What size/type of mooring?
 

We just found out that the dock builder we contracted with, to put a dock at our house on Lovell Lake (I know, it's not Winnie) in Wakefield, won't be doing it until mid-June. I don't want to wait that long to put our boat in, so I'm considering putting a mooring in for now.

What would you recommend? The boat is a 18' Chaparral bowrider, about 2500 pounds. We're in a cove that can get pretty windy, with a rocky/sandy bottom.

I've heard everything from a 200 pound piece of granite to engine blocks.

I want to be sure the boat doesn't drag and move the mooring.

Any ideas what I should do, or what it costs to have someone come and screw one of the mooring anchors into the bottom?

Thanks

mooring anchors
 

Pull a permit then ask the harbormaster or marine patrol what they want, otherwise a heavy fine will proceed. My thought for that boat is a 150 pound mushroom.
Good Luck
Willl

I may be mistaken, and of course I would check to be sure, but I don't believe we need a permit for Lovell Lake.

Don't know much about permitting, but I'm sure the DES would go nuts if they found out you dropped a used engine block in the lake.

I couldn't agree more, regarding the engine block. I don't intend to. Granite is what I'm thinking, or a screw in anchor. What I don't know is how much dead weight I need if granite, or someone who installs the screw in anchors.

thanks

Make your own anchor. Pretty easy to do, grab yourself some cement, some PVC pipe and wood. Use the wood to create a reasonable sized box form, put your PVC pipe down the middle of the box, fill with cement. When dry strip off the wood to reveal a nice cement block. Make as may blocks as you think is necesary to hold the boat. Chain them together by runnining the chain through the PVC pipe. Piece of cake! The best thing would probably have a short chain loop to hold all the cement blocks together then connect a seperate piece of chain from the loop up to your mooring ball.

Thanks, I considered that. But how do I determine how heavy it needs to be? I know it weighs less when underwater, so I don't want to worry about dragging.

You'll want a mooring "handy"
 

I'm with MAXUM on the mooring design -- and it's expandable.

My concrete block mooring was once dragged by my brother-in-law's 2-ton sailboat, and it's about the size of a 19" portable TV set. I can't judge the weight. 100+ pounds? The bottom here is all sand, which resists dragging. (A mushroom anchor is best in muddy or sandy bottoms).

Last week, I retrieved our first concrete mooring that my dad made fifty years ago. It's been sitting in the lake all that time. Of course, the metal staple was long-gone, but I was surprised to see that the concrete had eroded -- especially around the bottom. The rocks we had dropped in to add weight were sticking out all around! It too, was 19"-portable-TV-sized.

Since your intent is just to "get-by" for several weeks, you could try setting two borrowed large "Danforth" anchors into the bottom. (Or one "Bruce" -- they're pricey, but you can always sell it later at the Winnipesaukee-dot-com classifieds).

However, if the weather indicates a severe windstorm, an adequate mooring is the best place to put your boat anyway -- not a dock. Make some blocks like MAXUM said. Maintain the longest chain you can (scope), and maintain the metal parts.

Like Winnipesaukee Diver stated a few days ago, stainless steel is the best in the long run.

:)

Here's how I'd do it...
 

Here’s what works best in our area: The depth of the water you will be mooring in is really important, the deeper the water the better. Cement louses 62% of its weight in fresh water, so you really have to over build it to get any real holding power. Next is surface adhesion, the broader the bottom of the weight, the better the holding is. If your determined to make your own block, then head down to the sand pile and carve out a cone shaped hole, put in a large eyebolt and fill it with cement. The end result will be, a giant cement Hershey Kiss, the reason for this shape is so the pennant can’t catch on it and abrade and the you dramatically increase the surface tension. My preferred mooring consists of a granite blocks a foot thick with two holes in it, 6’ of chain looped through with a swivel and a nylon rode (length = 1 ½ time the depth). The appropriate weight for your size boat would be 1000lbs.

An iron mushroom mooring simply won’t work in the lakes unless you grossly oversize it, unlike the ocean where they can work down into the bottom with the tidal currant changes. They just roll around on the bottom in the lakes until they catch on something.

