Laying a mooring

[Blue Nun]

I have been offered a place to lay a mooring that doesn't dry out (3 metres of water at spring low tides). The local boatyard want £500 to lay a mooring is this excessive? I can't find advice on how to lay one myself, any ideas of sources of advice and equipment!
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[Gunfleet]

Hi Rory,
£500 seems quite a lot, but there are all sorts of local difficulties which could lead to it being a big job. Can't you give us a clue where you intend to place this? I'd expect the kit to cost a couple of hundred pounds, then you have the problem of getting it over the mooring site and once it's lowered making sure it's properly placed and secure. Easy enough with a drying or semi drying mooring, but more difficult in 3 metres unless you are a diver. If they seem technically able and are willing to give a warranty on their work it may be a bargain!

 

[William_H]

I am a compulsive DIY addict however I accept that others are not unhappy to get professionals in. I would do it myself ( 59yo) but then i like the water and it is not cold here. for intial laying of the mooring you do not need much underwater work.
the classic mooring is a very heavy object layed on the bottom but of course this is very difficult for us DIY to get into place . So the easiest and best is to use anchors on a bridle of chain. You need a chaim as heavy as you can get but at least 1/2 inch metal diameter in the links. about 8 to 10 metres long. You attach an anchor at each end and take a chain from the middle up to a swivel shackle and buoy where you attach a rope pendant to your boat.
OK so from your boat you can easily lay the chain and one anchor you need to get in the water or get someone to do it for you to pull the other anchor out into poosition.
The anchors should be aligned to the strongest wind unless you feel the tide will be the biggest drag in which case aligb to the tide. The beauty of this system is that you can (and perhaps should) also attach chains to additional anchors at right angles to the first pair to provide hold in all directions.
The anchors can be fabricated like fisherman or admiralty anchors except you need only one fluke. If you have a welder you can fabricate from scrap iron railway line etc. or youu may be able to find old anchors. Obviously the bigger the better but much larger than what you might anchor on fior a picnic.
With a bit of practice and given reasonable fitness 3 metres is OK to work on snorkel ie holding breath. I recently replaced my chain in 3 metres with some effort but it was doable. i am guessing you will need a wet suit and weight belt and use a rope to pull yourself down to the job ie moving the anchors and have a rope to the boat if there is any current.
The trick is to visit lots of junk yards and scrounge chain and iron the heavier the better however you will need to buy shackles and a swivel shackle in a size comensurate with the chain size. These things will wear over not many years as will the vertical chain. The chain to the anchors will not wear so much because there will be less movement.
Your boat will rotate in a circle the radius of the vertical chain and rope pendant so keep then as short as possible. The chain must be long enough to cope with the highest tide and wave however in the worst case the boat may start to lift the bridle chain this can give you another metre of flexibility.
it is not rocket science just make shure all shackles are moused or locked with wire so they can't unscrew and while the boat will be safe onj light gear for a time heavy gear will help you sleep better at night and last longer. But you will have to inspect the vertical chain at least twice per year for wear. You pull the links apart to look for wear where one link rubs on the next. When it is down below half thickness it is time for new chain. This doesn't mean old worn chain is no good it is the material that is left that does the work.
By getting wet suit and becominng comfortable in the waer you can then do lots of other jobs on the boat like clearing prop replacing anodes and cleaning hull. I can't imagine owning a boat without being happy to get in and under. The 500 pounds should buy you a wet suit all the hardware if you are lucky with change to spare and the satisfaction of doing it yourself Good luck olewill

 

[penultimate]

I paid £400 19 years ago, and £500 nowadays doesn't seem unreasonable. Bear in mind that most insurers will only indemnify boats on "professionally laid and serviced moorings".

 

[Lakesailor]

How much is your boat worth? Isn't it worth a few quid to keep it safe?
Do you want to do all the work yourself (handling heavy kedges or concrete slabs from a boat is not easy) and are you confident it would be secure? Will the insurance company accept it as a 'proper' mooring?

Will they negotiate?

 

[poter]

Exactly the point I was going to make... after the incident with my yacht last year, I was very pleased that the insurance co. paid up without a problem, even though the mooring gear failed.
I had it laid by a local company, who were the registered suppliers, so I assume the insurance company had more of a comfort factor.

Unless you have access to a workboat, know the area intimately, & have done this sort of work many times before, then do not even think twice about it.

As a previous poster said how much is the boat worth to you?

poter

 

[yachtie8]

Expensive or not, check your insurance policy. My boat cannot be on a swinging mooring unless it was been professionally laid..

 

[graham]

£500 sounds about right to me but I would ask for a written specification of chain size ,weight and type of the mooring sinker etc .

 

[MarkJohnson12345]

Always nice to have someone to sue...................

How much would you charge me to lay a mooring in a minimum of 3 metres of water, and pay for professional indemnity insurance, the boat, the materials and make a living from it?

 

[cjepearson]

I bought all the bits for my mooring from the EYE Company at Levington, Suffolk and it cost £330. I then had to transport all the gear, put it together, then pay a local fisherman to lay it. I would not do that again. £500 is a reasonable price for the job. There was also some discussion with the insurance company. On balance, get a professional to do it.

