Need rocker stopper installation ideas Mac M26

[SkiDeep2001]

I had to be towed by harbor patrol many years ago in an old 17' lapstrake boat and they ran a rope from bow eye to bow deck cleat and then attached the tow line to that line. I guess that was to lessen the shock load versus just a single attach point.

[Divecoz]

I had to be towed by harbor patrol many years ago in an old 17' lapstrake boat and they ran a rope from bow eye to bow deck cleat and then attached the tow line to that line. I guess that was to lessen the shock load versus just a single attach point.

I am No Engineer and common sense is not always the right answer but here I go ....
When attaching to two points I would assume there is the greatest potential for failure on the weakest link in the system...
Maybe a 3 way bridle from the Bow Eye to both the deck cleats at the bow??? But the strain needs to be kept equal..IMHO.

They towed my boat from Pelican Bay to Burnt Store Marine about ....10 to 15 miles attached to the Bow Eye. While we were in open water so to speak, I did get up on deck and lower and secure my mast for trailering as well. All without incident, and much to the surprise of the Captain from Sea Tow....

[tangentair]

We had to get two tows several seasons ago with the keel boat (made me a strong believer in BoatUS towing insurance). Each time we ran lines around the mast and then up to the forward cleats then we tied off to the tow line, so that tow line strain was split between each of the forward cleats which were back supported by the mast. Personally from what I have seen and felt up in the bow, there appears to bo a bent washer, a nylon lock nut and some extra fiberglass supporting the bow eye bolt. In my opinion only that certainly is enough for trailering and probably normal mooring, but maybe iffy for extended mooring alone in really regularily rough conditions, (I an not sure I would not feel real confident on just using the bow cleats alone either) but a combination of the three should be adiquate, I would take 1/2 inch 3 strand nylon (I want stretch here) weave in three rubber shock absorbers, splice a eye and a thimble for a shackel on one end of all three and larger loop on two of the others to go to the bow cleats and after adjusting the length to get the correct distance another eye for a shackel to go on the bow.
All that being said, most mooring pendants being sold for boats over 25 feet are just 3/4 line with chaffing sleeves. So I might be going a little overboard for normal conditions with the 3 pointer..

[Mrs_Skipper]

We just deployed the rocker stoppers and our first impression is that they are VERY effective in reducing rocking back and forth on our buoy mooring. We followed an idea that the Skipper got via private message (forgive me, I'm not sure who provided the advice) for installation using bumpers to protect the boat from rubbing. The weather was mild so we'll have to wait for some more wind and waves to see if they really reduce the motion under those conditions. We strung three rocker stoppers with a small mushroom anchor to hold them down on each side. Here's how we connected them:

[Divecoz]

Looks good and the results were what yuo desired, so hang in there . Should it not be adequate with heavier wind and waves , try building a Yoke maybe a 10 foot piece of 2 inch PVC to get those stoppers out farther ( ???) more leverage. I guess its wait and see for now , but so far so good

[Mrs_Skipper]

We're happy to report that we got great results from the rocker stoppers as installed on a 3-day outing on Lake Tahoe over the holiday weekend. We started by installing them on our mooring buoy and observing the result. Although conditions were fairly calm, we felt the amount of rocking was reduced by about the advertised 50%. We decided to take them with us as we were going to stay in the very popular Emerald Bay and expected there would be a lot of boat wakes as all the holiday visitors motored in and out of the Bay without regard for the speed limit or the boats bobbing on the buoy field. Good call! Although the boat wakes were severe at times, the rocker stoppers cause the rocking to subside much more quickly than usual. We're pretty happy with them. Now we have to work on our installation a bit to keep the individual stoppers from moving on the line or to replace the line with cable as they were sawing through... but we're pretty happy with them! They would probably be even more effective if we deployed them out at a distance from the hull, but that's too elaborate a setup for us to contemplate at the moment.

We also have our stays adjusted pretty well now, so hopefully we won't see a repeat of the stay-snapping incident.

[Trouts Dream]

Can you just tie a simple knot above and below each stopper location on the line to keep them from sliding up and sawing through.

[Mrs_Skipper]

We did hold each rocker stopper in place with knots above and below, but with all the pushing and pulling from the wave action they worked loose enough to make room for movement. The Skipper has a plan involving short pieces of PVC, I believe.

[Trouts Dream]

Or better knots for the application