Moorings
Moderator: Jim Walsh
- Warren Kaplan
- Posts: 1147
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 11:44
- Location: Former owner of Sine Qua Non CD27 #166 1980 Oyster Bay Harbor, NY Member # 317
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- Posts: 839
- Joined: Feb 8th, '06, 18:30
- Location: Canadian Sailcraft 36T
Re: Fun with moorings.
Kevin_P wrote:Not to rain on the parade... but be sure to have a heavy duty mooring... nothing is fail safe. I was renting a mooring for three weeks that was supposed to be rock solid and just a few years old. I had 3 pennants as well as a chain attached to the mooring at the bow. During a storm with 60mph winds, the chain broke toward the base of the weight at the bottom and sent my boat flying into the docks. Two other boats ended up on the beach and a few others also had close calls... Ugh... Luckily the boat didn't sink though... And another smaller sailboat I had on a different mooring rode the storm fine.
Otherwise, I love moorings
See the damage here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kpetajan/s ... 2612/show/
Kevin,
It looks to me as if you had a shackle fail not a chain link. The chain looks nearly new.
When buying shackles NEVER buy Chinese made cast shackles. Always buy them from the likes of Campbell or Crosby/CM. I have seen numerous failures of these cheap knock off shackles one of them by another boater who's boat hit mine and caused 25k in damage from a failed cast Chinese shackle. Proper shackles are FORGED then heat treated. A real shackle will deform before failing. A Cheap "cast" shackle will simply snap and fail because they are made of cheap cast iron not closed died drop forged..
Please this is a serious issue that every boat owner should take not of. It is no joke as there are literally millions of these inferior look-a-like shackles flooding the US. Some unscrupulous mooring guys even buy them to save a buck or two... This is flat out dangerous..
If you find your mooring guy NOT using proper load rated shackles from a reputable manufacturer do you self a favor and FIRE him as he has NO clue and does NOT belong in the mooring business.
This may not be what happened to Kevin but beware it DOES happen and I was on the receiving end of it...
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- Posts: 60
- Joined: Jun 23rd, '09, 16:04
- Location: Cape Dory 25 s/v little Ebby Rose Haven, MD. (sadly sold)
Mooring
There is alot of great feedback here. I talked with the Maryland DNR guy yesterday and he had alot of similar advice. I am thinking that putting my own mooring down with known good stuff is the way to go. In Maryland, anyone can put a mooring down for recreational use as long as you follow the guidlines (which are posted on the DNR website).
I'll update everyone as to how things turn out.
Thanks,
Jay
I'll update everyone as to how things turn out.
Thanks,
Jay
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- Posts: 64
- Joined: May 31st, '05, 14:31
- Location: Former owner of "Meridian"1977 CD30C #58Milwaukee, WI
Re: shackle / mooring weight
Just an FYI on mooring weights, in our parts, a harbor on Lake Michigan, the minimum weight for any mooring is 600-750lbs. The mooring that my damaged 10,000lb Cape Dory was on had about 1500lbs on it. Our harbor is generally well-protected, but has vulnerability when the winds are coming from the S-SE, as they were during the night of our calamity.
Yeah, we were also thinking the shackle might have been the culprit. Our mooring guy insists that there was another 10-15 ft of chain on that mooring... I'll be interested to see if any more information is uncovered after he goes down to dive for the weight.
With regards to the kind of shackle, I have no idea and I'll bring that up with the mooring guy and see what he says. Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback,
Kevin
Yeah, we were also thinking the shackle might have been the culprit. Our mooring guy insists that there was another 10-15 ft of chain on that mooring... I'll be interested to see if any more information is uncovered after he goes down to dive for the weight.
