Any recommendations for a homemade mooring?

[Jud - Vancouver]

Hi all...new to the board (but post now and then on the Cruising Sailors bulletin, also part of sailboatowners.com.

Anyway --just curious, since folks here seem to know a good deal about small boats, if anyone has any recommendations for a cheap, simple homemade mooring? I'm considering buying a Cal 20 that I'd keep on a trailer and dry sail for racing in spring/fall, but would like to keep on a mooring near my house in the summer months (June-August) for weekending.

Someone on the cruising board I mentioned above told me that folks in Central Florida where he lives use truck brake drums chained together --they can apparently be had for free or very cheaply from junkyards since they can't be re-surfaced. They evidently weight about 100 lbs. each. He suggested about three of them chained together would probably be fine as a summer-only mooring for a light boat like a Cal 20.

Anyone have any other ideas on a cheap, simple-to-make homemade mooring for summer only? And how much weight I'd likely need for such a boat? Maybe the brake drum idea is the best, so how much weight is the question. And what about the depth of the area for the mooring --how do I match mooring weight to water depth, in order to make sure the mooring is secure enough? Again, the boat would be a Cal 20...fairly light, 3-foot draft, I think.

Thanks for any thoughts, all! Much appreciated.
Jud

 

[Joe11688]

Hi all...new to the board (but post now and then on the Cruising Sailors bulletin, also part of sailboatowners.com.

Anyway --just curious, since folks here seem to know a good deal about small boats, if anyone has any recommendations for a cheap, simple homemade mooring? I'm considering buying a Cal 20 that I'd keep on a trailer and dry sail for racing in spring/fall, but would like to keep on a mooring near my house in the summer months (June-August) for weekending.

Someone on the cruising board I mentioned above told me that folks in Central Florida where he lives use truck brake drums chained together --they can apparently be had for free or very cheaply from junkyards since they can't be re-surfaced. They evidently weight about 100 lbs. each. He suggested about three of them chained together would probably be fine as a summer-only mooring for a light boat like a Cal 20.

Anyone have any other ideas on a cheap, simple-to-make homemade mooring for summer only? And how much weight I'd likely need for such a boat? Maybe the brake drum idea is the best, so how much weight is the question. And what about the depth of the area for the mooring --how do I match mooring weight to water depth, in order to make sure the mooring is secure enough? Again, the boat would be a Cal 20...fairly light, 3-foot draft, I think.

Thanks for any thoughts, all! Much appreciated.
Jud

Jud,
I'd find someone who could make you up a 600 lbs concrete block with a 3/4" galvanized eye bolts, or iron strap of that thickness. Don't use reinforcement rod for the strap because it can break. For chain I would use a 10' length of 1" Navy chain if you can get it, and another length of 3/8" galvanized chain with a 1/2" swivel in between the chains. If you can't find Navy chain, you could use 1/2" for the bottom chain with the swivel, and 3/8" for the top chain. The length of the chain in all depend on the water depth of your mooring field. For the mooring ball, you could go with 12 or 15" ball that allows the chain to go through the center of the ball. A galvanized shackle at the end of the chain will secure the chain to the ball. A small piece of rubber from an old trailer truck mud flap under the shackle will keep it from wearing on the top of the ball. The chain and mooring should be checked about every three years for wear. Also, a wheel from a train can be substituted for a concrete block. I'd use a 3/4" eye bolt for that too. Generally, a block or a train wheel will sink into the mud after a while and that helps in holding the boat from drifting. If the chain is too short, the boat will lift the block during a storm and both boat and mooring can drift off. The bottom chain being heavier, acts as a damper during a storm and adds more weight and shock resistance to the ground tackle as a whole. If the bottom of your mooring field is hard, you may need a heavier block depending on currents, or how protected the mooring field is from storms. For a mooring pendant line, you can go with 1/2" Nylon three strand rope with a 1/2" thimble, or a braid line. The line should be about 12' to 15' long. Check with local city or town regulations before you do anything though. Disregard that third picture. I screwed up.
Joe

 

[Joe11688]

Jud,
You may be able to buy a large mushroom anchor used, somewhere. The bottom has to have mud so that it can dig in though.

