mooring weight required for 240 DA?

Piringa

New Member
Mar 17, 2010
28
New Brunswick
Boat Info
1999 290 Sundancer
2008 Sea Doo GTI 130
8' Quicksilver w 4hp Yamaha
Engines
twin 5.0 FI with alphas
Hi,

First post... taking delivery of 2000 240 DA next month. Hoping to moor her in the river outside the door ( 45°55'52.77"N, 66°36'52.58"W). River is wide slow, and relatively shallow (10' -15' average?) with a mud bottom at mooring site. Any idea how much weight I need to hold her?

Thanks,
Jim
 
Hi,

First post... taking delivery of 2000 240 DA next month. Hoping to moor her in the river outside the door ( 45°55'52.77"N, 66°36'52.58"W). River is wide slow, and relatively shallow (10' -15' average?) with a mud bottom at mooring site. Any idea how much weight I need to hold her?

Thanks,
Jim

It's not so much weight as holding power. See if you can find an old man hole cover. The weight is reasonable and they sink into the mud over time.

You would be surprised at how many went missing during the winter when I was a kid.
 
All the rednecks up this way use a stripped down junk Chevy 350 block. :grin:
They sink into the mud real good. :thumbsup:
 
So... Scott... Who is using the block tied to Hoffa's legs as their mooring?
 
Hi Jim,
All I have for you is 2 cents. I dont boat on a river. In the northeast, the local laws set forth by the harbormaster dictate what gear you need. Usually overkill, hurricanes. Congrats on a nice boat. Whatever you do don't skimp on the gear.
Phil
 
A very general rule of thumb is 10 - 20 lbs per foot of boat. Anticipated/possible weather conditions and tide/current will dictate what end of the scale you use. But, this is using a metal (cast iron/steel) mooring anchor. If you use concrete or granite, you'll need much more since they lose much more of their weight in water. Something like 15% loss for metal and 30% - 50% for the granite and concrete (those are approx. numbers as I don't recall the exact ones). Blocks are fine to use; the drawback is they become harder to "DIY". Oh, but I do see the benefits of use in Chicago!

You'll then need a length of heavy, bottom chain (approx 3/4" to 1") that is 1 to 1-1/2 times the maximum depth. I've been lucky and have been able to source used Coast Guard buoy chain, which IIRC, is 1-1/4". Then, a length of light, top chain (3/8" is fine for your size boat) that is equal to the maximum water depth.

Finish it off with a float ball or mooring ball and a pennant. Obviously, you'll need the appropriate shackles for attachment/connections. Also, use a swivel underneath the ball or between the bottom and top chain.

Now, all that being said, it would still be very advisable to (as mentioned above) check with your local authorities as there may be certain requirements or known peculiarities to your area that dictate a specific system.

Good luck! And remember that this is definitely one area where you don't want to skip corners.
 
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Mushroom anchors are great for mud bottoms as they will work their way down into the much over time. As a kid we had a 35' Chris Craft Commander on a mooring for many years in about 20' of water. 9/16" elevator chain split to two 250lb mushrooms.

That was here..
http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/?org=aj#/byjph4mvd0w796j9

The only difference from the picture below was that at the swivel were two legs of chain, one going to an anchor dropped to the east and one going to another set to the west.

mooring_illustration.gif
 
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Thanks for the various replies... we tend to dump our bodies on the woods here so that's why I didn't know the correct cement block size! It would appear the piece of steel I-beam I have available will do the trick based on your responses.

I have been quietly stalking the forums for a while now and have gained a sense of trust from the many inputs to the questions other people have asked. I will have many qestions when I get Piringa home!

Cheers,
Jim
 
Reading Dennis's very informative post reminded me of something. Be sure to mark your mooring ball as "PRIVATE USE ONLY" so someone in a 38' or so Sundancer doesn't hook up to it and break it.

:grin::thumbsup: Good memory!


