Mooring information...

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Tim Houston

I'm looking for advice on mooring my 260 on an inland lake. For instance, how heavy ould you recommend the anchor to be? I saw a good write-up in the West Marine catalog regarding the anchor (5-10 lbs per boat length), rode, bouy, etc. but not sure how accurate it is. Also, having never setup my own mooring, does anyone have general advice - such as distance to keep from other boats, etc? Thanks!
 
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Guest

Lake

For a lake mooring I'd want at least about a 300# mushroom, with 5/8ths chain, 5/8ths or 3/4" pennants. Boats on a lake tend to swing every which way so I'd find out just how high this lake gets and have the chain cut to about flood depth (give or take) and give at least 80' between moorings to be safe. (this is basically my ocean mooring without the 1500# concrete block)
 
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George Henry

Any thing that sinks

Tim, At Pymatuning the bottom is mud. I seen everything from degreased engine blocks to concrete blocks chained together. I set a new mooring a year ago and used two 8 foot long curb tire stoppers. Ran bolts thru curbs to chain about 5' long then attached all chain with swivel to larger ground chain and another swivel then to lighter mooring chain. This sinks into mud and has held well. Cost was ball-$50, chain-$100, curb stoppers-$25. With any mooring, problem is getting it out there. The rental shop won't rent a pontoon to work on mooring. Call me I tell you how I did it.
 
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Thorp

Here is a start on the question

This very subject was discussed this week in length on a local web site for the lake in NH that I sail on. I offered my opinions based on the fact that I do commercial diving to service moorings (50/yr) and that I have a 37' sailboat that is also moored there. I now feel is was trap that I eagerly fell into. They really didn't want the best advice, they wanted to be told the cheapest way it could be done. My physic sails have been shot with so many holes they may never hold air again. What a bunch of pirates, like a pack of wild dogs on fresh meat. In short here is what I had to say: My 38' sailboat displaces 18,000 lbs., my 38' kayak displaces 100 lbs. both have a 380 lb. mooring block. Which one will still be there after the storm? Are you sure you want to use that formula by the discount house? Are you sure you read it right? How much do you love your boat? There are a lot of variables when choosing the popper mooring: depth, bottom type, exposure to the winds, fetch, currents and most important the boat's configuration. Answer these questions and I can tell you what is best for you. Having said that again, I stand by for the first volley form this group. (You can skip the part about arrogance and the spelling, the other group did a pretty good job on that one)
 
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Russ King

The BEST mooring system in the world

Saw a study on boats, moorings, and storms. They discovered that the best mooring system is 3 anchors deployed about 120° apart and tied together at the base (i.e. all lines go through a collar). This might be described in Chapman's Piloting.
 
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Rich Riesmeyer

re; anything that sinks

We also had a mooring on Lake Pymatuning until a few years ago. We moored our 23.5 in about 12-15 ft depth. If I recall correctly, we used a ball, swivel, 24 ft of chain, swivel, and three semi truck leaf springs chained together. You don't have to have much scope on an inland lake, you will never see any waves to speak of. Whatever you use, once it sinks into a mud bottom, it will not move. Rich
 
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Jay Hill

Mooring Installation Tips

...that may or may not work. Tie three to four truck tire innertubes together on shore near the water or on a low dock. Partially inflate tubes Build your mooring on top of the tubes. Even tie it to the tubes to prevent premature dumping when underway. Completely inflate the tubes. Pull tubes with mooring into the water and to the mooring site. (It is important to ensure you have enough flotation before attempting this step. If in doubt divide the total weight on top of the tubes by the cubic feet of space in the tubes. If the answer is less than 62, it'll float.) Tow mooring to site. When positioned you have two options: 1. Poke holes in the tubes and sink the whole thing. 2. cut the lines holding the mooring equipment to the tubes, deflate one side of the raft. The raft will tip and the mooring will sink. This option assumes you need to save the raft because you are going into the mooring launching business. Actually, there's another option: Pull a grapling hook down the harbor until you snag someone else's mooring anchor. Run out about 150-200' of line. Only problems are the swing radius and the mooring owners. Such is life.
 
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Rick Webb

Two Birds With one Stone

Wrap a chain securely around a PWC drag it out to where you want your mooring and sink the mother. They seem to float pretty well but I bet a box of shot gun shells applied generously would send it to the proper place.
 
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Rich Riesmeyer

Mickey Mouse Morring install

Try not to laugh, this is what we did.... Put a sheet of plywood on top of your dingy. Tie a line to your mooring, tow the dingy into the proper place, secure the line to the shore, and pull the dingy out from under the mooring. Our 10 ft aluminum dingy jumped about 4 ft in the air when the weight slipped off, but it worked like a charm. Rich
 
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