chain free swiging mooring

[kieronriley]

hi well i,m back hear in new zelandand i,ve come to see the man who has brought this system to the market you may remember lasat year i wrote about this system and some of you replied saying you had seen scimilar systems and they worked whith some degree of sucsess well this man is sure he has ironed out all the problems i am going to bring one homeso if you need to know any more then contact www.moor4u.com and i am sure that the owner dave will be able to answer any queries you may have as last time i was on this subject i was not in a position to do so oh and by the by he is interested in an english buisness partner IT MIGHT BE YOU. kieron

 

[VicMallows]

But you're obviously not convinced enough for it to be you?

Vic

 

[William_H]

Bet you are not going to carry the concrete weight home from NZ. ( or the buoy for that matter) I am sure it is a good system just that I don't believe it is any better or different to what you could concoct yourself. I reckon anchors in some form, possibly home made, are more manageable than a concrete weight and I am sceptical about the holow bottom on the weight causing suction. Rope on the pennant is fine and will last longer than chain but with chain you don't have to put weights on it to keep the slack under water. My preference for a buoy would be the smallest possible that can be lifted onto the deck when moored. Anyway good luck to them. My advice re moorings.... get a scuba tank and lots of old heavy chain. My boat has been on a swing mooring for 20 years. regards will

 

[penultimate]

An interesting concept but I must ask my godson in Silverdale what their tidal range is. IMHO this mooring with a 3 - 1 scope would be quite unsuitable for use on our river with a Spring tidal range of 4.7m.
For largely historical reasons 4 of our 110 moorings are on rope (attached by heavy mooring shackle to ferry chain and sinker). Even on 1 - 1 scope these boats range around more than the rest do on chain. For all its disadvantages chain does help stabilise the mooring particularly towards low water and in a wind against tide situation.

 

[Ships_Cat]

I must ask my godson in Silverdale what their tidal range is

Assuming that you are talking about Silverdale, Auckland I can save you the trouble. Auckland is approx 2.5 m, and most other ports in NZ are 1-2 m. Of the places I have been, Nelson has the most and is unusual for here around 4 m (consequently see a few "innocents" on the bottom there /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif).

In any event, I don't think the mooring system will catch on, have been some similar out of the ordinary things floated out here but never to be accepted, with at least one of the same backers.

John

 

[Guest]

Concrete blocks ...

The round concrete block has been de-rigour of many moorings for years and stood the test. Many Harbour Recc'd moorings show such item as sinker and that is for good reason.
Having lifted quite a few of these blocks to move to new location etc. - using own boat as lifting tool on a tide - I can assure all that the suction on them is incredible. I can also attest to the fact that the concave section on the underside DOES give extra suction to the block and is well the effort to mould.

I am skeptical about a non-chain mooring as the ground chain is designed to carry the normal load of the boat moored, the block providing an immovable object in event of strong conditions etc. In normal use a riding chain should be just a little more than max depth at high springs, with ground chain at similar but much heavier size. The riding chain will rise and fall with the boat damping the motion and pull on the ground chain / sinker.
I cannot see a non-chain system, even with weights / pigs etc. competing with this. Particularly that the chain will take all sorts of abuse as well before failing.

I am more than willing to be convinced of its effectiveness - anything will work with properly applied physics etc. But any slight deviation and disaster ... on light constructed, heavy loaded systems.