Mooring ball question

[madrasahs]

After ice-out, I noticed a variety of plastic "floats" on the surface to locate mooring lines.

This season -- like last season -- I've been unable to grapple my mooring chain off the bottom because the water (at 15-feet depth) has been too murky to see the mooring block or chain.

What are folks using as floats, do you leave it on the surface for the winter, and what kind of line are you using to attach it to the mooring?

[Bear Guy]

I have never left a float in the water through a winter season. On the winters when our mooring chain stays in the water (it gets pulled out and replaced about every 3 years), we tie a length of nylon rope to the float end of the chain. This is then stretched toward shallower water. The loose end is tied to a brick and the brick is placed underwater next to shore. This can be picked up easily in the spring.

[Stina]

I have "Winnipesaukee Diver" put my mooring in each year. He's great.. He checks the integrity of the chain.... no worries!!

[DRH]

We do much the same thing as Bear Guy ... tie a 1/4" diam. nylon line to the end of the chain when we remove the mooring ball in the fall. We then let the chain fall to the bottom of the lake and lead the nylon line to shore where we tie it to a stake in the ground. (My dad ties his nylon line off to an anchor and drops it in the shallow water next to his dock.) In the spring, we just raise the nylon line and bring the chain up to the surface to re-attach the ball. We've never had a problem using this method.