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Fergy Buoy vs Ezybuoy..


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So we've approval from NRC to place a mooring up at our place near Kerikeri. Just wondering about your opinions on those two systems. Decision to be made inside the next 2 weeks. Water only likely to be 2.5 m at MLWS...

Some have suggested the Fergy might be problematic w.r.t. the retracting prod and the stay on the prod. As well as the potential to rub on the topsides in certain wind/tide conditions.

Simple buoy and top rope veto'd after someone heard that the other options "reduce heavy lifting".

 

 

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Not the Ezibuoy (not Ezybuoy). Too much to go wrong. And in a chop you'd have a better chance sweeping your boat pole to get the buoy rope (not the top of the buoy ring) than getting the magnet close to the top of the "Ezibuoy". https://cruisingodyssey.com/2017/12/29/ezibuoy-a-new-magnetic-system-to-help-pick-up-your-mooring/

If it was the choice of two (and their are others) I'd pick Fergi (not Fergy)

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We used to try talking people out of using a Fergi and thus only sell when someone really needed one because there was no better alternative. They are great for spotting your buoy, especially in the dark and the ease of accessing the top rope is second to none. But there the positives end. They are expensive, require a lot of expensive rope work for the top line, if you want it to work perfectly and the real big negative is the knocking on the bow. In the right conditions, they can come against the bow and knock away and drive you completely nuts if you are trying to sleep aboard on the mooring. Then the issue of the constant knocking and wearing away at paint work.

The magnetic thing, I don't see the point. Whats the difference with using a boat hook on a small float tied to the main mooring buoy like we all usually do? You end up having to have a magnetic boat hook on board and have to stow carefully away from Compass etc and you would still need a boat hook for general purposes, so more clutter.

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Thanks guys, 

More clutter is not what I need. I honestly have no idea what the ezy buoy involves. Searched  quickly on the intertubes but didn’t come up with much. 

Ive not kept a boat on a mooring for nearly 15 years and then it was a regular old little buoy on a buoy rope. Also, at that point the boat was worth less than the mooring! 

Maybe we’ll go simple, and in 10y when I decide I’ve not got  the strength, I’ll procrastinate for another 5 y and by then the young lad will be 17. 

 

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To make it easier picking up solo you can put the bouy beside the cockpit and connect a line already prepared from the bow to the bouy rope. Then pull it in from the bow. Make sure the bouy rope is solid and maintained   Or a light line with a small grapple to throw over and pick up a short floating rope tied to a second bouy.   Once you are connected from the bow pulling up the main rope shouldn’t be hard. At my Pole mooring if it looks difficult conditions I sometimes anchor beside it then row a rope across then just pull myself over and pick up the anchor once settled   And reverse when leaving if conditions are difficult. Prefer to take my time than end up drifting into another boat 

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3 hours ago, ex TL systems said:

To make it easier picking up solo you can put the bouy beside the cockpit and connect a line already prepared from the bow to the bouy rope. Then pull it in from the bow. Make sure the bouy rope is solid and maintained   Or a light line with a small grapple to throw over and pick up a short floating rope tied to a second bouy.   Once you are connected from the bow pulling up the main rope shouldn’t be hard. At my Pole mooring if it looks difficult conditions I sometimes anchor beside it then row a rope across then just pull myself over and pick up the anchor once settled   And reverse when leaving if conditions are difficult. Prefer to take my time than end up drifting into another boat 

I concur.  I wouldn't go with the large style buoys as the arrangement can grind against your boat while moored in rough conditions (i'm told this can be mitigated).  My cat is a complete pig to control at slow speed and so I use the following strategy..

My mooring is a standard setup with two buoys on the top rope.  I use a detachable snubbing hook which clips onto an extendable pole.  The hook is tied to a line which extends from the bow all the way around the outside of the boat and back to the cockpit on one hull.  I pull up alongside the buoy and connect the hook (automatic release under tension from the pole) to the buoy or top rope and can then pull the rope from the front until the main rope of the buoy is ready to be attached to the boat.   This works solo in howling wind and chop - with no stress.   If I miss, I can go round for another try.  Given you are approaching the buoy from the side, you have zero chance of running it over and tangling everything up in the prop.  You can also position a block and line running from the temporary hook line back to a winch somewhere on your boat so you could winch yourself in effortlessly and danger free in 50 knots if necessary.

