Eco mooring buoys

Seajet, Yes, but they swing just once and probably quickly each tide change, and there'll still be a catenary to act as a shock absorber. But maybe not a lot: I once spent a really uncomfortable night in an 18ft trailer sailer being pitched around on a Yarmouth buoy.
 
MarlynSpyke said:
Seajet, Yes, but they swing just once and probably quickly each tide change, and there'll still be a catenary to act as a shock absorber. But maybe not a lot: I once spent a really uncomfortable night in an 18ft trailer sailer being pitched around on a Yarmouth buoy.
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Well if they swing once and there's a catenary they must theoretically scour the precious eelgrass...

I still reckon it's down to Yarmouth to specify what they want, one can't say to a customer " we really fancy this, go and research it for us would you ? " !

As I and Old Harry have pointed out, insurers are no small part of the equation either...
 
It is perhaps significant that the only EFM's in British waters are for marker buoys - Studland VNAZ, Osborne Bay - rather than boat moorings !

It might be worth mentioning this to Yarmouth / NE, and if you tell insurers this they'll run a mile, give it a try for a laugh...
 
Twister_Ken said:
Surely the Osborne Bay ones are just markers, not intended for mooring to, and no risk to persons or property if they go adrift?
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I think they are, can't remember the spec but it would all be in the MMO licence, but the eco friendly buoys were still specified - if a manufacturer makes them for marker buoys, I don't see any reason why they couldn't also manufacture them as mooring buoys.
 
Seajet said:
It is perhaps significant that the only EFM's in British waters are for marker buoys - Studland VNAZ, Osborne Bay - rather than boat moorings !

It might be worth mentioning this to Yarmouth / NE, and if you tell insurers this they'll run a mile, give it a try for a laugh...
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Not any more. EFMs are being privately trialled as boat moorings in S Wales, and in the Solent to my certain knowledge. No results yet, but initial reaction is the people trialling them are not very impressed. The Solent trials are being done privately, and their location is being kept quiet so that they are not plagued by divers trying to prove something!

A boat mooring trial a couple of years ago in Milford haven proved most unsatisfactory, as the 'bungee' pulled the buoy below the surface when the tide was running. Slackened enough to prevent that happening allowed it to scour the bottom at LW which rather defeated the object of the exercise!

The Osborne Bay markers were specified as lightweight Helical Screw EFMs, and only as marker buoys, not as boat moorings. English heritage specified EFMs in their original application, so it was not MMO being arbitrary as in this case. The EFM markers in the Studland VNAZ (which was removed a year ago as the survey was finished) proved a considerable fiasco, although it is thought there was an element of sabotage with people deliberately pulling them out at first, as well as a number of boats seen using them as mooring buoys, and overloading them by several 100%. I saw an animation of the shape of the VNAZ over the first year of the trial... the markers went all over the place, changing shape almost daily! Doesnt bode well for the EFM concept!
 
l'escargot said:
I think they are, can't remember the spec but it would all be in the MMO licence, but the eco friendly buoys were still specified - if a manufacturer makes them for marker buoys, I don't see any reason why they couldn't also manufacture them as mooring buoys.
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l'escargot,

it's a bit different tethering a buoy compared to mooring a boat with its' weight, windage, tidal drag etc.

Environmentally Friendly Moorings are marketed in the USA but their usage is vague.

They consist of 2 parts, the 1st being a helical screw into the seabed; this requires a survey of the seabed, and may well involve several screws for one buoy to give adequate hold.

Yarmouth have wisely decided against this ( backtracked when questioned ? ) and now ask for the 2nd part.

This is usually an elasticated band designed to lead straight from the sinker / coil to a buoy, then another similar ' elastic band ' to the boat.

The life of these bands when exposed to the environment inc passing boats and yes sunlight let alone fatigue and general jostling about is apparently anyone's guess, but renewal sooner rather than later would seem to be a minimum recommendation, a better one being not to go near the thing in the first place, no way would I hang my boat on one !
 
Interesting to note that MMO had compromised and allowed the OP to use a conventional mooring sinker rather then the Helical Screw. When I suggested that at Studland, hands were thrown up in horror by the conservos! Leaving great lumps of concrete all over the seabed... :(

The idea of leaving the boat on a rubber band still doesnt appeal though and I think Insurers will want a lot more info befroe allowing it generally. I do not know the Insurance position on the trials.
 
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Seajet said:
l'escargot,

it's a bit different tethering a buoy compared to mooring a boat with its' weight, windage, tidal drag etc.

Environmentally Friendly Moorings are marketed in the USA but their usage is vague.

