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You may want to visit one of
the Whitsundays
Island Resorts and pick up a mooring Refer to Resort
Information or use one of the public moorings put
down by Marine Parks. Refer to Moorings
protect coral
Normally, the public mooring you would pick on a bareboat
yacht charter consists of a large Buoy that carries the
weight of the heavy mooring chain...then floating close by
will be a length of mooring rope with any 'eye' or a small
pick-up buoy with a handle or ring carrying a 'tag' line.
To secure a mooring
Designate one person on your
bareboat to grab the mooring buoy or its line, depending on
the buoy's configuration. That may require using a boat
hook, (a pole with a hook on the end) to extend the reach
down over the bow.
Pull
in your bareboat tender and secure. Make sure all of
the tow rope is up out of the water so the prop won't be
caught while mooring.
- If you don't have a separate 'mooring roller'... lower
your boat anchor slightly to hang just below the bow rollers.
This is to allow the mooring rope or chain to set properly
over the bowsprit and run in a straight line to the bollard.
Be certain that you don't drop the boat anchor so
low that the anchor swings with the motion of the boat to
damage the hull.
- Approach the buoy... steer your bareboat at an imaginary
point two to three boat lengths directly downwind from the
buoy. Adjust this offset distance based upon the coasting/stopping
characteristics of your bareboat... Lighter and smaller
charter
boats can slow very quickly. On heavier boats, the extra
forward momentum makes slowing down harder.
- When your bareboat is almost directly downwind of the
buoy, and if your rate of deceleration appears to be correct,
turn in a smooth arc toward the wind, idle back to neutral
and coast up to the mooring pointed directly into the wind...
If you can't see the buoy, have a crew member point
at it for you. As the bow of your bareboat reaches the buoy,
your boat should (ideally) come to a dead stop.
- Use the boat hook to snag the 'pick-up' rope or buoy.
- Pull in the rope through the bowsprit over the bow
rollers.
- Place the chain or rope loop over the bollard or cleat...if
it is a buoy you have picked up do not secure by the 'tag
line' it will not take the strain...but continue to haul
in the main 'heavy' mooring line, securing this line over
the bollard then secure the 'pick-up' buoy so it doesn't
bang against the hull or roll around the deck.
Caution
Do not pull the mooring chain or rope over the side
of the boat... this can easily cause damage for which you'll
be responsible. |
When leaving the mooring, slowly reverse or let your
bareboat drift away from the mooring so you don't entangle
the buoys or mooring rope with your propeller... watch out
for the tender and tow rope (keep the rope short)... A
boat can be disabled, stranded or even wrecked because of
the mooring rope tangled in the propellers... damage to
machinery can be very severe, with engines being wrenched
off mountings, stern gear wrecked and gear boxes damaged.
Drifting while your bareboat is disabled or having
to go overboard with a knife to wrestle with a rope wrapped
tightly around your propeller shaft can have tragic consequences...so
be careful.
Reading
the wind
Previously we recommended approaching a mooring heading
into the wind. However a slow approach downwind can be an
acceptable option in certain circumstances.
This particularly applies if you are short handed, or you
have to pick-up the mooring yourself.
With a stern drive or outboard motor you can come in very
precisely downwind, stopping the boat close enough upwind
off the mark to allow you time to go forward and pick up your
mooring as the wind sets you onto it - not away from it! 
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