 

[Maine Sail]

Jud,

There are some suggested weights for deadweight moorings. The guidelines below are from Rockport, MA, one town that has studied this stuff rather extensively and come up with its own mooring standards.

Deadweight Anchors:
Deadweight anchors are commonly used in New England. They are usually blocks of granite which hold vessels in place because they are too heavy to be dragged or lifted by the vessel.

The holding power of the deadweight anchor is derived solely from it's weight and not by its design. When a deadweight is pulled out of its current resting place, it may settle somewhere else, because its weight provides constant resistance.

Blocks become embedded in the harbor bottoms over the years, providing a degree of suction resistance in bottom material which has strong cohesive properties. Thus, a deadweight anchor is not likely to break free from its set. (An anchor is "set" when it becomes buried in the harbor bottom over time.)


It is recommended that the weights indicated be submerged weight of the deadweight anchor. Use the following table to calculate required weight of material submerged. Consult with the Harbormaster before purchasing gear.


Minimum deadweight mooring weight:


Vessel length:
10 - 17 1000 lbs.
18 - 26 1500 lbs.
27 - 35 3000 lbs.
36 - 45 4000 lbs.
45 - 55 5000 lbs.


Submerged Weight Calculations


Concrete = required weight /.55 (example 1000 lbs./.55 = 1818 lbs.)
Granite = required weight /.64

For a 20 footer using cement you need roughly a 2730 pound dry weight mooring to attain a 1500 pound submerged weight.

Deadweight moorings are easily dragged if not the proper shape or weight and thus require significantly more weight than would a mooring that "sets".

Moorings that set should be "set" in a settable bottom. The proper orientation for a mushroon is totally buried standing vertically. The entire bell must be able to sink into the bottom and disappear other wise it is basically a deadweight mooring, and dead weight mooring weights should be used not mushroom mooring weights.

Any mooring should be set for the bottom conditions in your area.

Here is one of the most common and accepted mooring diagrams out there. Image courtesy of Hamilton Marine.

We know what the town or Rockport, MA recommends for deadweight moorings and that is about 1500 pounds (submerged). Eight concrete blocks at roughly 40 pounds each gives you a submerged weight of only 176 pounds, or less than 12% of what is a safe suggested dead weight mooring for a 20 footer.

Scituate, MA requires even more min weight than Rockport at 2000 pounds for a 20 footer and for this harbor the only approved mooring is a granite block, because the bottom is not suitable for setting type moorings.


The quote below comes directly from Inamar Insurance, one of the largest insurers of pleasure vessels. They know the claims and the failures and why..

In water, concrete loses almost one-half its weight; granite loses almost one-third, and iron loses only an eighth. This is significant. If a mooring is designed to withstand a 4,000-lb. pull, one needs 8,000 lbs. of concrete, 6,000 lbs. of granite, or 4,500 lbs. of iron. At a minimum, over one ton is needed for even a small, 25’ yacht.

To handle weights of this magnitude, a barge crane is needed. As long as this equipment is used to place the anchor, one might as well err on the side of excessive weight when placing it.

 

[Joe11688]

Fellow sailors,

Minimum deadweight submerged mooring weight:

Vessel length:
10 - 17 1000 lbs.
18 - 26 1500 lbs.
27 - 35 3000 lbs.
36 - 45 4000 lbs.
45 - 55 5000 lbs.

What do you think? Fair weather!

David

Dave,
Most of our YC mooring weigh approximately 650 Lbs, and we have a few that go about 1000 Lbs, but our mooring field is shallow and very muddy, compared to most on the river. Once that mooring sinks into the mud, it has a holding power very similar to a large mushroom anchor. Also, our moorings have about 10 to 12' of 1 1/8" Navy chain for the bottom chain, on each mooring block to absorb the shock. As long as the ground tackle is long enough for the depth of the mooring, and the pendant lines are the required length away from the mooring ball (1.5 X the distance in inches from the chalk down to the waterline), the mooring shouldn't move. It goes without saying that a boat with a short pendant line could raise a block out of the mud under certain conditions, like during a storm. Of course, this all depends on whether there is deep mud in the area where he wants to moor his boat. When we raise our mooring blocks in the spring to check them out, we use a raft with a winch mounted on a steel frame and we set the raft directly over the block and pull it straight up. If we try to pull the block up all at once, that winch could break. Instead, we put enough tension on the chain connected to the block with our winch, so that the block frees itself gradually from the suction of the mud. We check the chains, shackles, and swivels ever couple of years.
Joe