 

[Kyle2]

Last year, I bought a new mooring which cost me £540 including laying. This consisted of 2 large Danforth anchors connected by a length of heavy galvanised chain, with a swivel and galvanised bridle attached. I provided my own lead chain, buoy and pick-up buoy. Sorry, I forget the exact dimensions of chain & anchors, but I would think that what you have been offered is a reasonable deal.

 

[Dipper]

I agree with most of the others. Fork out the £500 and get a professional job. It seems a reasonable quote given the amount of heavy work involved which may also require a boat with lifting equipment and a diver. Heaving heavy weights and chain off your deck is likely to end in problems.

My mooring is slightly shallower than yours and consists of a sinker, very heavy ground chain (around 4 metres) and the rising chain. If you can arrange for your rising chain to have a welded ring one end, the chain can be fed through the end link of the ground chain, through the ring then up to the boat. This means there is no shackle to come undone.

Providing the ground chain is longer than the depth of water at low water, you can replace the rising chain yourself in the future, so saving on maintenance costs. Choose low water springs on a calm day, haul the end of the ground chain to the surface and swap to a new chain. It is relatively easy to manage single handed. You will still need a routine check of the ground chain and sinker by a diver but he/she is unlikely to have to carry out any work so it should be fairly cheap.

 

[paulrossall]

Olewill
If I had to lay a mooring I would follow your advice. I would rather do a good job myself and sleep easy at night. Thanks for the information. Paul

 

[William_H]

I happily accept what everyone says. Just two points a yacht can be used to lift heavy objects by slinging a bridle under the hull from the two sheet winches. Don't be impressed by galvinised chain. It is not worth anything. it is not the corrosion of the metal that matters but rather the wear between the rubbing surface of the links. you can imagine how klong galvinising lasts in this area. If you do decide to have a go yourself have a search around the bottom if the water is clear enough. you may well find old mooring weights engine blocks etc that can be connected to by chain. Even other peoples mooring weights. if this is just one end of a bridle then you can still have your mooring where you want it. If you connect to someone elses weight that is in use of course you need to be sure that 2 boats won't drag the mooring weight but otherwise the connection to your mooring anchor at the other end will enhance his holding in your direction.
good luck. I only wanted to point out that you can do it yourself. regards olewill

 

[LeonF]

Here on the lower reaches of the Thames the PLA charge around £500 to lay a mooring, including all the kit. Mine was laid about 4 years ago, and they included all the kit, and a hard yellow Hippo buoy. 2 years ago I substituted an inflatable with a heay warp thru the centre for the hippo, which solved the chafing problem in wind against tide, when the boat can surge onto the mooring. This I bought from EYE in Suffolk. The chain was checked 2 years ago by a diver and he said it was showing no signs of wear. Last year I replaced the top 8ft which was still perfectly serviceable and would have lasted another season or 2 but I was just being cautious. I never saw it being laid initially but the diver said they seemed to have used a large ships anchor as a sinker....a ton I believe.
Another member had the recommended ground chains and mooring anchors etc from EYE again , and another local firm to lay it. The anchors walked and they had problems with it. They river bed is chalk in some parts over here.
The local firm might be your best bet.....they know the area, the bottom and local knowledge is invaluable. I was nervous about a river mooring with the strong tides here on The Thames, and at the time suggested a 2 ton mooring to the PLA. They reassured me that 1 ton was perfectly adequate for my size of boat, then a Sigma 33, and they used ton sinkers for much larger boats.
had a quick look yesterday and it seemed to be ok, but shall replace the shackle below the buoy to be safe.
After all that?? I would say pay the £500, get a spec, and ask what other moorings they have laid in the area.

 

[boomerangben]

Be very carefull when designing the length of the riser. A couple of boats here were caught out when a high spring tide combined with hurricane force winds, a very deep low and a storm surge of over a meter meant that sinkers/anchors were lifted off the bottom and the boats wondered off.

Check with chanders, I know Gaelforce Marine (of mail order fame) will design and supply moorings and have experience designing moorings for fish farms.

 

[BobPrell]

What a pity that the insurance culture seems to erode self-sufficiency. I can understand how people with expensive boats want to have it however. I am pretty much a shoe-string budget boatie so I like to do as much myself as I can. I thoroughly agree with olewill about gaining confidence to get in the water, get under and fix and inspect.

I did once go shopping for a swivel for a mooring. The chandlery didn't have any galvanized swivels so sold me a stainless one. Luckily I am a compulsive checker. The stainless caused galvanic erosion of the galvanized steel chain and shackles it was in contact with. There were craters a half to a third way through 10mm metal after about 5 weeks in salt water!!!

I had let myself fall for that natural attitude "they are doing this for a living, they must know what is right."

cheers bob

 

[Birdseye]

[ QUOTE ]
I paid £400 19 years ago, and £500 nowadays doesn't seem unreasonable. Bear in mind that most insurers will only indemnify boats on "professionally laid and serviced moorings".

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry - not correct. We have nothing but amateur layed moorings and pontoons round here and no probs with insurance. They simply expect you to do the job sensibly and look after it.

 

[Johnjo]

Yep will second that ! I lay and maintain my mooring, minimum depth 19 ft on springs.

Insurance is perfectly happy as long as its sufficient in weight and well maintained.

 

[Lakesailor]

That seems a remarkably well considered attitude for an insurance company. Do you have any examples of claims they have paid out on without quibble. In my experience of insurance generally it's when you make a claim that you find out how squirmy they can be.