Am I The Only Guy Mad When I See A Mooring?

[boatman61]

Are you sure its a mooring..?
There's some folk this side of the pond who drop their hook sit around for a while then decide to go for a w/end sail some where else... but they don't want to lose their 'prime spot'
So they attach a small mooring buoy to the end of the chain and pootle off... sometimes leaving an old dinghy attached.
Kinda hard for newcomers to figure whether its a mooring or not..

[mrohr]

Real problem here in the NE USA. Best places are taken by empty moorings. Yes ,i trust my ground tackle way more than any mooring when conditions are difficult which they are usually not. So if just passing thru,I will readily pick up an unoccupied mooring for the night if I am not planing to go ashore. My boat is only 9500 # with a low wind profile so if weather is relatively settled I will sleep soundly without knowing what is on the bottom .
Of course my own tackle is at the ready and I have done a quick survey of the area upon arrival so I have in place some ideas as to my options if conditions, or the owner, require a hasty departure.

On the humiliation of getting kicked off........doesn't happen, not just because I have an extraordinarily thick skin, but rather I apologize to any owner (harbor master) who shows up and then make it obvious that I'm scrambling to get underway. I then use the encounter to inquire as to what moorings are not being used and the owner is only too happy to find me willing to leave that he will recommend another nearby. Usually no surprise to me since I selected his mooring partly because of the proximity of other candidates. Now I just may have a new friend after complimenting him on his boat and he now may impart details regarding dingy landings ,places to eat etc..etc.. Ok, some owners may not be so gracious ,but I have yet to meet them.

Now how to select your mooring : 1..avoid busy weekends when many are out,but with poor weather one can be reasonably assured that mooring will be yours for the night
2. avoid moorings directly in front of a yacht club ( these are coveted spots invariably "owned "by a gruff type A member who will work himself into a froth if he detects your presence)
3.Favor the edges of any mooring field or if not possible seek areas where there are boats of similar type and size.
4. If you feel assured that going ashore for a bit will not inconvenience the owner ,leave a note with your cell phone number and be prepared to scoot back to your craft if the need arises( no new friends today).
5. Do not select an obviously new mooring,but rather one that has been there a while ,ideally without any pickup bouy .
6. Try to avoid any solitary moorings in front of any trophy homes (see #2 above)
7. In foreign waters I would be very careful before I tried any suggestions above.(see guns and anchor threads elsewhere).

......................love you all...................mike........................ .......

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

The crappy thing with them too is that some-guy's-mooring is the last thing I'd tie off to and feel comfortable throughout the night. The properly managed fields, where the whole thing is being hauled out of the water for water blasting and inspection is one deal, but the littering of crap on the seabed is just nonsense.

And like you're saying, it's always in the place that people would want to go.

La Paz, Baja has that kind of stuff going on. Derelict or otherwise abandoned vessels sit directly in front of the prime spots, forcing traffic to go around them, and stopping other vessels from using that space.

It makes me appreciate USA waterways. If you drop a private mooring down in a navigable waterway that gets any type of use, you'll get in some serious trouble that will certainly include removing the mooring.

Well, but here's the other side of it -- there are a couple of privately installed mooring balls in "my" end of Boca Ciega Bay. They belong to just the kind of sailor who is really admired here. Engine gone? OK, but I'm still sailing. So they'll be gone for days, and then come HOME to their mooring, that they built and they maintain. There's no "reserved" sign on them, but everyone knows it's their ball. It's more secure than an anchor, and since these people ride out storms on their moorings and have spent the time and money to put them in, no one uses them without permission.

They don't stay around and guard their ball; they sail and come back to it.

Isn't that just the kind of person that's highly admired here? Of course they've picked the "best" spot." They know what they're doing.

No one begrudges them.

The city is going to put in a mooring field, and they will likely have to find another spot or pay the mooring fee,which is likely to be pretty moderate here. But once the city has done that, maybe we won't have derelict boats that can't be moved in an emergency and won't go careening off to hit other boats and then decorate public or private property for months afterwards.

I guess it's been a nice ride while people could go sail anywhere they want, anchor anywhere they want, for free, but it looks like times, they are a'changin'.

[Boatguy30]

We need to make sure it stays OK to anchor most places for a few days. Not just for a few hours for fishing or swimming. I own my own dock and city moorings here are also reasonable, but one does tend to wonder if there will be anywhere left to cruise to.

Guess maybe a dock surfer app to find private docks to exchange use of for a change of scenery? Instead of anchor every night, leap frog from private dock to private dock all along the intracoastal?

hope not.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Obviously you have not been to Maine where every anchorage that was listed in the guide books 10 years ago is now filled with Private moorings. No place to anchor left at all. With 10ft + tides one needs a little swinging room. I'm in RI right now and it would seem that they have a similar problem here. Any spot that even resembles a sheltered anchorage is filled with private moorings.

Even if someone managed to remove the moorings it just seems the bottoms would be completely fouled at this point from all the blocks down there.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Are you sure its a mooring..?
There's some folk this side of the pond who drop their hook sit around for a while then decide to go for a w/end sail some where else... but they don't want to lose their 'prime spot'
So they attach a small mooring buoy to the end of the chain and pootle off... sometimes leaving an old dinghy attached.
Kinda hard for newcomers to figure whether its a mooring or not..

