Buying someone elses mooring

[doughnut]

I'm thinking of getting a mooring on Coniston and it seems that the process involves buying the already laid mooring gear from the current owner, then paying annual lease to an organisation (forget the name right now, but they manage the bed of the lake).

I've received a list of current mooring owners whose moorings are up for sale and I'm trying to work out what I need to ask when I contact them. Does this set of questions cover everything?

1. Depth at mooring? - my boat is lift-keel but I guess I'll have a better chance of selling it in a few years time if its not too shallow.
2. What is the mooring attached to?
3. How old is the mooring gear?
4. When was it last checked/serviced? - I'm not sure how often a mooring should be serviced though
5. What size boat has been moored on it previously?
6. Where the mooring is? (in relation to the sailing club, shore, tender storage, etc)

There are quite a few moorings available, so when I've picked a few possibles I might go snorkelling to take a look at the state of each one. I'm confident I can spot a complete disaster, but what should I concentrate on when looking at the fittings?

Cheers
Doug

 

[Seajet]

A thorough inspection is essential, no matter what you are told.

Your list of questions looks fair enough, don't be fobbed off with anyting vague, but also make sure to check where other moorings are relative to yours; and remember just because a mooring may be vacant or occupied by a 14' boat now, next week what's to prevent a 40 footer going there ?!

There's one true test of any mooring, and how one has gone about procuring / maintaining it; how well will you sleep when it's blowing a gale against your bedroom windows !

 

[Lakesailor]

Who supplied you with the list?
Was it the Rawdon Smith Trust (015394 41707) If so ask them.

It's different to Windermere where the SLDC owns the lake bed.
Your best bet is to talk to the warden at the boating centre.
He was called Tom , I don't know if he is still there.
He will know the ins and outs.
Coniston Information Centre 015394 41533

I could tell you all about how it's done on Windermere, but that may be of no use to you on Coniston.
Slinky Spring (Ian) on this forum has his MG Spring 25 on Coniston.
That is the longest boat you are allowed to have.
Try PM-ing him.

 

[aquaplane]

Lakey beat me to it, I wondered if he would.

Is it a SLDC mooring, the same as Windermere?

When I got mine I was told which one was available, I went and had a look at where it was and it was OK so I went with it.

Theoretically the previous occupant owns the hardware but when I contacted him it was there 4 years previously when he took it on and he didn't want anything for it.
I had inspected it from the dingy and had an idea how worn it was and was happy to put the boat on as it was.

It's only in 6 feet of water so I can just about walk out to it and dive down with a mask and to inspect it. Deeper water moorings are harder/impossible to maintain yourself.

1. For a lift keel I would have a mooring that I didn't have to wind it up to get to it.
2. On Windermere one concrete block is OK up to 26', 2 blocks above 26' to the max of 36' then you have to have a marina berth.
3. How old doesn't matter, condition does, if in doubt get it checked and/or replaced.
4. Servicing should be done by you or your agent, it's your risk.
5. Size does matter, how big is your boat? If it's ~20 you are going to be similar or smaller than the previous occuplant so no worries.
6. Where it is is a personal choice only you can decide. All the factors you mention can be important, I would add how sheltered is it.

HTH Bob.

 

[Searush]

No-one seems to have mentioned parking & dinghy access yet. Wouldn't that be important?

 

[Lakesailor]

It's not as bad as Windermere and there are far less moorings. As they are all existing moorings, presumably that is sorted.
If near the Coniston Sailing Club it's worth joining for the facilities and the events.

 

[doughnut]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Lots of good advice.

I did get the list from the Rawdon Smith Trust and spoke to Ian Stancliffe (Lake Warden) about the procedure. There are about 10 free moorings in the bay right in front of the sailing club and my plan is to join the club in the next month or so as well. The club has spaces for parking and also I might be able to find someone who will share a tender. We sailed there for a week over Easter and met people at the club who are very friendly.

The boat is a Jaguar 22, so it sounds like a single concrete block should be sufficient and if I can find one that's 6-8 feet deep then I should be able to easily and regularly check for wear but still leave the keel down all the time.

Cheers
Doug

 

[Searush]

From pics posted by Lakey in the past, the water can get quite nasty with a short steep chop that can cause moorings to snatch. Also mae sure there is about 3' deeper than your keel even after a prolonged dry spell to eliminate the risk of the keel touching the bottom.

 

[Lakesailor]

When I had a depth sounder on Slippy the usual water depth was 15ft on my mooring but it did get down to 11ft once.
Not easy to compare with Coniston as they have different watersheds and the outfall is different on Coniston
However most people do take their boats of in the winter as although it's a shorter lake than Windermere it has no bend and is fairly open so a big fetch builds up.
When I bought Slippy from Coniston it was blowing a hooly up the lake, 40mph winds. Getting the boat onto it's trailer at the boat launch at the North end was quite a lark even with the wardens and a tractor.

Nearer the yacht club is better sheltered.