Yacht adrift from failed Studland eco mooring last night.

[oldharry]

Report this morning from Studland Bay Boating of a small yacht taking off across the bay in strong winds after the bungee element of the eco mooring bouy snapped

Rubber bungee eco moorings have a known high failure rate. quoted by some as high as an unverified 80% unless meticulously maintained. Obviously the Studland ones are not. I was shouted down when I poited this out at least ten years ago, but mooring failure is apparently acceptable in the drive to avoid a minor seabed disturbance. The yacht was retrieved and the owners who had been ashore were desperately rowing after it (out to sea in a strong wind!) were picked up and reunited with their boat by another nearby yacht that came to their rescue.

Not only does the rubber perish and fail fairly quickly, but shellfish attaching to them can chafe through them in less than a season.

In the meantime heavy beam trawlers have destroyed the seabed in the rest of Poole Bay, and much of the channel coast seabed in the last 20 years with impunity. See the recent reports by Sir Richard Attenborough. Where do seahorses go in winter? Out in to deep water..... Where are they most often seen by the inshore fishing fleet? Out in deep water....

 

[S04]

................... See the recent reports by Sir Richard Attenborough............

I think he died some years ago. Nice to know he keeps himself busy.

 

[Elessar]

I think he died some years ago. Nice to know he keeps himself busy.

I think Richard and David are bing muddled. David is still going.

 

[Cerebus]

The mooring as described sounds very poor.

A rubber snubber in parallel or multiple ones if Studland authorities are so inclined would obviously work.

There are even stainless steel snubbers.

 

[Boathook]

Report this morning from Studland Bay Boating of a small yacht taking off across the bay in strong winds after the bungee element of the eco mooring bouy snapped

Rubber bungee eco moorings have a known high failure rate. quoted by some as high as an unverified 80% unless meticulously maintained. Obviously the Studland ones are not. I was shouted down when I poited this out at least ten years ago, but mooring failure is apparently acceptable in the drive to avoid a minor seabed disturbance. The yacht was retrieved and the owners who had been ashore were desperately rowing after it (out to sea in a strong wind!) were picked up and reunited with their boat by another nearby yacht that came to their rescue.

Not only does the rubber perish and fail fairly quickly, but shellfish attaching to them can chafe through them in less than a season.

In the meantime heavy beam trawlers have destroyed the seabed in the rest of Poole Bay, and much of the channel coast seabed in the last 20 years with impunity. See the recent reports by Sir Richard Attenborough. Where do seahorses go in winter? Out in to deep water..... Where are they most often seen by the inshore fishing fleet? Out in deep water....

Thanks oldharry. Just seen it on faceache after looking. I thought that they were 'serviced' each winter so that only gives them a life of a few months ? Going to be there next week overnight so back to anchoring for safety reasons.

 

[Cerebus]

Thanks oldharry. Just seen it on faceache after looking. I thought that they were 'serviced' each winter so that only gives them a life of a few months ? Going to be there next week overnight so back to anchoring for safety reasons.

“ Faceache”

Absolutely brilliant!

So true and funny.

 

[Cerebus]

What does a “rubber bungee eco” mooring look like out of interest?

I just found this and I think I can imagine what it looks like (pretty awful engineering in my imagination):

https://www.rya.org.uk/news/studland-bay-update-april

The RYA call it “exciting”.

The owners of the boat adrift could add other words I think.

Different subject: any call-back upon whoever installed the mooring if losses occurred owing to breakage of mooring system?

In this case the boat owners did not lose their boat but a lot of sweat and tears I would think.

 

[ylop]

Rubber bungee eco moorings have a known high failure rate. quoted by some as high as an unverified 80% unless meticulously maintained. Obviously the Studland ones are not.

Sounds like a made up statistic! Surely all moorings have a 100% failure rate unless maintained, it’s just a question of when not if.

 

[Cerebus]

Sounds like a made up statistic! Surely all moorings have a 100% failure rate unless maintained, it’s just a question of when not if.

