TJAGAIN
New member
i have the chance of a mooring the ground tackle if already down .does anyone know where i can get hold of resonably priced mooring buoys and chain for a boat up to 4 tons?
mooring buoys
- Thread starter TJAGAIN
- Start date
Lakesailor
New member
Pay the price. get good, new gear from a chandlery.
It's all that stops your prized possesion from floating off to oblivion.
On Windermere 74 yachts "left" their moorings during the January storm.
It's all that stops your prized possesion from floating off to oblivion.
On Windermere 74 yachts "left" their moorings during the January storm.
webcraft
Well-known member
We are lucky enough to have a mooring courtesy of our local mooring association. It was inherited from someone else, and we had initially hoped to use his ground tackle. However, we had it inspected professionally and it was condemned, so it has been replaced with all new gear (except for the actual ground tackle, which is an old railway wheel and heavy chain, sourced and supplied by the guy who laid the mooring for us).
It cost us more than renting a mooring for the season last year, but we left the boat in over Winter and it has survived at least half a dozen gales including the January 'hurricane'. We will be getting it professionally inspected every year, and this with the occasional replacement of bits of riser etc plus the annual fee will probably result in an annual cost in the region of £200 tops. The inspection means that the insurance will be happy if the worst happens, and that we have complete peace of mind.
We are fortunate to live within spitting distance of our mooring, but if you are living some distance away then I would think that peace of mind is cheaply bought by doing the job properly.
- Nick
It cost us more than renting a mooring for the season last year, but we left the boat in over Winter and it has survived at least half a dozen gales including the January 'hurricane'. We will be getting it professionally inspected every year, and this with the occasional replacement of bits of riser etc plus the annual fee will probably result in an annual cost in the region of £200 tops. The inspection means that the insurance will be happy if the worst happens, and that we have complete peace of mind.
We are fortunate to live within spitting distance of our mooring, but if you are living some distance away then I would think that peace of mind is cheaply bought by doing the job properly.
- Nick
Krusty
New member
Skimping on ground tackle, whether moorings or on-board anchor systems, is for idiots. When your boat breaks free, your negligence may invalidate your insurance, if you have any, and you are liable for all the damage your boat causes to the half dozen others it hits on its way to the shore that breaks it up!
davidwf
Active member
EYE at the gunshed in Near levington are very good and reasonably priced mind ypu shipping chain isn't going to be cheap although they do do it.
http://www.eyecochain.co.uk/index.asp
http://www.eyecochain.co.uk/index.asp
apjones
New member
Are the mooring buoys / ground tackle in southampton water still subject to heavy erosion.
Has anyone found out why?
Rgds
Willy
Has anyone found out why?
Rgds
Willy
Krusty
New member
For mooring hardware, go to GaelForce, Inverness: they supply yachtsmen and marine farms, keen prices, know their stuff and usually most helpful. Also have a website; use Google. All the best.
Birdseye
Well-known member
Can strongly recommend Hippo marine buoys - have been using my 2 for 7 years now without problems. Being solid foam filled and with a thick skin they way outlast the cheepo rod through the middle hollow types from the swindlery. They have a heavy chain running through the middle of the buoy to the top fitting and down to the mooring connection, which can be inspected and replaced if rusty. They are pill shaped which means they stay flat(ish) to the water in a flowing tide, and can be supplied with a fixed ring to moor to with one of theose clever pick up boathooks.
Only problem is that they arent cheap. But in this case you get what you pay for.
No connection.
Only problem is that they arent cheap. But in this case you get what you pay for.
No connection.
William_H
Well-known member
The chain from the mooringmass to the doat or buoy wears incredibly fast. I just replaced my chain 12mm after just 3 years. The wear comes from the rubbing of one link to another the rust which normally protects is rubbed off leaving always shiny metal. Worse you can't see the wear until you pull the links apart or twist them to see the rubbing surface. The answer is more metal. The heaviest chain no matter how rusty looking it is, is best and will last longest. Galvanising does nothing but add cost. So try to find second hand old chain but heavyy.
Actually although I havn't the courage to use it nylon or poly rope would last far longer than chain.
Anyway having fitted your chain you need a buoy big enough to support the weight of the chain without sinking. A smaller buoy will enable you to lift the buoy onto the deck which eliminates weed growth and damage to the topsides. Sadly here the buoys are provided by the mooring authority (government as it happens) great ugly yellow buoys that are too big to lift on board. and they visually polute the water ways obviously chosen by some wise retired sea captain who said buoys must be clearly visible.
