SEACURITY AT Anchor

[sailormanbigd]

Hi ya'll, was wonderring what people use/do for security while at anchor or mooring while away from the boat. I am loosing my free dock for "free willy" next week because the owner/friend has sold her house. Due to lack of boat bucks I might be faced with just anchoring out in the gulf for awhile. What do you use for security/theft prevention while away from your biat. ie., companionway doors/boards, etc. Locks, steel bars...

 

[Alan]

First of all I wouldn't be anchoring out in the gulf. You should use a mooring for your boat. As for locks, steel bars.... none of the above. Not sure what kind of environment you live in but here I never lock the boat. In the 25+ years of sailing I've never had any problems. Some folks will use a lock on the companion way boards but that's about it. If someone really wants to break in to your boat it's really pretty easy. No point in making them destroy the boat in the process.

 

[Franklin]

DO NOT ANCHOR IN THE GULF. You will not have it for long if you do. Find a good protected waters, perferably where there is no more fetch than 1/3 a mile. A mooring is a better idea as there is a lot less to go wrong and usually somebody to watch out after your boat. If no moorings available, get two oversized anchors and make sure both are dug in very well. One of them with all chain would be good too (the slack one).

Ditto to what Alan said about locks! Just keep your valuables out of the boat so nobody will want to break in anyway. Most don't steal sailboats because they can't get to far before getting caught.

 

[rpwillia]

Definitely get a mooring

Best type of mooring, IMHO, is with a couple of old engine blocks chained together with all chain going up and through the ball (not shackled to the ball). Then run a pennant from the end of the chain. Also a good idea to add a swivel bracket up near the top so the chain doesn't kink too much. Total cost should be under $200.00 if you can find a source for the engine blocks. You should also look for, as the other posters stated, a more protected area to put the mooring.

I would lock the boat up to keep the casual kid looking for entertainment off of it, but on a mooring if someone wants in they will have enough time and opportunity. You definitely don't need your boat torn up so they can get in and find out you have no Jack Daniels onboard.

 

[HEINZIR]

Best type of mooring, IMHO, is with a couple of old engine blocks chained together with all chain going up and through the ball (not shackled to the ball).

I have to disagree with the "couple of engine blocks" as a mooring anchor idea. There are many threads on Sailnet and other sources that show the proper way to set a mooring. I assume, though, that you want to get by as cheaply as possible.

My 23' Macgregor Venture is a relatively lightweight boat. Published displacement is only 2000 lbs although it actually weighs closer to 3000 fully loaded. I dropped 2 engine blocks to serve as a mooring anchor in a protected bay on an inland lake (maximum wave height of 2-3 ft.) They held fine the first season but the second season my little boat took them for a ride. I added 2 additional engine blocks and a couple of anchors. So far so good for the last 15 years. I do replace the chains every 5 years or so. (they are in fresh water.)

IMHO, a couple of engine blocks aren't enough to hold anything but a dinghy.

 

[sailormanbigd]

more info

Im sorry, I did'nt mean open gulf for anchoring. I was thinking about inside the ICW somewhere. Still looking for a dock. The boat is the previously named :"free boat" from previous posts. A morgan 33 outisland, its interior is gutted, but plan to install partial bulkheads this week. They are cut and sealed with fiberglass resin. I guess I will go with the hatch board hasp and lock it. Nothing on board, cept a shop vac and some hand tools. I will remove them before I anchor/moor the boat. I thank you for your wisdom. Patrick

 

[rpwillia]

Engine Blocks

If you do not use engine blocks, what do you use. In the Potomac River at Quantico we have used engine blocks for years. After we take everything off, including the pistons, they work themselves down into the mud and are near impossible to remove. My old US 27 made it through 2 hurricanes on 2 different moorings - one had 2 v-8's and one had a v-6 and 2 inline 4's. They both had about 35' of 3/8" chains and those moorings never moved. If you had the mooring in a rocky or sandy area then you could have problems. I stick by the engine blocks and we never bother to move them, just abandon them as they are not coming up.

 

[HEINZIR]

If you do not use engine blocks, what do you use. In the Potomac River at Quantico we have used engine blocks for years. After we take everything off, including the pistons, they work themselves down into the mud and are near impossible to remove. My old US 27 made it through 2 hurricanes on 2 different moorings - one had 2 v-8's and one had a v-6 and 2 inline 4's. They both had about 35' of 3/8" chains and those moorings never moved. If you had the mooring in a rocky or sandy area then you could have problems. I stick by the engine blocks and we never bother to move them, just abandon them as they are not coming up.

