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Derwd24,

Who is your harbormaster? I have boated in New England most of my life. I have had many boats, all on moorings until my status raised to get a slip. Usually the harbormaster sets your mooring and the distance between boats when moored. You can't always simply lengthen your pendant without hitting other boats when you swing. Yes it is correct the longer the line of your pendant will allow your boat to ride the waves easier. On my Whaler I carry both a bailer bucket, which is a cut up container from an Arizona iced tea or Windshield washer bottle works great. I also have a manual bigle pump available. In New England you can get some nasty waves and chop especially on weekends when the weekend boaters exit and leave narrow marinas and leave some nasty confused seas which come at you from all directions. You can bail faster than you can pump out and if you have additonal crew they can do it for you. Many times I have had to put my bow into the waves of a hugh cruiser plowing through the waves leaving a huge wake in a no wake or headway speed zone to keep the water out of my boat. (Try the entrance to the canal in Small Craft advisories with a running tide.)

As for lengthening the chain on your mooring-more is better, but remember the other vessels are in tight quarters as moorings are limited and there are too many boats for too little space. Usually the harbormaster will set the length. Make nice with your harbormaster to get a better mooring!

The combination of rain and heavy seas took the toll on your boat. My first boat did not have a bilge pump and on many rainy nights I had to row out to bail her. Automatic bilge pumps are great, you just have to keep them working. The nice thing about a whaler is that when fully swamped they will still keep the power head of your engine above water!

After a huge squall hit the Dorchester Yach Club one year, another captain's boat sank completely at the dock. I believe she was a pro-line or such 18 footer with a 90 Suzuki on it. We all grabbed the mooring lines (as she was on a slip) and lifted her 'till she could be bailed. Believe it or not the captain did not even remove the plugs to remove water from the cylinders (as I have seem many connecting rods bent when trying to compress the water), turned the key and the motor ran great! Sometimes luck can be the answer between success and failure.

Remember you have a 9' tide, and when the tide is out you have a longer scope on your mooring chain, when the tide is in you have no scope so the pendant is all you have to ride the waves, and on a New or Full moon with a Spring tide and a blowing North wind your mooring ball could go under and greatly hamper your boats ability to ride out the waves as the tide could be 2 or 3 feet higher.