Actually of course you either hav3e a boat attached or a dinghy so the buoy is quite unimportant exccept to hold up the chain, Don't forget to fit (buy) a really big swivel to enable boat to rotate without twisting the chain. I think near the top is best and only one. And of course wire up the shackle pins. The shackles wear as well so need to be as big as the chain.
It's not too hard to do it yourself but you really need to be able to dive to the bottom to inspect often. free dive if ti is not too deep. regards olewill
Actually although I havn't the courage to use it nylon or poly rope would last far longer than chain.
Anyway having fitted your chain you need a buoy big enough to support the weight of the chain without sinking. A smaller buoy will enable you to lift the buoy onto the deck which eliminates weed growth and damage to the topsides. Sadly here the buoys are provided by the mooring authority (government as it happens) great ugly yellow buoys that are too big to lift on board. and they visually polute the water ways obviously chosen by some wise retired sea captain who said buoys must be clearly visible.
Actually of course you either hav3e a boat attached or a dinghy so the buoy is quite unimportant exccept to hold up the chain, Don't forget to fit (buy) a really big swivel to enable boat to rotate without twisting the chain. I think near the top is best and only one. And of course wire up the shackle pins. The shackles wear as well so need to be as big as the chain.
It's not too hard to do it yourself but you really need to be able to dive to the bottom to inspect often. free dive if ti is not too deep. regards olewill
oldharry
Well-known member
Some sligthly dodgy assumptions here, I believe. far from protecting chain, rust does the reverse, it rots through it, but not very fast. The bearing faces of the links wear through quickly, not because there is no rust (sorry about the double negative teacher!) but because they are working in suspension of sand mud and grit, which is busy grinding the metal away. Electrolysis can burn a chain through in 6 months if dissimilar metals are present, and it will always be the shiny worn bit that goes first. Sounds a bit to me as if WilliamH's chain is burning rather than wearing through.
Nylon and Poly rope should last longer in theory, but at LW it will be dragged around the bottom and all those sharp shells, and bits of rubbish can abrade it through very fast - particularly if you use cheap polyrope which has very little abrasion resistance! So if you want to keep your boat - dont use it!
Swivels are far more reliable if they can be mounted normally clear of the water. They can wear alarmingly quickly if permanently submerged. The temptation is to use a nice juicy stainless one. If it is submerged DONT. It will burn the chain it is attached to dangerously quickly! The same goes for shackles below the waterline.
And for my money I buy the biggest shackles that will fit the chain - at least 2 sizes up, more if it will take it. They are always the weakest point of a mooring system
The best mooring system is, according to Chichester harbour Conservancy (who manage 8,000 plus moorings) one where all the joins are welded up. and do not rely on shackles at all.
Nylon and Poly rope should last longer in theory, but at LW it will be dragged around the bottom and all those sharp shells, and bits of rubbish can abrade it through very fast - particularly if you use cheap polyrope which has very little abrasion resistance! So if you want to keep your boat - dont use it!
Swivels are far more reliable if they can be mounted normally clear of the water. They can wear alarmingly quickly if permanently submerged. The temptation is to use a nice juicy stainless one. If it is submerged DONT. It will burn the chain it is attached to dangerously quickly! The same goes for shackles below the waterline.
And for my money I buy the biggest shackles that will fit the chain - at least 2 sizes up, more if it will take it. They are always the weakest point of a mooring system
The best mooring system is, according to Chichester harbour Conservancy (who manage 8,000 plus moorings) one where all the joins are welded up. and do not rely on shackles at all.
Birdseye
Well-known member
My mooring is in a fast flowing river full of suspended sand and mud. The 19mm chains on the Hippo buoys were properly galvanised (in the trade at the time) and are much less than half worn after all those years use. Chain is cheap to replace anyway.
The bottom part of our moorings (4 anchors in an X shape) is leaded polyprop rope. We have no wear problems except where it rubs directly against steel shackles. This is bad practise anyway so I always use nylon thimbles.
Wouldnt want to use rope on a swinging mooring though.
The bottom part of our moorings (4 anchors in an X shape) is leaded polyprop rope. We have no wear problems except where it rubs directly against steel shackles. This is bad practise anyway so I always use nylon thimbles.
Wouldnt want to use rope on a swinging mooring though.