With regards to the kind of shackle, I have no idea and I'll bring that up with the mooring guy and see what he says. Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback,
Kevin
Kevin Petajan
"Vegvisir" - Young Sun 35
Former owner of "Meridian"
1977 CD30C #58
Milwaukee, WI
"Vegvisir" - Young Sun 35
Former owner of "Meridian"
1977 CD30C #58
Milwaukee, WI
- Steve Laume
- Posts: 4127
- Joined: Feb 13th, '05, 20:40
- Location: Raven1984 Cape Dory 30C Hull #309Noank, CT
- Contact:
This is an eye opening thread. The parted mooring is so sad.
Serious damage is not limited to a mooring field. I have retied a number of boats in our marina who's lines had chafed through. This was mostly on boats left in the water for the winter. We really are all in this together.
Raven has been on a 500LB mushroom for the passed five years. Weight is not the only factor in mooring anchors. Pound for pound a mushroom anchor will hold far better than a block of granite or concrete.
Even a really quality mooring set up can have problems. One year we were swinging oddly in the mooring field. I dove down to discover that when the yard had set the mushroom the shank did not lay down properly and the chain had wrapped around it. At that point a hard blow could have dragged the thing. This would have be made easier by the reduced scope on the heavy mooring chain.
Micheal's comments about socializing with folks on the docks and bringing people aboard have a lot to do with how you use your boat. We do not tend to spend too much time at our own marina. We might find it more enjoyable if we did have a slip and spent more time with our fellow boaters.
If I had to haul a dinghy back and forth every time I wanted to use my boat I would have to rethink the situation.
We have never been troubled by birds at all. It seems they tend to single out certain boats and or certain harbors. I hope we are as lucky in Mattapoiset next year as we have been in Noank.
It appears as if the mooring vs slip is indeed a personal choice, not quite as controversial as the anchor or prop debates, Steve.
Serious damage is not limited to a mooring field. I have retied a number of boats in our marina who's lines had chafed through. This was mostly on boats left in the water for the winter. We really are all in this together.
Raven has been on a 500LB mushroom for the passed five years. Weight is not the only factor in mooring anchors. Pound for pound a mushroom anchor will hold far better than a block of granite or concrete.
Even a really quality mooring set up can have problems. One year we were swinging oddly in the mooring field. I dove down to discover that when the yard had set the mushroom the shank did not lay down properly and the chain had wrapped around it. At that point a hard blow could have dragged the thing. This would have be made easier by the reduced scope on the heavy mooring chain.
Micheal's comments about socializing with folks on the docks and bringing people aboard have a lot to do with how you use your boat. We do not tend to spend too much time at our own marina. We might find it more enjoyable if we did have a slip and spent more time with our fellow boaters.
If I had to haul a dinghy back and forth every time I wanted to use my boat I would have to rethink the situation.
We have never been troubled by birds at all. It seems they tend to single out certain boats and or certain harbors. I hope we are as lucky in Mattapoiset next year as we have been in Noank.
It appears as if the mooring vs slip is indeed a personal choice, not quite as controversial as the anchor or prop debates, Steve.
- bottomscraper
- Posts: 1400
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 11:08
- Location: Previous Owner of CD36 Mahalo #163 1990
- Contact:
Imported
Even some of the Campbell shackles are now imported buyer beware!When buying shackles NEVER buy Chinese made cast shackles. Always buy them from the likes of Campbell or Crosby/CM.
http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/c ... /index.cfm
Rich Abato
Nordic Tug 34 Tanuki
Previous Owner Of CD36 Mahalo #163
Southern Maine
http://www.sailmahalo.com
Nordic Tug 34 Tanuki
Previous Owner Of CD36 Mahalo #163
Southern Maine
http://www.sailmahalo.com
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- Posts: 839
- Joined: Feb 8th, '06, 18:30
- Location: Canadian Sailcraft 36T
Re: Imported
Sorry Rich, my bad. That sentence should have read Columbus Mckinnon (CM) or Crosby. It was early in the morning and I did not mean to type Campbell..bottomscraper wrote:Even some of the Campbell shackles are now imported buyer beware!When buying shackles NEVER buy Chinese made cast shackles. Always buy them from the likes of Campbell or Crosby/CM.
http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/c ... /index.cfm