Slime-line slashers

Mooring up in a far-off land,
I learnt the meaning of hand-over-hand

The Bloodstained Barnacle

There are dozens of ways of “parking” a boat at the end of a day’s sailing – finger pontoons, tying up alongside, rafting up, stern-to boxes, stern-to with lazylines, stern-to anchoring off, mooring buoys, anchoring; the list goes on and on.

Whilst a lucky few sailors spend their time roaming this world’s many distant shores most of us have a local cruising ground we call home, and whether since it plays to local experience or to local conditions, most of our home cruising grounds will feature but a small selection of these parking options. In my somewhat tidal and oft inclement home turf around the UK it’s almost always a finger-pontoon marina berth, a mooring buoy or an anchorage, with the occasional bit of alongside practice when topping up the diesel tank.

For many of us then a far-away sailing break isn’t just an opportunity for a change of climate, culture and crew intoxicants but also an opportunity to learn some new parking skills too.

For me, usually the hard way.

Lazy line mooring for dummies

Popular in a number of non-tidal cruising areas, where boats are somewhat more manageable at low speed and close-quarters, I recently had the opportunity to experience a bit of stern-to lazy-line mooring whilst cruising around Southern Spain and North Africa.

Lazy line mooring arrangementFor the uninitiated a lazy-line is a rope dangling from the floating pontoon or harbour wall which leads back to a seabed mooring some distance off the quay. The idea is that you reverse the boat against the quay and make her stern fast against it, then pick up the lazy-line, walk it forward hand-over-hand, take up the slack against the mooring and make the bow fast to that too. The boat is then held securely by two shorelines at the stern and one mooring line at the bow.

Lazy line moored boatIt’s a fairly straightforward system which allows the sailor easy stern-to access to the shore whilst allowing the marina owners to pack the boats in – quite literally – like sardines. And in benign conditions with little wind across the bow and no tide to worry about it’s a pretty easy one to master, even more so when the marineros – ubiquitous in many Med marinas – oblige by both securing your stern lines and handing over the lazy-line for you.

Its drawbacks are that in less than benign conditions with a gnarly crosswind hitting your bow there’s a not inconsequential period of time, between the boat losing way and the lazy-line being walked forward and secured, where your boat has no lateral support. If you’re lucky to be parking up close alongside another boat your fenders or your crew can protect both while the other boat will prevent you drifting too far. If you find yourself with enough space for your boat to swing through 90 degrees and lie alongside though she’ll do it in a thrice.

The other drawback is that the lazy-line spends most of its life underwater and ably demonstrates why antifouling is so important on the hull of a boat. Often described as slime-lines for this very reason they will be covered in marine growth that will make both your deck and at least one crewmember somewhat filthy. Depending on the competence of that crewmember, quite possibly somewhat bloody too.

Lazy line mooring with a dummy

I wasn’t actually a lazy-line virgin on this trip, it’s a method of tying a boat up I’ve previously experienced in Croatia though probably as a result of having plenty of competent crew aboard along with the skipper’s recognition of my incompetence as crew I was never promoted to the vital role of lazy-line wallah.

I can’t blame that skipper really. Getting a couple of lines on a boat is always a critical job when she’s dead in the water but getting a lazy-line on is somewhat more fiddly and inherently slower than securing a line ashore; a task which merely involves getting someone onto dry land who knows how to put a rope round something secure. The lazy-line guy has to pick up the line with a boathook, either from the quayside or from a marinero’s hand, walk it the length of the boat hand-over-hand – an obstacle course even with the widest sidedecks, pull in the slack and then tie it off.

Perhaps I’d made a better impression on this skipper, or maybe his insurance excess was just smaller, for my time had come
You want to field one of your better players for that role.

Hmmm, there’s that instruction again. Hand-over-hand. I never really understood what it meant. Fortunately I have an innate “ability” to tune-out the minor details of instructions and work them out later. I was sure I’d manage.

Perhaps I’d made a better impression on this skipper, or maybe his insurance excess was just smaller, for my time had come. I was handed the boathook like a coronation sceptre, it was my time to shine on the lazy-line.

I deftly snagged the line from the quayside, balanced it on the end of the boathook ’til I could grab it and then speedily negotiated my way forward, my nose wrinkling along the way at the grime and filth accumulating on my hands and clothes. My laundry worries were soon put out of my mind though when, about a third of the way to the bow, something slashed a deep gouge in my forefinger, providing an interesting pink tinge to the slime trail thereafter as I started drizzling blood along the deck.

Captain Ben’s top tips for the lazy-line wallah

In my defence I did finish the job and tie the line off, though I did forget to take up the slack first, essentially making a long stern line rather than a tight bow line. I put this omission entirely down to blood loss as opposed to cluelessness on my part.

The presence of female crew on board led to my barnacle wound being properly cleaned and dressed; somewhat different to wrapping a rag round it ’til the bleeding stopped which would have been the case otherwise. Given the amount of bacteria and other nasty crap that would have gotten into it at the time I’m sure that helped it heal a lot quicker. The deck was cleansed of its pink hue with a quick hosing down and we did what we always do at the end of a day’s sailing – enjoyed a hot shower with a cold beer chaser.

And I now know what they mean by hand-over-hand too. Never let a slime line slip through your hands – it’s not just slime on there but some fairly hard, sharp edged marine life can gather on it too. Alternately holding it firmly in one hand while moving the other one forward to grab it further along is what they mean and the way to go.

I do learn you see, just somewhat shambolically. And so finally, in my tradition of top-tips the books might have missed, if you find yourself bestowed the boathook for a lazy-line mooring, here are a few things you might want to bear in mind:-

  • Light deckhand glovesNever let the slime-line slip through your hands; keep a firm hold with one hand and keep the other clear while advancing. A pair of light deckhand’s gloves  can be really useful though they will need a good wash afterwards.
  • No matter how careful you are you will end up with all sorts of crap on your clothes so don’t wear anything nice in anticipation of hitting the bar afterwards.
  • If you do cut yourself, keep your blood off the teak and the upholstery if you want any chance of the skipper inviting you back on their boat.
  • Don’t forget to take up the slack when you reach the bow – your objective is to secure the boat against the mooring, not against the quay, so the “offshore” end of the line should be the tight one. This does run against your instincts which will be to get rid of the dirty damned thing as quickly as humanly possible.

And if you’re a skipper unlucky enough to draw me as crew, make sure the first-aid kit is stocked up. I think I’ve learnt this lesson, but I know there’ll be plenty more to come.

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