 

[BobM]

Cheapest mooring

A dead weight mooring sounds convenient and cheap but isn't very efficient as you need a lot of dead weight (as others have noted).

You could buy three cheap Danforth knock offs ($30 including S&H on ebay), chain them together and set them evenly on the bottom with sufficient chain. That is what they recommend if you are trying to anchor in a hurricane hole (see the link) so I bet it would keep a 20 footer safe and sound in the summer. I'd dive to set the anchors and verify they are set. The whole thing would probably be about $200-300. $90 for the anchors, probably $100 for chain and an inexpensive mooring ball at the top. The swivel might be the most expensive part. Of course you are getting in the price range of a good used $150 lb mushrooom set up at $300-400.

http://www.boatus.com/news/hurricane/mooring.htm

"An arrangement that uses two anchors (or a mooring and an anchor) set 45° apart has been used successfully to moor boats in storms. Three anchors, if they are set correctly, are even better. Three anchors should be set 120° apart (see diagram) and joined at a swivel.

Whatever arrangement you decide on, it is important to have plenty of scope-at least 10:1 if possible-and a lot of heavy oversize chain. Probably 50/50 is the optimum chain-to-line ratio. A riding weight, or sentinel, placed at the chain/line juncture will lower the angle of pull on the anchor and reduce jerking and strain on the boat. To absorb shock, an all-chain rode must have a snubber (usually nylon line) that is about 10% of the rode's length."

 

[Fairwind]

I filled two 55 gallon drums with concrete and heavy stones.. In the center, as the drum was being filled, a 3' length of HEAVY chain was suspended. I have no idea what they weigh..I made them on the shore near my mooring spot. Two people then rolled them out into the water at low tide as far as they could. I nosed up to them, one at a time and tied them tight to the bow cleats (Lancer 28). As the tide came in, the boat lifted the drum off the bottom (she was really bow down!) and I positioned the drum where I wanted it and released my short-tied line sending the mooring to the bottom. The procedure was repeated for the second drum..I dove on the drums and shackled them together. This mooring, on a hard sand bottom, has not moved a foot holding the Lancer in 35 knot winds. The mooring is in 10 feet of water. I have 25' of 3/8 chain with a 50 pound flywheel acting as a spring weight attached to the center of the chain. In warm salt water, the 3/8 chain is good for 3 years when inspection and replacement is advised..If storm-force winds are forecast, Sempre Libra goes back on her trailer..Total cost for this mooring was less than $50..

 

[CurtisAndNautilus]

Hey Jud, are you from Vancouver BC?
Where exactly do you plan to place your mooring? There isn't much sheltered, shallow water available, except maybe in the Fraser delta. It might be less hassle to ask around and find an existing mooring for the summer. A guy from our little (i.e. dinghies) sailing club keeps his Mac26 on a mooring at the Dollarton Ship Yard when it's not on the trailer.
Let me know if you need crew for your Cal. I'd like to try something bigger than my Siren.

 

[Joe11688]

Hi all...new to the board (but post now and then on the Cruising Sailors bulletin, also part of sailboatowners.com.

Anyway --just curious, since folks here seem to know a good deal about small boats, if anyone has any recommendations for a cheap, simple homemade mooring? I'm considering buying a Cal 20 that I'd keep on a trailer and dry sail for racing in spring/fall, but would like to keep on a mooring near my house in the summer months (June-August) for weekending.

Someone on the cruising board I mentioned above told me that folks in Central Florida where he lives use truck brake drums chained together --they can apparently be had for free or very cheaply from junkyards since they can't be re-surfaced. They evidently weight about 100 lbs. each. He suggested about three of them chained together would probably be fine as a summer-only mooring for a light boat like a Cal 20.