BTW: you will need a mooring permit if you’re in state waters. It may take a while for them to catch you, but they will. They most likely will post a 15-day notice on your boat before they impound it….

Thanks for the info Winnie Diver. 1000 pounds, wow. I'm actually not interested in doing this myself, if I can avoid it. And thanks for confirming the permit requirements. I wish I could remember where I read that I didn't need one. I was going to call the town hall to check however.

I'd actually like the mooring to be permanent, and not just a bridge solution. There may be times that I'll want to move the boat from the dock to the mooring, and when I leave it there for the week, I'd rather it be on the mooring due to the wind in the cove.

So anyone know a place that does this?

Thanks fot the help so far.

Temporary always turns to permit
 

Keep in mind that your boat displaces 2500 pounds of water, that also means it can lift that much weight before it sinks. The longer the rode the harder it is to lift the amount, also surface adhesion will have a much greater impact on the whole equation as well. Cement will louse 62% of its weight in water granite is 20% and iron is 5%.

The state environmental agency takes a dim view on using any ferrous materials (iron) in the water as it eats up the available oxygen in the water as it supports rust. The DES guy that visited us at WCYC the day we were installing 10 new mooring was very emphatic that we would not be using it as a mooring weight. He never said what the penalty would be if we had not been in compliance nor did I ask either.

I needed to do a quick temporary mooring for a fellow on Merrymeeting Lake a few years back. I stopped in at a concrete products plant and bought a round cover to a septic tank. It was 8” thick and 6’ in diameter and weighted about 600lbs. I rolled it (caveman style) off my trailer, down this drive right into the lake. I hooked up a lift bag and dragged it to where he wanted it and sank it. It’s holds his 20 runabout just fine because it has 2 to 1 scope on the rode and has key element to the equation, a broad surface contact with the bottom and it is in a somewhat shelter cove (not exposed to much fetch). It's funny, how that old saying always come true...."Temporary always turns to permit, so do it right the first time"…

I’d like to help you with this project, but I’m way over booked with mooring service work and definitely feeling my age these days as well.

I wish you could help too. Trust me. :D

But thanks for the info just the same, I appreciate it.

Something "quick, cheap and dirty"?
 

Here's a $42 "Bruce" anchor "knock-off-copy" for your boat size. West Marine sells them by catalog. 1-800-937-8895 (CT)

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...roductId=25375


A genuine "Bruce" anchor is twice the cost. Either is awkward to store on board -- but there's no anchor better. Either (Bruce or knock-off-copy) "works best in sand, rocks".

I know someone who used a septic tank cover on a sandy bottom. Once it's settled in, there's a quite a bit of suction that needs to be overcome to move it. That gives it more holding power than the weight alone, but you need to be sure you place it right the first time, because it can be very difficult to move.

What about sometime during the summer though, would you be up for it?

mooring block
 

this won't do you any good this season but, the best way to build a mooring block is to build your form 3'x3'x1'high on the ice in the spring, above where you want it on the bottom, and pour the concrete on a nice warm day. After it sets up, chop the ice around the block and down it goes.

Back to you, Steve
 

Okay, Contact me later this summer and I'll help you with that mooring. Once I get some of these mooring inspection and serving jobs out of way I should have time to go get in trouble with you.... Just kidding, it should be easy if we can get close to the water with my truck and trailer.

Send me an email through the link on my name when you're ready.

Stainless steel mooring?
 

Sounds like a plan. Doesn't setting concrete generate a lot of heat? Seems it could head to the bottom before it's ready.

I saw the ultimate "form" at a yard sale. It was a brand-new stainless steel kitchen sink -- for five dollars.

It would have made too small a mooring form for my boat, but a larger, deeper, sink could be inverted once the concrete is set, and there would only be smooth stainless steel surfaces for the chain to abrade against. (No corners and no abrasives).

The bottom surface would be flat, or could be made slightly concave.

I actually think your not supposed to use concrete, something about chemicals it gives off?