Lately when I tie to a mooring I've been attaching a length of elastic shock cord to the top of the mooring lead to the end of my bowsprit. The idea is to keep the boat from contacting the mooring ball and overrunning the mooring when the wind dies or wind and current oppose. It stops those annoying "bump in the night" scenarios from every little wave (and preserves the topsides finish). Easy to do from the dinghy, but not needed when the wind is strong.

With some mooring setups it could also be rigged (without launching the dinghy) from the bow using something like a Grab 'n Go hook, and a snatch block on the end of the sprit.