Anyone have any other ideas on a cheap, simple-to-make homemade mooring for summer only? And how much weight I'd likely need for such a boat? Maybe the brake drum idea is the best, so how much weight is the question. And what about the depth of the area for the mooring --how do I match mooring weight to water depth, in order to make sure the mooring is secure enough? Again, the boat would be a Cal 20...fairly light, 3-foot draft, I think.

Thanks for any thoughts, all! Much appreciated.
Jud

Jud,
You may be able to find a train wheel in a scrap iron yard somewhere, or a large iron gear from a mill. Then, all you need is a 3/4" galvanized eye bolt for it and some chain and shackles. I'd use a swivel on it too. Like Mainsail said though, check with the local harbormaster first before you do anything.
Joe

 

[petersea]

Years ago the engine block was one of the best around ! Not sure if it still legal in your area. With the internal pats removed the block "digs' in and is almost impossible to pull out. Not sure why after a good cleaning they would not be legal but check your local laws first !

 

[Capt. Kermie]

Save the Environment

OK, so this post is going to ruffle a few feathers....just chill out and think about it a little before reacting.
I am no expert on this matter by any means but I am aware of perceptions. I used to work in a marketing/merchandising department and became very aware of the importance of presentation and how it can influence perceptions and attitudes.
This thread is about building mooring balls and the various methods thereof, but from another perspective, lets say an environmentalist, it is about trashing the environment. Imagine the horror an environmental activist would experience upon learning that there are individuals advocating the dumping of engine blocks, rail car wheels and giant truck brake drums into our precious oceans. Oceans that are already over polluted and over fished, where we have groups promoting the clean up of our oceans and to prevent further destruction of our vast ocean food supply. Yet here in this thread we have a group of individuals totally bent on hampering these efforts of preservation.
Now, I am aware that the sinking of stripped down ships to create artificial reefs is an ongoing practice, but I think it is a bit of a stretch to get any environmentalist to believe you are creating a micro reef with an engine block or any other junk yard apparatus. Those folks are more likely to perceive you as an evironmental criminal, out destroying our precious natural resources. Just go back and read some of the previous posts with a more open attidude towards preserving the environment.
Now about Vancouver, that is where the OP wants to build his mooring, I live here and I don't like his idea. The city of Vancouver went to great lengths to remove the derelict boats from the False Creek Harbour, you now require a permit to anchor for any extended period. Good riddance to a bunch of eyesores littering the inner harbour. Some of those Hobos living in those derelict hulks have simply moved out to the more open English Bay to make it uglier looking. What is to prevent some hobo from tying up to the OP's mooring ball when he is not there then challenging the OP's ownership of said ball come next summer!
I read the description of the layout for multiple weights strung together and my peception was that it seemed like a good way to create anchoring hazards for other boats wishing to temporarily anchor in nearby waters. I imagined the wind shifting and causing the other anchored boats to swing to a position where they may extend over top of one of those mooring layouts, then come morning and weigh anchor to get under way and ones anchor gets fouled in the mooring trap. I don't like them and I don't think they should be permitted.
We are currently hosting the Winter Olympics and the worlds' eyes are upon us, watching as we litter the ocean floor with engine blocks, rail car wheels and other junk yard trash, do we need this kind of reputation in an age where evryone is so concious about greener living? It kind of flies in the face of current green attitudes, don't you think?
Maybe we should all take a step back and re-examine what is being advocated here and ponder the future consequences of our present actions.
My words here are not meant to scold anyone or create any tensions but moreso to shed a different perspective on what we are doing, think about it.:naughty:

 

[Maine Sail]

No one is advocating littering. Remember, a mooring is connected to the surface with a ball and you will always know where it is. Around here they are also legally "permitted" and have a known GPS locations by the local authorities/harbor master.

"Littering" would be throwing the engine block into the bay not attached to anything.... I guess by your premise a lobster trap or a crab pot is littering too?

I would hope the OP is going to get the required permits for the mooring placement. In most places in the US this is strictly regulated..

