distance between mooring balls

[walt]

Last year, the small marina at the lake I sail at put in some rental mooring balls. Im not sure how far apart they are but last year, I used the mooring a couple times and end back end of the 26 foot sailboat came to within a "few feet" of the adjacent mooring ball. I didnt use them at all this year because someone had rented one for a season with about a 20 foot fishing boat and I thought the risk of smacking into the other boat trying to hook up to the mooring was too high.

The owner of the marina probably picked the distance based on 16 to 18 foot fishing boats but is interested in accomodating the bigger sailboats (there are a at least 5 classic Mac's that sail this lake).

The lake can get windy. Im wondering what would be a good distance to space the mooring balls. I dont think anything larger than a 26 foot sailboat will use them.

 

[walt]

some estimate

Here is what Im thinking..

From where the ball floats, I want five foot of load distributing rode for connecting between the boat and the float.

If Im picking up the ball single handed, I will need to come in from the down wind side and pass the ball by nearly the entire boats lenght so that I can pick up the ball from where Im running the outboard using a boat hook.

Then Id like an extra 10 foot for screwing up..

So the total I think needed would be:

5 foot rode between boat and hook
26 foot for boat
24 foot for picking up the hook single handed
10 foot spare

So this would be a "minimum" total of 65 foot between the weights at the bottom.

In the attached picture, there is about a 22 foot fishing boat on the mooring ball so Im guessing the balls are currently about 30 - 32 foot apart. I would be both worried about trying to hook up in windy conditions with the current set up and also would be worried about leaving my boat out there.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

how deep?

I'm not sure I saw the rode distance from the weight and the bouy. (water depth)

need to have some scope there too.



I would imagine the key is consistency.

 

[walt]

good point

Yup, I also need to add some for depth.

FYI, this spot is fairly shallow - maybe 4 foot. In one wind direction, the area is not very well protected. The picture in the link is of my first sailboat (Catalina 16).. Also why Id feel more comfortable with more distance between the balls.

http://analogengineering.com/elevenmile/lake_shots/11milestormride.jpg