winterizing mooring

[Megunticook]

Don't mean to scare anybody with that thread title, I know we've got plenty of sailing left. But here in Maine we're deep into the second half of the sailing season and I'm thinking about my strategy for winterizing one of the moorings.

It's a mushroom anchor in a fairly protected harbor (not in any town, no harbormaster), was thinking I'd remove the buoy, pendant, and swivel from the top chain, tie a piece of rope to the chain with a smaller buoy on one end, and drop all the chain into the mud over the winter.

Sound like a good plan? Other considerations?

[Brian2]

Sounds like what I do, which has worked well since 1998. For the winter I use a positive floatation buoy, such as a large lobster buoy, and not an inflatable. Of course, if this mooring is in an anchorage like Seal Bay or Perry Creek or some such place, where if it is lost over the winter it will foul the anchorage for us unsuspecting cruisers who anchor, please take special care not to lose it.

[NateHanson]

You've got the idea, but I'd use a 6' winter stick buoy instead (weighted with a shackle or bit of old chain to keep it pointing upright).

A small lobster float can get run over by a boat, or torn off by ice, etc, and I can say from experience that it really sucks to loose $1200 of mooring gear.

Now please don't mention the subject again for another 4 weeks at least!

[Joe M]

Here in Cape May we don't get the icing that you do in Maine but most of us in the CM harbor mooring field still take mooring maintenance seriously. That said, the past two winters we did get enough ice in the mooring field to drag some of the undersized moorings that less responsible owners have used (like the 20 Lb. Danforth anchor with 20 steel auto brake drums looped over the chain...would you believe there was a CD 25 on that mooring?!).

Typically we pull our mushrooms every two years and check all of the chains, shackles and connection points then reposition the moorings as needed. Like you, there is no harbor master, just an open mooring field. In November, when I pull our boat I remove the mooring pennant and the 24 in inflatable mooring buoy and attach a new swivel (if needed) and an old 12 in diameter solid foam filled buoy. As a back up I snap on an old mooring pennant with a float to the upper chain a few links below the buoy. I'm always hoping that one or the other or both floats will be there in the spring.

I do like Nate's idea of a winter stick. We used that in Blue Hill when we were in Maine...made one from five feet of 1.5 in. diameter PVC, a few fittings and some lead shot inside for weight.

I wouldn't "tie" your winter float to the anchor line. Even with just tide and wave motion your chain may wear thru the rope over the winter. Suggest a thimble and shackle.

One other suggestion...know where you mooring is. Even the most basic cell phone GPS App and some land bearings should get close enough to find a lost mooring if its not too deep. Pull up tight so your mooring chain is vertical, take your bearings and GPS location then back off noting the direction your chain lays out. Your heavy chain should stay put over the winter. Of course your results may vary, but we've used a grapple in 20 ft depth and a mud bottom to snag lost moorings and chain with lots of success...but you need to know where to start looking.

Hope this helps, Joe

[Steve Darwin]

Winter stick is best. I didn't think ice was thick enough south of Cape Cod to grab a buoy and drag a 200-lb mooring until it happened(!). If the winter buoy (of whatever type) is lost, you should have the GPS coordinates of your anchor, and perhaps also a record of some land-based ranges (aligned trees, rocks, buildings) so you can find the mooring with a grappling anchor if necessary. A series of photos taken from the mooring might help to relocate it.

[sharkbait]

Put your GPS on the mooring and wait for at least 10 different satellite hits before reading.

[Megunticook]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm thinking at this point a winter stick might be safest. Looked at a Sully Stick at Hamilton today, they wanted over $70 for it. From what I understand people traditionally have used wood poles weighted on one end. I have a 6' piece of 4x4 hemlock laying around--was thinking I could paint it white, maybe paint a blue stripe on the top, then weight the bottom. Think that would work well?

I picked up a 40' length of "mill end" 5/8" nylon three strand for $10 when I was at Hamilton, depth at spring tides runs about 34 feet, ought to be perfect. OK to have part of the rope in the mud with the chain, or better to keep the rope off the bottom?

[casampson]

Make sure you use bottom paint on your winter stick.

[Megunticook]

Why? I don't really care if the stick gets slimy or full of barnacles below the water. Or am I missing something?