 

[petersea]

OK Capt. Kermie,
Educate us of at least me as I was one who advocated the engine block (if it was legal in you area please reread post) But can you please explain to me how a cleaned engine block or a train wheel and axle presents an environmental danger any more or less then a metal mushroom type anchor or the cast inverted pyramid type ?? The mushroom anchor is probably one of the most prevalent in use today. (or at least in my area). Even the new style "screw" type are metal. I never claimed an engine block was going to be an environmental "micro reef"(nice try on putting your spin on it !) but it does make a hell of a good mooring weight. I did not and do not encourage being environmentally unfriendly. So I guess the perception issue is based on if you are informed on the issue or just some purest who is not willing to make any compromise. One could take the position that using an engine block or train wheel is a proper application of recycling. Is there and if so what is an environmentally friendly mooring system? I am willing to be educated on this issue but I'm confused by your point of view.

 

[petersea]

We are currently hosting the Winter Olympics and the worlds' eyes are upon us, watching as we litter the ocean floor with engine blocks, rail car wheels and other junk yard trash, do we need this kind of reputation in an age where everyone is so conscious about greener living? It kind of flies in the face of current green attitudes, don't you think?

OK......... You did ruffle my feathers with this post so here is what I think.... Do you really think a couple of dozen moorings are going to be more environmentally unfriendly the hosting the Winter Olympics ? ? ? ? Pollution, cars, trash, building new buildings, road etc. etc. etc. is going to be thousand and thousands of times more environmentally unfriendly then the mooring you are worried about. Think about all the fossil fuel that is going to be used, think about all the food that will be thrown out, think about all the electricity needed and how it is going to be produced. I could go on and on but what flies in the face of today's green attitudes is the Winter Olympics ! ! !

I'm not against the Winter Olympics ! ! I actualy watch and enjoy them ! ! I just don't get it what the deal about the mooring is ! ! This is a little like the marine sanitation issue where everyone is so concerned about the boater putting untreated sewage in the waterways when the municipal waste treatment plants dumps tens of thousands of gallons of untreated sewage to every gallon by a boater ! !

 

[Joe11688]

A point well taken Pete. I agree with you 100%. Sorry Captain Kermie.

 

[Capt. Kermie]

OK, just for the record, as I said before this is just a different percetion, but never the less one that should be considered.
The lobster/crab trap example is about as lame duck an analogy as could ever be fabricated, just dumb, I would not even consider it a nice try. Those traps are retreived after each and every use, same goes for anchors but lets make an exception for the mooring ones since they are left on the bottom forever.
Perhaps as part of the permit process for installing a mooring system we should hold the installer legally responsible for removing the system upon aboandonment when they divest themselves of their boat and no longer have need of their mooring. How would that be!
I do not consider the idea of engine blocks being recycled unless they are melted down and re-manufactured as another metal part, re-using them on the ocean floor is more akin to refuse.
Engine blocks cleaned or not and other junkyard metal do not occur naturally in the oceans, they are created by mankind and are foreign objects that have no place in our oceans, suggesting we use them for mooring apparatus is environmentally irresponsible.
Again I am no expert, but my perception is that concrete would be more environmentally freindly because it more closely resembles coral with its' more porus texture but that is just my simple perception, I could be way off base.
One thing I am sure about is that the oceans are not the place for dumping junkyard metal.
I have been in harbours that are densley populated with mooring bouys strewn all over the waters' surface with accompaniying derelict hobo hulks attached to them. It is extremely unsightly and I do not wish to see our beautiful Vancouver harbour suffer the same fate. We have finally cleaned up most of the hobo boats and we don't need to ecourage more of them with abandoned mooring bouys.
One more thing, I am no saint and am guilty as the next man for polluting but I do try to be more aware of my actions so that I do not continue the practice.
Some of the methods I read here are outright blatant destruction of the environment, just because you cannot see the destruction does not make it okay, how would it appear if the same apparatus were strewn across the country side for all to see as we drive down the highway, what a great view that would make.
As for the effects of the aftermath from the Winter Olympics, well I have to agree their will be waste and pollution no doubt about it, it is happening right now as we type, all over the planet, nothing new here. I drive a car too, and I run a boat engine and heaven forbid, I dump my porta pottie into the Georgia Strait, yes I am guilty. I also use the the marina sani station to empty my porta pottie too when I can and I use my sails as often as I can and shut off the engine. The car is another matter but we will soon be down to a one vehicle household in another couple years.
There really is not anything to be confused about, the issue is very black and white, we are littering the ocean floor with junkyard metal, pure and simple, there is nothing to argue about, we are guilty.
I thought I would ruffle feathers and I did, but there is no escaping the truth no matter what spin you put on it, we are destroying the environment. Perhaps it is time to invent a better method/system of creating and installing/un-installing mooring bouys. The simple truth is moorings are polution.