I can't argue with success; just relating my own experience. I am using engine blocks -- 4 not 2 -- and a couple of anchors as well. You must just have better quality mud than I do!

 

[zeehag]

the mooring block that holsds my formosa 41 is 2840 pounds concrete block with half inch chain and sits in 10ft mean low tide water....in high tide we are in 17-20 ft water......the concrete block sits into the mud well and once sat in will stay until raised by the mooring company----engine blocks weigh, what--200-400 pounds ,MAYBE, for a heavy engine?? an engine block would be good for a 17 ft boat in still waters with no tide no wind EVER.........research moorings and find the right stuff......donot trust your boat to mere engine blocks...gooood luck.....

 

[rpwillia]

Concrete Moorings

Doesn't concrete lose about 2/3 of it's weight in water - which makes a 2480 lb concrete block about 1000 lbs. Off Quantico the mud is at point 3-4' deep. Dove on one to check it out once and had to stick my arm all the way into the mud before I hit the engine blocks. Only time I saw one move was when the owner left it in over the winter and the ice dragged that boat about 100 yards.

 

[zeehag]

Doesn't concrete lose about 2/3 of it's weight in water - which makes a 2480 lb concrete block about 1000 lbs. Off Quantico the mud is at point 3-4' deep. Dove on one to check it out once and had to stick my arm all the way into the mud before I hit the engine blocks. Only time I saw one move was when the owner left it in over the winter and the ice dragged that boat about 100 yards.

port of san diego has used these moorings --without any problem involving the block for over 15 yrs. concrete blocks are just fine--the 2840 pounds holds a 28000 pound formosa in place with up to 65kt winds without incident. i would not knock it --it works. engine blocks are 200-400pounds-- i will trust the concrete block under my boat-- has not moved even with my formosa in high wind--.they check it and my half inch chain and the shackles they provide us every year....LOL--remember--we have very high winds in windy season!! sometimes windy season is confused with burn season. winter el nino years we suffer thru more than 64 mph winds, measured..all without moving concrete blocks. ours are in sticky yukky pcb ridden mucky mud--the resistance of the block in the mud is excellent--there havent been any losses from movement of these blocks--they stick well into the mud they are dropped into. if you wish to trust your boat to an engine block, go for it---i would not want to do that. i have a nice 300 pound or more perkins one you can buy from me for a reasonable price.....you pay shipping......

 

[Ross]

the mooring block that holsds my formosa 41 is 2840 pounds concrete block with half inch chain and sits in 10ft mean low tide water....in high tide we are in 17-20 ft water......the concrete block sits into the mud well and once sat in will stay until raised by the mooring company----engine blocks weigh, what--200-400 pounds ,MAYBE, for a heavy engine?? an engine block would be good for a 17 ft boat in still waters with no tide no wind EVER.........research moorings and find the right stuff......donot trust your boat to mere engine blocks...gooood luck.....

I just did a little research on concrete. Typically it weighs 150 pounds per cu ft. so in the water it comes in at about 90 pounds. So without getting into the arithmatic your mooring comes in at about 1700 pounds or about 8 engine blocks. out here on the Chesapeake they often use cast iron mushrooms about 2 feet in diameter and 4 feet tall with 1 inch chain on them. those stay where they are put also. Letting them settle into the mud makes a big difference. Up on the coast of Maine they use big blocks of granite and live with the attitude of "nothing too strong ever broke."

 

[zeehag]

I just did a little research on concrete. Typically it weighs 150 pounds per cu ft. so in the water it comes in at about 90 pounds. So without getting into the arithmatic your mooring comes in at about 1700 pounds or about 8 engine blocks. out here on the Chesapeake they often use cast iron mushrooms about 2 feet in diameter and 4 feet tall with 1 inch chain on them. those stay where they are put also. Letting them settle into the mud makes a big difference. Up on the coast of Maine they use big blocks of granite and live with the attitude of "nothing too strong ever broke."

mud works well--makes a suction type reaction for the permanence factor-especially with the big chain and shackles!! the only thing we provide is the line--and they will provide one for us if we want to pay for it....LOL--i will still sell him my old 4-107 block!!!!

 

[Ross]

We used to make counter weights from concrete and scrap iron. We would weld up a steel box and fill it with scrap iron and then pour in concrete. When you needed to counter weight a tractor with a front end loader you hung one of these blocks on the hitch.