They consist of 2 parts, the 1st being a helical screw into the seabed; this requires a survey of the seabed, and may well involve several screws for one buoy to give adequate hold.

Yarmouth have wisely decided against this ( backtracked when questioned ? ) and now ask for the 2nd part.

This is usually an elasticated band designed to lead straight from the sinker / coil to a buoy, then another similar ' elastic band ' to the boat.

The life of these bands when exposed to the environment inc passing boats and yes sunlight let alone fatigue and general jostling about is apparently anyone's guess, but renewal sooner rather than later would seem to be a minimum recommendation, a better one being not to go near the thing in the first place, no way would I hang my boat on one !
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You are starting to post uninformed nonsense again aren't you? I know the difference but as I said I can't see any reason why a company that can manufacture a marker buoy could not manufacture one for a mooring buoy - obviously it would have to be stronger. Old Harry seems to know about these buoys actually being made and trialled, I would suspect as a development project.
 
Most of my basic background knowledge of the types of EFM available actually come from the research Seajet did two years ago for BORG, fully confirmed by the numerous articles and reports that have come my way since about them and including material from MMO for the Pilot trial they plan when they have the money.
 
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The concept of mooring a boat with an elastic cable is not so rediculous. The whole of the marina at mylor yacht harbour is held in place with big elastic bands and has been for nearly 15 years.
 
Woodlouse said:
The concept of mooring a boat with an elastic cable is not so rediculous. The whole of the marina at mylor yacht harbour is held in place with big elastic bands and has been for nearly 15 years.
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It would be interesting to know what exactly is meant by elastic and who supplied it, sadly in the West Country they may not be around now but I hope they are.
 
Actually MarlinSpyke is absolutely right. The moorings at Yarmouth are laid on "fore and aft" chains (up/down tide) with massive anchors at the ends of a "trot" and each riser comes up to a buoy from the bottom chain. The risers are relatively short. As the majority of the pull is inline with the anchors the chain on the bottom does not move much.
Marlin Spyke, have you give this information to the Royal Solent YC? I know they are concerned NE will put pressure on them, too.
 
Seajet said:
I still reckon it's down to Yarmouth to specify what they want, ...
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So we are clear, Yarmouth Harbour want nothing to do with this. It is a private matter. They are not involved in any way, have made no requests and set no requirements/ This is NE putting the condition on my license from the MMO.
 
Thanks for that useful info, Genoa. No, I've not contacted RSolentYC - do you know who to contact, and would you like to let them know? I do recommend looking at the aerial photo's, they show unbroken green seabed quite clearly.
 
I have just contacted Mylor Yacht Harbour ( I'd love to visit the place again and aim to next year ) - their pontoons are secured by a system known as ' SeaFlex '.

Mylor are very happy with them and SeaFlex are happilly still trading; I have yet to get details but I'm very happy a skilled business in Cornwall is making a go of it despite the politicial London-centric pressure !
 
I'm following this thread with interest. The late Tom Ley, onetime Harbourmaster at Watchet, spent much of WWII working on the moorings of Sunderland flying boats in south-west Wales. In his opinion, it was essential that a mooring system should allow the ground-chain to lift in extreme conditions. In the case of the trot quoted earlier, the trot itself should be capable of lifting to absorb shocks on the mooring - and I would want more than just an anchor at each end.

Before the marina was built in Watchet, we laid a number of trots running north-south across the harbour using, IIRC 3/4" chain. Concrete weights were secured to the ends of the trot and about every 30 feet in between. We had to cater for a range of from drying out to about 17 feet of water over the mud. The boats were moored fore and aft between two trots with a bridle of 20 feet of chain on each leg separated by 20 feet on the trot. From the top of the bridle a chain riser of about 10 feet in length then attached to rope. Generally, the boats were at a 20 foot pitch along the chain and we had to be careful that neighbouring boats had similar draft and windage etc.

The EFM concept of keeping chain off the sea-bed sounds ok in theory but what of situations where the tidal range is much more than the 2 meters at Studland?

Paul
 
Hi Paul,

I am fascinated with WWII stuff and was a guide at a museum for a year.

However what you mention is a bit after that, as I understand it the cross chains on the seabed act pretty much as a sinker would to individual risers ?

I suppose this would prevent the scouring effect, though I suspect if one proposed to Natural England having divers down and / or fitting ground chains they'd keel over on the spot !

For this reason alone it's worth a go.

Actually a similar scheme is used at Itchenor in Chichester Harbour, I know as I dived there recovering someone's anchor which they'd been daft enough to deploy among the moorings ( long story ).

BTW I'm all for the real preservation of nature, just not highly paid clueless berks making a living out of daft ideas impinging on sensible people's lives...
 
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