Mooring on Indy

Through April and May the sophomore Vessel Ops class practiced mooring on Indy. Most days we would go out on the boat, undock, and steer to a certain mooring in the water to practice the procedure. Every day a different group of people were assigned to the four positions, the hooker, the spotter, bow watch, and the line handler. Bow watch was in charge of calling out distances to the helm of how far we were from mooring. The hooker was responsible for hooking the hook on the the mooring from the boat. As the hooker lifted up the mooring the spotter's job was to support him so he didn't get thrown off the boat. Once the line was high enough the line handler was to grab it and make it off. Once told to release the mooring, the line handler would untie it off the cleat and throw it off. We would do this about two times every day until we mastered it. This explained how communication, teamwork, and knowing you're part are all essential aspects of Vessel Operations.