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I use a Fergi buoy but only as a float for the mooring system. I would not have on on a leaner because of the bow smashing issues but for a cat it is far better than a standard buoy system. When we leave the mooring  the bridle clips onto the top of the buoy which keeps all the growy bits off the handling end of lines and also makes them easy to reach when we get back. We just motor one bow to the buoy, drop its top loop onto a temporary cleat while we unclip the bride and make it fast to the mooring cleats. We do not have it set up so the bridles runs up through the buoy as this can have chafe issues.

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Think there may be some confusion here, I just asked for an "EASY MOOR FLOAT SYSTEM" from moorings Northland, I thought it was also called a easy bouy system, see the website https://www.mooringsnorthland.co.nz/productsservices/  not expecting any magnets.

Pretty sure its what the use in the Sounds too, similar to Fergie Bouy but with a soft buoy.

I've got a normal mooring too and rent another,  both locations have strong currents and a bit rough at times, can be a battle on my own some days.

The Fergie and Easy Moor mean you don't have to lift any chain weight to get the headline up and on the bollard. Thought it would be worth a try. 

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The Buoy's used by the Marlborough clubs were made by themselves. They take a Windy Buoy, cut a hole in each side and seal a PVC tube through the thing, A lenght of tube sticking out each side and the top rope threaded through the tube. When unhitched from the boat, the eye sits in an upward attitude about 1 to 1.5m above the water level (depends on buoy size and length of tube sticking up) so as it is easy to hook with the Boat hook and then slip over the bow. Works really well.
CRA make a hard buoy version. A SST tube it used instead of PVC. Much harder wearing. The tube is flared both ends to seal tightly against the plastic and stop water from ever getting in. They will also foam fill them as well and that makes them unsinkable.
The down side of either of those systems is keeping the top rope clean so it moves through the tubes freely.
I did have an issue with one of these on my boat when in a fast tidal stream where I was moored at Hobsonville. The buoy would spin around and round the rope and would vibrate on the rope. It also slowly wore into the rope. So I had to tie the buoy above the water once connected to the Boat.

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8 hours ago, BOIGuy said:

Think there may be some confusion here, I just asked for an "EASY MOOR FLOAT SYSTEM" from moorings Northland, I thought it was also called a easy bouy system, see the website https://www.mooringsnorthland.co.nz/productsservices/  not expecting any magnets.

Pretty sure its what the use in the Sounds too, similar to Fergie Bouy but with a soft buoy.

I've got a normal mooring too and rent another,  both locations have strong currents and a bit rough at times, can be a battle on my own some days.

The Fergie and Easy Moor mean you don't have to lift any chain weight to get the headline up and on the bollard. Thought it would be worth a try. 

Ok that’s interesting. Possibly have my wires crossed. Info I got Said ezy buoy system. I’ll go back and double check with  moorings northland.

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We recently upgraded to a Fergi buoy and for us its awesome, no mucky mooring lines, no heavy lines to get up to the bows, which a 2m up above the water. 

The buoy hitting the boat is a real issue though. Being a Cat, we were able to put the Fergi on a short bridal where is can't actually touch the hulls.

We're in a high tide flow area and this is where the Fergi was the other day when I got to the boat! When its like this the top of the Buoy does bump the bottom of the Catwalk, but its 36mm 8 Braid so soft enough to do no damage.

IMG_20200613_141117.jpg

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Don't know if its been covered before but there has been cases of several Fergi buoys that were not properly set up regarding mooring lines and swivels with the result being the fergi buoy bobbing and weaving in the water actually unlaid 3 strand nylon leading to failure, think most pros are on to it now but it will pay to make sure the fergi is to be properly installed beforehand.

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Most storms seem to bring a yacht or two ashore around Auckland, from what I can seethe required standards for moorings are a little bit behind most other parts of the country,

Pretty rare to see a boat brake loose up north since their standard were introduced, the ones I have seen have all related to failure of bits on the boat.

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I had a fergy in Opito bay for 6 months, the hitting of topsides might have become an issue on tide change etc but I still think I would go for it again and trouble shoot it if there was a problem, give it a lifejacket/buffer if required.  Ours was a really highly rated mooring with 2 heavy top ropes but it didn't seem to have a swivel, so occasionally wed have to unwind it. Easy to pick up.

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2 hours ago, John B said:

I had a fergy in Opito bay for 6 months, the hitting of topsides might have become an issue on tide change etc but I still think I would go for it again and trouble shoot it if there was a problem, give it a lifejacket/buffer if required.  Ours was a really highly rated mooring with 2 heavy top ropes but it didn't seem to have a swivel, so occasionally wed have to unwind it. Easy to pick up.

OK, We'll once it's installed, maybe you can go take a photo of it for me :)

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