Anchoring in a mooring field, who was rights?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

... the entity who owns or leases the rights to the field has precedence along with the individuals who rent the mooring space.

There's no "entity who owns or leases ....." in Florida except the State which as passed laws that allow certain places to operate a mooring field.

I wouldn't anchor in a mooring field. But we are talking legalizes in Florida.

[ob44]

The moorings off of what was the Bitter End YC are not in use. Dropping an anchor near that mooring field is dicey because it’s been a mooring field for decades; who knows how many discarded/lost anchors and chain are down there.

[Montanan]

Previous forum post on similar subject with interesting comments:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ring-7231.html

I would think that anchoring in a mooring field would be a poor practice. The permitted field was developed for the specific purpose of eliminating anchoring. One should anchor elsewhere or at least deploy to just outside swing radius of the outer edges of the field.

As to liability, I assume [never a good legal practice to assume] that the person that is charging for renting a mooring would be responsible for damages if the mooring failed due to negligent design / installation or faulty maintenance. Of course the language of the rental contract probably has waivers included, yet there is an implied warranty of suitability of use with rentals that may trump specific waivers. By way of example, when I rent a gun at a range, I expect that it will not discharge backwards and if it did, my heirs probably could sue and receive judgement against the range owner / operator, and the equipment manufacturer.

[thinwater]

Local practices vary. Many places you bring your own pendant, all the way to the main ball, so the presence or absence means nothing.

[OldMan]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

There's no "entity who owns or leases ....." in Florida except the State which as passed laws that allow certain places to operate a mooring field.

I wouldn't anchor in a mooring field. But we are talking legalizes in Florida.

There is an actual submerged land lease between the state of FL and the municipality operating the mooring field. So, yes, the muni has 'control' over the area within/around the mooring field.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Local practices vary. Many places you bring your own pendant, all the way to the main ball, so the presence or absence means nothing.

BYOB.

Back in the day, I had a friend who rubberized the outside of a beer keg and welded on mooring eyes so that his private mooring ball [can] was unique and readily discernible as to which was his. It was painted like a can of beer with the Red and White logos of Budweiser. Yes he liked to party and others would raft alongside. He had a comparatively heavy chain down to allow for the extra load of a several raft coupled vessels on the protected cove of the lake. Three or more very large house boats tied together can derive a significant windage loading. His custom mooring was provided more swing radius in the layout of the field so as to accommodate the rafting configuration of six foot long house boats. When the season ended he dove down and removed the chain and mooring keg from the large concrete block.

[Tingum]

OP, were you a charter boat? I enjoy watching the antics of charter boats!

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by OldMan

There is an actual submerged land lease between the state of FL and the municipality operating the mooring field. So, yes, the muni has 'control' over the area within/around the mooring field.

Submerged land is the game that Fl has used to obtain jurisdiction on what has always been Federal Navigable waters.
Fl says they don’t own the water way, just the land underneath it, that way they can control Navigable waters.

I think it as ridiculous as me trying to keep airplanes from flying over, cause I own the land underneath them.
However it seems to have worked.
You lease submerged land in Fl from their environmental protection agency I believe.

[Telemark43]

Lots of room in North Sound by Prickly pear. There is no need to anchore anywhere near the moorings... which until January of 2019 had not been maintained after hurricanes. If you are close to the open Marina different story, impeding access... move away and sleep well.



In Gorda sound off prickly pear. The restaurant is destroyed and nothing going on. The mooring field has no pendants so we assumed it was not being maintained. We anchored by a ball. Later another boat shows up and takes a ball. They are within our swing radius since we’re anchored.

Later a guy showed up to take $$ for moorings, sell
Ice, take garbage. I wasn’t on the boat and no one asked if the field was being maintained.

So... how does anchoring in a mooring field affect rights? I’m asking out of pure ignorance. The other boat didn’t say anything. We did use our second anchor off to the side to reduce our swing and it pulled us further away from them. Wasn’t fun at night.[/QUOTE]

[sailcrazy]

We're sldo in the BVI, and have recently paid for moorings. All our receipts reference a company called Moor Seacure, and the receipt says the moorings are owned by and maintained by Moor SeaCure. Once I've paid for, and have a receipt, I've "rented" that mooring and space for that night. If you come in and anchor, and our boats collide, you can bet I'm coming after you, and Moor Seacure, to be made whole. Dropping your pick on the edge of a mooring field...be may guest. Dropping it in the middle of a mooring field...not a good idea (as in dumb....asking for a confrontation). I'd be at the front of the line to ask you to move. It's like trying to move in to a flat that's been rented to someone else.

[OldMan]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Submerged land is the game that Fl has used to obtain jurisdiction on what has always been Federal Navigable waters.
Fl says they don’t own the water way, just the land underneath it, that way they can control Navigable waters.

I think it as ridiculous as me trying to keep airplanes from flying over, cause I own the land underneath them.
However it seems to have worked.
You lease submerged land in Fl from their environmental protection agency I believe.

No, the feds gave it 'em....


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submerged_Lands_Act

[piloto]

I was there a couple of months ago and they’re still putting things back together. I’d much rather anchor away from the questionable existing moorings and, given the state of things, would wonder if anyone claiming mooring ownership actually did. I’d trust my anchor way more than any mooring ball. I’ve even backed down in one and thought it was secure only to break loose in the middle of the night and start drifting towards the rocks. Watch out for the ballboys, credit card captains and experimental moorings. Just anchor away if you can determine it was a field at one time. Getting hung up on debris below can be a chore to work out of.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Montanan

BYOB.

Back in the day, I had a friend who rubberized the outside of a beer keg and welded on mooring eyes so that his private mooring ball [can] was unique and readily discernible as to which was his. It was painted like a can of beer with the Red and White logos of Budweiser. Yes he liked to party and others would raft alongside. He had a comparatively heavy chain down to allow for the extra load of a several raft coupled vessels on the protected cove of the lake. Three or more very large house boats tied together can derive a significant windage loading. His custom mooring was provided more swing radius in the layout of the field so as to accommodate the rafting configuration of six foot long house boats. When the season ended he dove down and removed the chain and mooring keg from the large concrete block.

Mooring buoys MUST be white with blue stripe to prevent confusion with ATNs. Red an white could be confused with other marks.


http://wow.uscgaux.info/Uploads_wowI...let23dec03.pdf

[Jim Cate]

ypically, moorings secure the boat fore and aft to minimize swing regardless of the direction of the wind and current.

This is not true in most of the world. I know that Avalon Harbour uses such a scheme, but moorings in most places are swing moorings, and often not thoughtfully organized

Jim

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

This is not true in most of the world. I know that Avalon Harbour uses such a scheme, but moorings in most places are swing moorings, and often not thoughtfully organized

Jim

Very true, but my impression is that the poster was talking about the US. I didn't want someone getting the wrong idea.