DIY Moorings - Advice please

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deepstar

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11 Jun 2006
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Muscat, Oman
sy-edm.com
I've been offered a sheltered anchorage, with the condition I place my own mooring.

I was thinking of 3 large Bruce's 120 degrees opposed to a central floater...

But any improvements/suggestions ? This will all have to be hand laid - so please no 400 lb Mushrooms etc.

Thanks

Tim
 
One thing to think about is the issue of any current as this can affect the optimum choice of riser type. If there is any appreciable current you need to bear in mind that at times the wind and current will be fighting for control and the boat will be lying across the current. In that situation the riser if a chain can cause considerable damage to the keel and hull, and can sometimes even cut into fin or twin keels particularly. In that situation heavy plaited rope is better for the riser. If there is little or no current then a heavy riser chain is then safe to use without fear of damage.
In some areas of the uk all risers seem to be chain and in other areas rope risers are the norm.
I have never seen this topic covered in the mags but these are my observations from using a number of drying moorings, and sometimes suffering damage/abrasion until I understood what was happening.
 
In a very tidal location with strong currents, Menai Strait, the normal method is to use two fisherman-type anchors, weight for your boat probably about 60 kg each, laid up and down tide. Connected between by ground chain, perhaps about 1 inch, with a swivel and riser taken from the centre, 7/8 inch probably sufficient. Buoy sized to take the weight of chain dependent upon depth, then 1/2 inch pickup chain taken from below the buoy. Pickup buoy and polypropylene line to pickup buoy.

I know people with sheltered moorings who simply use a large weight, old truck engine being a typical example, with a riser from it, swivel part way up, 3/4 inch chain and the rest as above. Concrete blocks are widely used as a sinker, cast locally with a stout steel bar cast in for attachment. The weight can be floated out using oil drums as buoyancy.
 
Hi,

Dunno if you're boat's in Oman or Malaysia?

I kept a boat (mobo 26ft) on a swinging mooring in East Africa for ten years and the procedure is a bit different to that which other UK posters may recommend.

I used a huge block of concrete - no idea how big - it was there from the year dot. This was generally accepted as the best and cheapest solution.

The problem was always marine growth - particularly coral which would build up to about 20/30mm in thickness in a year. This will mean you will need a new riser every year because the growth causes accelerated wear on that part of the chain being pulled on and off the bottom. This will in turn mean striking up a friendship with your nearest local diver.... I would be very wary of using any type of rope riser in tropical conditions.

As the previous posters noted the issue of wind and tide has a big bearing but if you leave your old chain dangling this will quieten down the motion considerably - always supposing you have a sufficiently large float to keep it up.
 
Out here the favourate method is to borrow a supermarket trolley, line it with polythene sheet, then stick steel reinforcing bars right through it, so they stick out 18 inches each side and fill it with concrete. Then carefully wheel it down the ramp and float it out to your mooring spot. As there is no tide there is no need for swivels, simply attach a chain to a buoy, take a lazy line ashore, jobs done!
 
Local scrap yard, old knackered diesel engine (50 Euros) welded 13mm chain to block in a few places, and a few extra turns, find a sandy bottom, hang it from the boom, let go over designated spot.
Works every time., sinks totally in a few weeks if bottom is sandy.
 
Thanks for the advice.

The yacht will be moored here in Oman, it currently is in Malaysia.

Currents will be slight, and max tidal range is 3m. We will be inside a harbour wall.

Truck Engines, Blocks of Concrete etc will not be acceptable too the kind people who have allowed my some harbour space. But replacing the chain annually I'd already resigned myself to.

Not sure if I can find fisherman's anchors here, but I've tracked down some 20kg Bruce's.

Any budding YM article writers fancy having a look at this topic ??? As there seems little info anywhere. Plenty info on rules and regulations...

Many thanks

Tim

Tim
 
What type of boat is a Sprat C45?

Re moorings, I am an advocate of using anchors rather than big weights - we have two 45 lb anchors (in sand) in a bridle on our mooring for a 35' boat, with some heavy chain just where it comes off the bottom (this is where you get the most wear), and a 1/2" riser chain to the buoy. And it works fine for us.
 
It shoudl have read a Spray C45, a Bruce Roberts Steel yacht.

I like the idea of your large anchors, and serious chain to the riser... we were thinking of three 120 degree apart - allowing us to swing whilst maintaining a constant anchor holding.
 
I would definatly advise against rope rodes, particularly in tidle waters. If the boat rides over the riser any barnicles on the keel will slice through rope in no time. Happend to me and I finished up on the beach in a F10. If you are putting down anchors it is quite likely that after a few months they will be so deeply berried they will never come up again which makes it expensive if you use standard anchors. Have a look at the mooring anchors here http://www.boatgeardirect.co.uk/id17.html you could robably get a local metal worker to make some up cheaply. I am looking at laying a mooring for next season and will probably be using a scrap tractor tyre filled with concrete, about 2 ton and should stick to the bottem well!
 
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