Jim, I would re-think the I-beam. As Ron correctly stated above, much of an anchor's holding power comes from sinking down into the bottom and creating a suction-type holding power. I can only guess on this one, but it's possible that the long, flat surface of the I-beam may prevent it from sinking far enough into the bottom to be adequately effective. It may "float" more than sink. But, again, this is just a guess.

Another type of metal mooring anchor that you could look into (besides the popular mushroom type) is one called Dor-mor.

Good pic, Ron. I've gotta start remembering to use pictures... sure would've saved me a lot of typing!
 
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Sorry Kids, here is how its done:

We moor our boat in a river in 10-15' at high tide and 1-3 at low tide.

1) ground tackle is set by local harbormaster's requirements. If not follow Chapman.

2) If you use concrete remember the effective weight of the block under water will be 60% of the dry land weight.

3) a 280 would require a 450# mushroom according to our local rules. However, if you are in shallow, or tidal water, stay away from mushrooms with long stems. They will punch a hole in the bottom of a boat at low tide.

That being said I am currently using a 1600# granite block on the bow and a 900# block on the stern. 10' of 1/2" chain going to 15' of 3/8" chain with mooring balls that allow the chain to pass through. With this set up, the pennants (two bow 3/4" 3 braid nylon, one 1/2" on the stern) attach directly to the mooring chain and are not linked to it via the mooring ball ring. If I was on a single point mooring, there would be a swivel between the two 1/2 and 3/8 chain.

4) The balls are white and starting next year must have our name and mooring permit number on them.

5) The choice of chain is always a good discussion. In salt, or brackish water you will get three maybe four seasons. I also leave the ground tackle in all year as 100% submergence is supposed to be better than bring it in every year.

6) Finally if there is a mooring service in your area, use it. I used to service my mooring when we had smaller boats and it is a pain without a boat that has a hoist!

Henry
 
Henry, are you in a very narrow stretch of water? Is that why you use bow and stern points? My concern there would be the inability to swing and having weather approaching from your stern or side. Or, are you protected in such a way that weather only comes in one direction? Or, is it simply due to the depth and the need to stay smack-dab in the deepest part? Just curious.

The OP, according to the lat/long, appears to be in a stretch of river with about a 1/2 mile width - certainly plenty of room to be able to swing.

We always leave our ground tackle in year round, as well. In fact, we get much longer than 3 to 4 years (coast of Maine) out our stuff doing that. Easily twice that.
 
Hi,

Lots of room to swing! We are well away from the channel and there is only one other boat near me (if you google earth the coordinates and look around the neighborhood we don't have a lot of boats!). Our "tide" come from periodic release from the hydro dam a short trip upstream (morning and evening) and is only about a foot so depth is fairly constant... current is steady and will keep boat oriented upstream in everything but the worst and I plan to have boat on the trailer and inside the shop if I get enough notice of a bad blow.

Henry... do know your local weight reqs for a 240 class boat? What is "Chapman?

Thanks again folks!
 
It will cost me about $500 a year to use a mooring service. It seems that it will cost about the same to purchase all the gear myself. Is the work necessary to put the works in and maintain it worth the savings or is the work too much of a hassel?
 
Dennis,

Yes, The usable channel at lowish tide is about 50' including the space reserved for moorings on either side. There is just enough room for me to spin in the channel to get pointed down stream. There is also a working commercial dock just up river from us, so it is just as well we are on a two point mooring. The lobstermen in Mass are just as 'entitled' as the ones in Maine. Long story short you get in their way, you usally get dinged.

TMK,

Kind of surprised at your cost estimate for mooring tackle. My recollection is that it is higher. I pay about $ 375 per year and for that get everything inspected yearly and ground tackle kept in tip top shape. I also don't have to go down in March, or November and take care of the floating hardware.

Piringa,

I'd rather you use local knowledge than copy what we use. Bottom conditions and current play a big role in what you need. What works for us may not be appropriate for your conditions.

Henry
 

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