Sailing Zephyr IVvideo
Can You Pick Up a Mooring Alone? Here's How
June 27, 2026 · 5 min · 36K views · Marchwood, Southampton
Sun-dappled mooring buoy floats in turquoise water, tethered by line.
What this video covers
Solo mooring pickup on a Westerly Yachts Ltd. Oceanquest 35 requires a specific sequence: approach the buoy head-to-wind using other moored boats as a wind indicator, go to the bow to position the boat hook before returning to the helm, then coast in out of gear so the boat is barely moving when it reaches the buoy.▶ 0:42 Dave demonstrates this at Marchwood Sailing Club's swinging moorings, failing on the first pass and needing a second approach — a normal outcome in a crowded anchorage.▶ 1:22 Once alongside, he hooks the line between the pick-up buoy and the main buoy, brings the mooring line aboard, and drops it over the bow roller onto the central cleat.▶ 1:53 If the line is too heavy to haul, threading a separate line through the mooring loop gives a 2:1 mechanical advantage, though that secondary line must be treated as temporary because it can saw through the mooring line over time.▶ 3:42 Buoy types vary by location: Studland Bay near Poole uses a buoyant tube that slides along the mooring line; West Country buoys typically carry only a top ring, where a buoy-threading device (bought cheaply on eBay) can help but proved unreliable in Dartmouth.▶ 3:59 An alternative technique — sitting in the cockpit, passing a rope through the ring, then walking it forward — avoids the high freeboard at the bow entirely.▶ 4:57
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