Mexico loves moorings, but apparently not as bad as the NE of the US. Frequently a concrete block with a pvc tube running through the middle of it. Pull a small loop of chain through, shackle, shackle a longer length to the surface.

[rebel heart]

rakuflames - I understand the advantages of a mooring. To the guy clipped to it, it's a simply and generally safe way to keep a boat in a relatively tight area. They're cheap to build, cheap to maintain, and way easier to get on and off compared to a slip.

But "your" part of the bay there is now effectively off limits to any other vessel that might want to anchor in there. Undoubtedly the moorings were dropped directly in the center of the most desirable area.

The closer you are to a harbor queen (a term I've also heard for boats that never move), the more moorings make sense. The more you move around from one place to another the more they become a pain in the ass.

[rebel heart]

And apparently the USCG doesn't regulate moorings; it's left up to the states (or other government agencies, like Coastal Commissions).

The Coast Guard generally leaves management of mooring buoys to state and local authorities. The local and not-so-local authorities can include the Army Corps of Engineers, the State Lands Commission, the local Coastal Commission, various conservation districts and the local Harbormaster. The Coast Guard gets involved when there is not a designated mooring area and a buoy may need to be placed on the chart, but only after local authorities have approved the placement. We are also involved in large commercial mooring buoys that need to be lighted and charted.

[zeehag]

this abandoned moorings thing seems to be mainly a girngo thing-- bays are more accessible down here--no abandoned or added moorings except where the cooperativa places them--zihuatenejo has moorings FOR PANGAS ONLY and we anchor.
there are moorings in acapulco which are rented out--i am not certain as to how these are arranged for occupancy, as i have no plans to go there.
there are 3 moorings in banderas bay at la cruz de huanacaxtle---they are occupied and inspected occasonally.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

rakuflames - I understand the advantages of a mooring. To the guy clipped to it, it's a simply and generally safe way to keep a boat in a relatively tight area. They're cheap to build, cheap to maintain, and way easier to get on and off compared to a slip.

But "your" part of the bay there is now effectively off limits to any other vessel that might want to anchor in there. Undoubtedly the moorings were dropped directly in the center of the most desirable area.

The closer you are to a harbor queen (a term I've also heard for boats that never move), the more moorings make sense. The more you move around from one place to another the more they become a pain in the ass.

I get that, but if one has one's own mooring, and a spot he (picking a sex) calls "home," he can leave, and cruise, and come back home. It's a great spot, but not the only great spot around there to anchor. He has an extremely sturdy mooring, much more than what you described, and, for instance, I'm sure it served him well today when that storm moved in. He could stay on that mooring certain that it would stay put. I'm wondering how many anchors dragged, forgot to look to see before I left but if any did, it will be "all the buzz" tomorrow.

When the town puts in its mooring field, he'll have to either pay or pick a different place.

[sww914]

Originally Posted by salty_dog_68

I know two wrongs don't make a right but...if they bother you that much...just unhook the float and let the chain sink to the bottom. If the inconsiderate boat owner was smart he marked the spot of his mooring with his gps so he can go for a swim and retrieve the chain and anchor. It is a little spiteful but doesn't seem much worse, to me, than leaving a stupid unattended mooring ball in the middle of every ones favorite spot. It is a public waterway. No one OWNS that spot! What really irks me is all the damn lobster trap floats in the keys during lobster season. It is literally impossible to navigate the keys, during season, without running over a trap float(they are EVERYWHERE). I got one wrapped in my prop once and it bent one of the prop blades. It cost me $300 to have the prop reconditioned.

If you unhooked somebody's float in Baja you don't need to worry about the Coast Guard or police showing up, they won't.
A gang of angry locals would show up and acheive some instant justice.
We are guests here.

[zeehag]

getting angry because someone has a mooring in a cute lil cove i mexico isnt helping your relaxing cruise--- this is gonna happen occasionally in every place you go. getting angry doesnt change anything and picking up the mooring isnt a solution.
usually the owner of moorings placed in mexico is a fisherman or a salvor. many times those moorings are panga weight moorings---light weight. not good enough fro big sailboats with keels to hook onto.
if it is a mooring in mexico it is a good idea to change your mind if it bothers you and use a different cove--gawd knows there are many coves in mexico....or find another place to drop anchor in the bay.
yes we are guests.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by sww914

If you unhooked somebody's float in Baja you don't need to worry about the Coast Guard or police showing up, they won't.
A gang of angry locals would show up and acheive some instant justice.
We are guests here.

Excellent point...Steve...you back?

[marujo.sortudo]

I, too, am annoyed by empty moorings in places that I could anchor. If they're mostly used, then fine. I seem to recall some place on the north side of LI sound where the moorings were marked with a yellow flag buoy when free for guests/transients. That's nice. Do have to take exceptions to Bill's statement, though. I live and cruise primarily in Maine and we anchor all over the place. And yes, that includes southern Maine, where the anchorages are certainly not as good. Once you leave Casco Bay though, it's not hard to find anchorages you have to yourself, nor is it hard to find places to go ashore or provision. It might be fair to say that finding a mooring free hurricane hole is getting more difficult, but I know a couple of places nearby.

[sww914]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Excellent point...Steve...you back?

No, still in Jacksonville working 6-12's on the Jean Mary, a paddle wheel boat. I should be back in Mex before you get down to our neck of the woods, looking forward to seeing you!