 

[Maine Sail]

Again I am no expert, but my perception is that concrete would be more environmentally freindly because it more closely resembles coral with its' more porus texture but that is just my simple perception, I could be way off base.

Yes I believe your thinking is actually "way off base". Cement is generally considered to be a poor choice for a mooring block and many municipalities who've studied mooring failures have banned its use altogether.

The only difference between a train wheel, or a thoroughly cleaned engine block, and a pyramid mooring, or mushroom, or a helical screw is the physical SHAPE of the item. The fact still remains all of them are made of the same materials either steel, cast steel or cast iron.

Isn't part of being "green" recycling? If one could recycle a train wheel, and use it for a mooring in a second life, rather than melt it down using fossil fuels, in a foundry that puts out dirty emissions, only to change the SHAPE of the train wheel to a mushroom, would that not be a more green approach? Melting down the train wheel, to turn it into a mushroom, only changes the physical SHAPE of the metal, but not the make up.. One could argue that a mushroom is a better performer, but perhaps no more green than using and "recycling" a train wheel..

Many harbors and municipalities have ordinances that protect against abandoned moorings and most of them have waiting lists these days. Many around here do not allow you to own a mooring that is not occupied, must keep a boat on it or you lose it to another person on the wait list, and they must pass annual or bi-annual inspections to make sure they are safe and sound.

Myself and family have had boats on moorings for over 40 years and we know where every one of those moorings is, and there have been many. I have my old 400 pound mushroom sitting on the hard as I type. They are not just "abandoned" as you suggest they are as "litter"...

If you want to argue the points of which SHAPE makes a better mooring that's fine as there is a difference. Engine blocks generally perform poorly but are made from the SAME exact material as a mushroom, usually iron. All we are looking at is a difference in shape.

As an ex commercial lobsterman I can assure you with 200% accuracy that the analogy I made earlier is not "dumb" and is NOT a poor one. FAR more lobster & crab pots are lost to the ocean than moorings. How many lobster pot bouys do you think get cut off along the Maine coast each summer? Do you really think all those traps are all recovered? I can assure you they are not. I used to lose, on average, about 5-8% of my traps per season..

Your issues a simply one of "perception". A perception that the SHAPE of an item makes it "litter"...

 

[Stu Jackson]

It is extremely unsightly and I do not wish to see our beautiful Vancouver harbour suffer the same fate. We have finally cleaned up most of the hobo boats and we don't need to encourage more of them with abandoned mooring bouys.

Congratulations for cleaning up the messy old fields. It seems to me that if you can do that once, you could do it again. As Maine Sail said, in his neck of the woods they manage to "manage" their mooring fields. So, if you can set moorings, then check them, and get rid of the pond scum who misuse them, why not encourage the recycling of materials for their use?

In Richardson Bay, just off Sausalito, CA, there are a series of wrecks but they are at anchor! Every year at this time a few break loose during winter storms because the storm winds are from the open unprotected south. And the city, which has a history of being the first anchorage inside the Golden Gate but with the least possible human understanding of boats, hasn't been able to do a single thing about it. Landlubber ideas for boating just don't work. Compare that to the harbors and mooring fields on Catalina Island, where the "system" works because of a pleasant application of reasonable enforcement, good moorings, a great fore-and-aft mooring system, no pollution rules with dye tablets, and a caring boaters community -- they want to maintain the quality of the island and its harbors. If Sausalito would consider and install mooring fields they'd get rid of the derelicts and make it safer for everyone. Because they can't legislate anchoring, they're screwed (NPI). And if they'd install Catalina Island - type moorings at Ayala Cove on Angel Island, all boaters would be much safer. Instead, they have these impossible to grab balls with triangular tops that are a disaster waiting to happen in a field that requires fore and aft mooring due to exposure.