Yes. The 80% simply needs a time period added to it, in order to show how awful they are (assuming they are awful of course; as I fully suspect)

 

[DJE]

Can't they fit a slack rope or chain in parallel with the bungee cord? This would allow the cord to stretch but retain the moored boat if it snapped.

 

[ylop]

Can't they fit a slack rope or chain in parallel with the bungee cord? This would allow the cord to stretch but retain the moored boat if it snapped.

I think you might have missed the point of them! They are to stop the slack chain scraping across the seabed!

 

[oldharry]

I think Richard and David are bing muddled. David is still going.

Severe Brain fog - apologies - David of course.

 

[oldharry]

What does a “rubber bungee eco” mooring look like out of interest?

I just found this and I think I can imagine what it looks like (pretty awful engineering in my imagination):

https://www.rya.org.uk/news/studland-bay-update-april

The RYA call it “exciting”.

The owners of the boat adrift could add other words I think.

Different subject: any call-back upon whoever installed the mooring if losses occurred owing to breakage of mooring system?

In this case the boat owners did not lose their boat but a lot of sweat and tears I would think.

Example of a rubber eco moorings: The Environmentally Friendly eco-mooring | Boatmoorings.com

 

[oldharry]

Yes. The 80% simply needs a time period added to it, in order to show how awful they are (assuming they are awful of course; as I fully suspect)

Time period 3 years IIRC

 

[DJE]

I think you might have missed the point of them! They are to stop the slack chain scraping across the seabed!

Seems to me you could still achieve that if you put the bungee and the back-up rope or chain at the top just below the buoy.

 

[Cerebus]

These should come with a warning.

Also The rubber strop will still scour the seabed. Perhaps not as detrimental as chain but will still scour a circle.

Not very well thought out.

Did this idea cost us taxpayers?

 

[KevinV]

Seems to me you could still achieve that if you put the bungee and the back-up rope or chain at the top just below the buoy.

Maybe you can design a better one? You can bet there's a market after this failure. As the name Ecomooring is taken, perhaps the "Seagrass Saviour" or "Seahorse Salvation"? I'll stick with the "Eelgrass Eliminator" on the bow methinks

 

[KevinV]

These should come with a warning.

Also The rubber strop will still scour the seabed. Perhaps not as detrimental as chain but will still scour a circle.

Not very well thought out.

Did this idea cost us taxpayers?

It doesn't touch the seabed, that's rather the point of it.

 

[ylop]

These should come with a warning.

All moorings come with a warning!

Also The rubber strop will still scour the seabed. Perhaps not as detrimental as chain but will still scour a circle.

The concept of the bungee is supposed to be that it is “always” tight.

Not very well thought out.

remarkably you know everything that’s wrong with them without understanding what the design was! IF 80% of them fail after 3 yrs you surely replace the bungee before 3yrs, just the same as periodically you replace the rope riser on mooring with rope, or the chain when it wears etc. it looks like there’s dozens of these moorings - so if 1 had failed in use it’s far from 80%. Without knowing the maintenance records, if it had received any damage since, if it had been used by innapropriate vesssels, if the the conditions at the time were outside the operating window etc its difficult to know if its the first of many premature failures or just bad luck.

Did this idea cost us taxpayers?

Don’t think so. But I’m sure council funded moorings have failed in other locations - are you as upset about those?

Don’t get me wrong - I think it would be good if all public moorings had some sort of way to check their maintainence records, and had to carry liability insurance for failure but even that wouldn’t stop failures.

 

[Cerebus]

It doesn't touch the seabed, that's rather the point of it.

So the only way for that to happen is for the rubber length at base (as per diagram I briefly looked at) to be stretched at low water and stretched to even greater tension at high water, agreed?

If so, which seems to be what you are saying then the rubber is never in a relaxed state; so perhaps little wonder there are failures.

Info as to if failure is at the rubber length would be helpful for any proper analysis or discussion.