Overnight mooring
An overnight mooring requires a little more attention to detail. All the quick mooring rules apply, but in addition, be on the lookout for signs indicating whether you can moor, are prohibited from mooring or informing you how long you can moor.
The canal guide you downloaded or your Pearson’s or Nicholson’s guides will have similar symbols informing you of mooring permissions and restrictions, but the general rule still applies that you can moor anywhere along the towpath that is not otherwise prohibited.
Some free moorings are better than others, of course. The best moorings have bollards or rings, second best has the horizontal metal rails that allow use of piling hooks, and least favored are unlined rough banks choked with reeds, nettles and silt. You’ll recognize the unfavored moorings while desperately searching for a spot for the night when you ask, “I wonder why nobody has moored along this stretch?” A rough bank often means it’s difficult to tie up close and you’ll need the gangplank to get ashore.
The longest you can moor in one spot is 14 days. Some liveaboards who have a cruising license must pull up stakes every two weeks and travel to another mooring.
Some canals have reserved public moorings that can be claimed by paying at some designated place, and sometimes these include water points and power. It can be difficult to find information about these types of moorings, so search online at canal trusts or canal bulletin boards.
The piling hooks (also called nappy pins) provided with your boat (unless the canal you’re traveling has no piling rails) are hooked through the rail/girder that runs along the top of the corrugated metal pilings. (It’s very easy to drop these into the canal, by the way.) You just run your mooring line through the ring and back to the boat if possible.
Occasionally you’ll need to use mooring spikes and hopefully they will provide spikes with rings to attach a line. Here are some truths about mooring spikes: The ends are never sharp and the spikes are never straight and they’re never long enough. Drive spikes into the ground at an angle, the ends pointing away from the boat. Your boat will have a mallet to drive them into the ground. Drive a spike in only about three-quarters of its length.
Share a mooring ring or bollard with other boats when practical, especially at a popular mooring
Don’t drive spikes too close to the edge of the bank, because they’ll pull loose and weaken the bank. Don’t drive them in the towpath. Don’t tie the boat tightly to the spikes because any movement of the boat (caused by a passing boat) will loosen the spikes. Check your spikes frequently and before going to sleep. Tie a flag of some sort (a bandanna or grocery/carrier bag) to the spike to warn passers-by.
When mooring on a river, you’ll need extra lines front and back to keep the current from pulling out your mooring pins