Reason for all this rambling is that mooring fields, as you said in Vancouver for example, can be made useful to boaters. And responsible boaters, which most of us truly are, want to keep things as environmentally sound as possible. The old "a few bad apples spoils it for us all" really does apply.

 

[Joe11688]

Holding a mooring installer responsible isn't too feasible. Moorings get lost. The chains let go sometimes and it's almost impossible to find them with a grappling hook in shallow water with mud, let alone deep water. I've worked on our club moorings for years and picked up some experience in maintaining them. Fortunately, portions of our mooring field are shallow enough at Spring Tide Lows, to enable us to find these old moorings by walking in the water and feeling for them with our feet. I've found quite a few that way. When you come right down to it, the bureaucrats in my area couldn't care less about submerged objects. Case in point; Two years ago, someone floated an out of state registered 24' Columbia cabin cruiser out in a cove on the Taunton River and left it anchored there. I called the Ma. Environmental Police and reported it, and I also called the Coast Guard. I reported it to the town harbor master. The boat sank and it's still there.

 

[petersea]

I do not consider the idea of engine blocks being recycled unless they are melted down and re-manufactured as another metal part, re-using them on the ocean floor is more akin to refuse.Engine blocks cleaned or not and other junkyard metal do not occur naturally in the oceans, they are created by mankind and are foreign objects that have no place in our oceans, suggesting we use them for mooring apparatus is environmentally irresponsible.
One thing I am sure about is that the oceans are not the place for dumping junkyard metal.

OK Kermie here we go.

First. You talk about different perceptions so let me state I do not agree with your perception of what recycling is. My perception is using a engine block or train wheel and axle for a mooring IS recycling. It would seam to me that your very restricted definition is actually anti-recycling when there are perfectly good uses for items beside melting them down and recasting them. Maybe it is the "one mans junk is another mans treasure " thing. Either way they are being reused and not a litter or sitting in a road side scrap yard as an eyesore, I see this as a win win for everyone.

Second. Do you real want to got down the road of " they are created by mankind and are foreign object that have no place in our oceans" Now lets really think about this ....what else is man made and and foreign object in the ocean ? ? YES you guessed it YOUR BOAT and every other boat, dock, pier etc etc. SO do we really want to go there ????

Third. No one is advocating "dumping" junk yard metal in the ocean.
.
There really is not anything to be confused about, the issue is very black and white, we are littering the ocean floor with junkyard metal, pure and simple, there is nothing to argue about, we are guilty.

Well I'm still confused because your perception and mine differ so it is not as black and white as you would like but very very grey. So unless you can convince me to think like you and believe everything you do I am NOT guilty. You may be guilty but please do not put me in that category with out any facts. I have not broken any law by making this type of mooring. It would appear that if I have not followed your rules and your definitions I have done something wrong. In a previous post you implied that I might be perceived as a "environmental criminal " may I suggest some might perceive you as an "environmental wacko " So I guess it is really all in the perception.........


Perhaps it is time to invent a better method/system of creating and installing/un-installing mooring bouys.

I don't necessarily disagree with you on this but until there is a better type there is what there is. I had previously asked you to educate me on how a train axle or a engine block was more environmentally unfriendly then another type i.e a mushroom type but I did not see a response so I will take no response as no difference so no more or less unfriendly to the environment. So unless your are advocating no moorings at all and my suspicion is that you in fact are advocating this exact cure of no moorings because you local government can not control the local situation. It would appear to me that you are hiding behind the environmental issue to get a local political problem solved. That said be careful of what you wish for because there are lots of people who "perceive" all boats create pollution and are environmentally unfriendly.

l

Pete