moored already or you’re both out on the open sea, the proper etiquette is to ask first, and have your fenders in place and an anchor ready to drop.
https://vanislemarina.com/anchoring-mooring-docking/