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Mooring rings - how far apart?


starman

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Is there a custom and practice for how far apart mooring rings should be spaced?

i only ask because I've moored on the recently installed rings at Rugby. The moorings are virtually full but there's hardly a boat of any length which has managed to rope up correctly. 

It's not a big issue - all praise to CRT for installing so many rings. It's just amusing. 

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They were hardly ever right for Chalice (50 foot), and seldom are for Sickle (40 foot).  Both always seem to end up with rings at virtually the same separation as studs & dollies, leaving a near 90 degree angle on the ropes, rather than a sensible one, (and next ring after that is always too far away!).

I can never work that one out, because most are further apart than every 10 feet, so what used not to work for one boat, ought to sometimes be closer to right than the other.

I haven't mentioned Flamingo (72 feet) because more often than not by the time we tie up at night, finding a 72 foot space with a full set of rings is a rarity!

I usually hope for a bit of piling that the chains can go in, and only use a ring at one end, and my chain at the other.

2 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Rings are always placed so that they are not the right distance apart for your boat.

What I said, but in a lot less words.

Exception case though:

When Sickle broke down at Cassio Bridge lock this year, we were advised to rie her up on two vacant rings on the offside just above it.  They are perfect, but when I commented on this to Tony, who lives in the lock cottage, and was a former steerer of Sickle, he simply said "it should fit perfectly - they were put there specifically at somewhere Sickle could be left tied up!"

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3 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

They were hardly ever right for Chalice (50 foot), and seldom are for Sickle (40 foot).  Both always seem to end up with rings at virtually the same separation as studs & dollies, leaving a near 90 degree angle on the ropes, rather than a sensible one, (and next ring after that is always too far away!).

I can never work that one out, because most are further apart than every 10 feet, so what used not to work for one boat, ought to sometimes be closer to right than the other.

I haven't mentioned Flamingo (72 feet) because more often than not by the time we tie up at night, finding a 72 foot space with a full set of rings is a rarity!

I usually hope for a bit of piling that the chains can go in, and only use a ring at one end, and my chain at the other.

 

Luxury.

Down here on the K&A I long for a bit of piling I can put a chain on for the bow, then a mooring stake for the stern 8ft out. 

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2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Luxury.

Down here on the K&A I long for a bit of piling I can put a chain on for the bow, then a mooring stake for the stern 8ft out. 

How do you get a stake in 8 feet out?  Wet suit?  Waders?

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Just now, alan_fincher said:

How do you get a stake in 8 feet out?  Wet suit?  Waders?

 

I put the stake in the bank then chuck a line to it from the stern stuck in the mud 8ft out.

I'm sure you could have figured that out if you'd tried!

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3 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I put the stake in the bank then chuck a line to it from the stern stuck in the mud 8ft out.

I'm sure you could have figured that out if you'd tried!

Nah, I'm not that clever, but thanks for helping me out on that point!

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9 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

They were hardly ever right for Chalice (50 foot), and seldom are for Sickle (40 foot).  Both always seem to end up with rings at virtually the same separation as studs & dolli

I haven't mentioned Flamingo (72 feet) because more often than not by the time we tie up at night, finding a 72 foot space with a full set of rings is a rarity!

 

And I always thought the spacing was originally planned for you big boys. 

 

7 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Luxury.

Down here on the K&A I long for a bit of piling I can put a chain on for the bow, then a mooring stake for the stern 8ft out. 

You should be so lucky - we could rarely even get our bow close to the bank. When we were there with a mate he often found himself mooring a plank's distance out and then we breasted up on him. 

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Just now, starman said:

And I always thought the spacing was originally planned for you big boys. 

 

You should be so lucky - we could rarely even get our bow close to the bank. When we were there with a mate he often found himself mooring a plank's distance out and then we breasted up on him. 

 

Quite agree, I find the same. Which is why I said I long for a bit of piling to get the bow onto. 9 out of 10 times there is none but on the odd occasion there is, I can usually get the bow in at least.  

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Last year, I was filling on a water point on the Shroppie when some CRT blokes turned up to fit some new rings. When they'd finished a few minutes later, he asked me not to use them for a few minutes whilst the rapid setting gloop went off. I was impressed by their efficiency and friendliness so I asked him how far apart they place them, explaining that I rarely find them well placed for my pretty average 57' boat. He went into some depth about how they do it so as to be as well placed as possible for most boats, but I forget exactly what he said now as it was clearly utter and complete bollocks. 

(I would have thought that a well optimised auto correct would have changed that last word to "bollards".)

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Not sure how they come up with the spacing of the rings or bollards  but they are very rarely in the right place for our little boat. 

A couple of exceptions are the CRT visitor pontoons at Torksey which are made with shorter boats in mind and some of the rise and fall poles at the CRT visitor moorings in Lincoln although not all of them are well spaced. 

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12 hours ago, Loddon said:

Rings are always placed so that they are not the right distance apart for your boat.

They rarely match up properly for my 62ft nb. I thought it was because many are positioned for the more common 57/58 ft boats but it appears not from what you others have said. ca

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I regularly end up tied almost dead square at both ends which leads me to think that newer rings are installed at 35' intervals. That certainly appears to be the case on the new rings at Rugby.

In a way it makes sense but it would mean they are convenient for 57' - 60' boats contrary to the observation above. Perhaps it's a just the case that the awkward experiences stick in the mind and we tend to recall them more easily than places where there was no problem.

JP

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12 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

They were hardly ever right for Chalice (50 foot), and seldom are for Sickle (40 foot). 

That'll be why the rings at our mooring are just right for Trojan (45 feet)!

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37 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

I regularly end up tied almost dead square at both ends which leads me to think that newer rings are installed at 35' intervals. That certainly appears to be the case on the new rings at Rugby.

In a way it makes sense but it would mean they are convenient for 57' - 60' boats contrary to the observation above. Perhaps it's a just the case that the awkward experiences stick in the mind and we tend to recall them more easily than places where there was no problem.

JP

When we moored on the new rings at Rugby they were just the right distance apart  for my 60 foot boat.  Pity they were on a bend though.

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2 hours ago, Grassman said:

They rarely match up properly for my 62ft nb. I thought it was because many are positioned for the more common 57/58 ft boats but it appears not from what you others have said. ca

Well, mine's 55' and I've never seen any sign of that

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Usually the spacing does not work for our boat (50ft), but then everyone seems to be saying that! 

The one place that the spacing does work well is in the centre of Birmingham, where it is 4 bollards, so 3 spaces, which makes the spacing about 20ft, possibly slightly less.

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Maybe it depends how you moor as to whether they suit. I see boats moored with the ropes at right angles to the canal, some with them running towards the centre of the boat, ie 50 foot boat on 40 foot rings, some running away from the boat ie 50 foot boat on 60 foot rings. so out of 3 fifty foot boat owners 2 could find the same rings in the wrong place. You also have to remember they have to get a third right for the centre line, that seems the most important one. just put the back and front on pins.

:):giggles:

Edited by ditchcrawler
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Which mathematical genius can tell us what the ideal spacing would be? I'd be surprised if you could get away with any less than one ring every 1.5 metres, if everyone is going to be happy.

55 minutes ago, b0atman said:

Leamington Spa and i think Cheshire locks "Broughton Arms pound" enough rings for any size boat.

What's the spacing there?

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