using earth anchor as mooring.

[Karyon]

I have to replace the bunks on my trailer, so the boat has to come off the trailer.
At our lake we have an area where the water is pretty shallow (butt deep) and there are a lot of boats there tied to a mooring, and I see most use a rim filled with concrete, or have pounded something in the ground and tie their boat on to it.
The bottom is sandy so, I was thinking getting one of those earth anchors, spin it in the sand as deep as possible , and tie my boat up to it for a while my trailer gets the repairs done.
Think this earth anchor would hold? It is about 30" long I seen them at a farm store today for $12.00

 

[jssailem]

Only way you will know is to give it a try. You can always go back to concrete.

 

[Tsatzsue]

Great Idea!!

 

[Roland5048]

Looks like it might work. However, if the boat is just there temporarily, how about using a plain ol' anchor or two?

 

[victorhoisington]

if you can drive it all the way into the bottom it might work OK. You still should allow plenty of scope with some chain on the anchor end. \

If you tie your boat up short, expect that it will work free over time. Wave action alone is pretty powerful, with a short scope (like the Power boaters use) think 1/16 of an inch for each wave, time 30 inches = 480 waves. if you get 10 waves a minute, that's only 48 minutes before it pulls out.

But, with lots of scope and a reasonable amount of chain, you an reduce the actual pull on the anchor point to almost 0 which means it can hold indefinitely.

Your boat isn't very heavy so plan a little, watch the weather and waves and your probably in good shape. at least until the rust catches up but that will take a season or two.

 

[Caboteur]

I use one that hydro companies use to keep the poles up. It is galvanized, six feet long and has a one inch shaft and an eight inch helix. There is another model with a six inch helix and 3/4 inch shaft which would be enough for a smaller boat. Mine weighs at least 6 tons and we get 50 knot winds and waves to go with it. I have 50 feet of 3/8 chain and 3/4 inch mooring cables... It doesn't move, been there for 5 years. I bought it from an industrial electrical supplies firm.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Wave action alone is pretty powerful, with a short scope (like the Power boaters use)

Shall I tell you the story of the 34' sailboat this powerboater watched come into a cove on South River in Edgewater MD (Chesapeake Bay)? Water only about 8' deep...when he was about 100 yds dead ahead of us, he dropped his anchor off the bow and tied it off as soon as it hit bottom. There was a very light breeze blowing toward us that evening, so we knew what would happen and took turns getting up every 2 hours to watch his progress. When he was finally alongside of us, we put down fenders, grabbed boat hooks and rafted him to us and went back to bed for a few hours. We were enjoying breakfast in the cockpit when the companionway hatch on the sailboat opened and a head appeared...which disappeared like a prairie dog diving back into its burrow when we said, "Good morning...want some coffee?" We were there for a couple more hours...never saw another sign of life from 'em.

It's never a good idea to insult powerboaters...we're the ones who tow you to safe harbor when the wind dies and your engine won't start.

 

[Benny17441]

Peggie, that sounds like a story right out of the Bahamas, but you did say Chesapeake Bay.

 

[Franklin]

It is my understanding that what you have is just a small version of what most moorings are made of today. The moorings use ones much longer and thicker with two of those spinners (for a lack of a better term). They have to use professional crew to install them with big equipment so yeah, they hold much more than that. However, considering a fortress 37 is rated at 10,000 lbs of holding power and I think that has better holding if used right, I think you could get away with using it. Just make sure you dive on it once in a while to inspect it.