Any info on installing permanent mooring....is DIY possible with screw type ?

This to hold 90,000 lb boat..... suspect a barge with hydraulic screw turner would be necessary but just wondering if DIY via diver even a remote possibility. Mushroom type not likely to hold a boat this large during a storm (60 knot winds), so screw in seems more likely to hold.

Water depth where I would want the mooring not much....8 feet at low tide, 16 at high.

The size screw you will need will be a bit much for a diver. I think it is worth hiring it done.

TDunn said:

The size screw you will need will be a bit much for a diver. I think it is worth hiring it done.

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I suspected as much and would rather hire it done regardless, but figured some red tape involved that might not get approved. Where I would want it, no one goes anyway so the buoy and chain would be zero danger to navigation.... but the authorities might not see it that way, so figured if possible, I'd just "do it" and hope for the best.

Dune said:

I suspected as much and would rather hire it done regardless, but figured some red tape involved that might not get approved. Where I would want it, no one goes anyway so the buoy and chain would be zero danger to navigation.... but the authorities might not see it that way, so figured if possible, I'd just "do it" and hope for the best.

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I'd ask some local divers. They sometimes inspect/perform maintenance on moorings. They may be able to give you a heads up on permitting or local requirements off the record.

Dune, what is the capacity of your davit and does it extend over the center of your cockpit?

You could pickup a HHP stockless anchor (like a Poole or an AC-14) of somewhere between 500 to 1000 lbs, then you could lower that anywhere you wish. Check ABS guidelines. Your boat probably has an equipment number of somewhere 50 or 70 or more. Big ole surplus/scrap anchors like that are sold by the ton nice and cheaply, so you can easily just double the recommended size.

With a leader (1X to 1.5X water depth) of 3/4" or 1" stud link, then "normal" chain up to your mooring buoy.

Basically you can create a portable mooring that you could take with you somewhere else.

makobuilders said:

Dune, what is the capacity of your davit and does it extend over the center of your cockpit?

You could pickup a HHP stockless anchor (like a Poole or an AC-14) of somewhere between 500 to 1000 lbs, then you could lower that anywhere you wish. Check ABS guidelines. Your boat probably has an equipment number of somewhere 50 or 70 or more. Big ole surplus/scrap anchors like that are sold by the ton nice and cheaply, so you can easily just double the recommended size.

With a leader (1X to 1.5X water depth) of 3/4" or 1" stud link, then "normal" chain up to your mooring buoy.

Basically you can create a portable mooring that you could take with you somewhere else.

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Interesting idea... my main anchor looks impressive and I always assumed it weighed in the 200 lb range....but after the hurricane I found I can pick the thing up myself so it must be only 100 lbs at most in reality.

All chain rode however.

Davit capacity is 1000 lbs but it will not extend beyond the cockpit and is a bear to manually rotate it even with just an Avon RIB hanging off (RIB has CC and 25hp Yahama 4 stroke...but still, must not weigh anywhere near the davit capacity)

You don't need a big heavy anchor or screw to make a mooring.

Just use 3 good sized anchors set out in a triangle pattered.

Then there are other options.

Boat Moorings

Anchors and Moorings by Dor-Mor

Many years ago I belonged to a member supported yacht club in Norwalk, Ct. We installed our own moorings. One member installed the three Danforth system instead of the more typical cast iron mushrooms. Hurricane Gloria came along and most moorings held, but the 3 Danforth system ended up on the beach.


I like the Dor-Mor cast iron mooring. Install a 1,000 lb one, and use significant scope, at least 3:1 and preferably 4:1 and it should hold your boat in anything short of a full blown hurricane.


David

I don't know where you are located, but from my little sliver of mooring experience location and gear are often regulated. Where I'm located you need a permit which stipulated the exact location, and there is prescribed gear that has to be inspected every so many years. It's a pain, but as areas get more crowded people just doing their own thing places other boats in danger. I wouldn't want that Danforth rig that dragged coming into my boat or gear, for example.

Or you could buy a block of granite, put a staple in it with a length of heavy chain 1.5 times the depth then a length of lighter chain the depth of the water to a buoy and then a stout pennant. My mooring will hold a 50 footer in a 60 knot blow and I only have 6,000 lbs of granite.

TDunn said:

My mooring will hold a 50 footer in a 60 knot blow and I only have 6,000 lbs of granite.

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Only!?

makobuilders said:

Dune, what is the capacity of your davit and does it extend over the center of your cockpit?

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Sorry...first time I read this what entered my feeble brain was "does it extend beyond the cockpit ?" To which I replied "no" but now that I'm more sentient I see what you really wrote and the answer is "probably.....depends on how I set the davit angle" (which by myself is possible...but a PITA as the counterbalance gas spring is kaput and the arm is rather heavy !)

Anyhoo.....cool idea....any leads on where I might find a used 800 lb ship anchor ? Regarding the "portability" aspect, that is interesting as well....except in this high growth prone area I envision the chain getting so encrused with underwater growth after a year I probably wouldn't want to bring it up !

TDunn said:

Or you could buy a block of granite, put a staple in it with a length of heavy chain 1.5 times the depth then a length of lighter chain the depth of the water to a buoy and then a stout pennant. My mooring will hold a 50 footer in a 60 knot blow and I only have 6,000 lbs of granite.

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Being in the used machine tool business, ironically I owned a huge granite surface plate from an obsolete CMM that weighed probably 8,000 lbs. When I moved shops a few years ago I pretty much gave it away for free....d'oh !

(I only bought the CMM, at auction, for the $$$$ Renishaw motorized probe it had on it...but at the time I did have a vague fantasy of retrofitting the CMM with modern CNC control...but after getting it in I saw how unrealistic that was...still came out with good profit on that Renishaw at least)

A large anchor may be available through salvage companies....the one I work for constantly has a yard full of 100 or so pounders and is a small salvage company...ask Sailor Of Fortune (PM him) if he has seen any big ones lately.


Many organizations have gone away from the block mentality...the USCG in my area now uses 100 pound or so pyramid iron anchors instead of 2000 pound concrete blocks for small ICW buoys. They seem to do a better job and are much easier to deal with.


When I had my sailboat (23 ODay) the local USCG used to drop 2000 or 3000 pound concrete blocks for us to moor to. Many a Noreaster far less than hurricane force would cause block dragging. Check the weight of stone or concrete compared to it weight in water and see the result.


A properly shaped anchor of far less weight well exceeds the holding strength of a big block...so do the math before you commit your boat.

twistedtree said:

I don't know where you are located, but from my little sliver of mooring experience location and gear are often regulated. Where I'm located you need a permit which stipulated the exact location, and there is prescribed gear that has to be inspected every so many years. It's a pain, but as areas get more crowded people just doing their own thing places other boats in danger. I wouldn't want that Danforth rig that dragged coming into my boat or gear, for example.

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This is why I mentioned in the initial post I want to place it where no one goes (no power or sailboat anyway, maybe a Kayak every blue moon)

psneeld said:

A large anchor may be available through salvage companies....the one I work for constantly has a yard full of 100 or so pounders and is a small salvage company...ask Sailor Of Fortune (PM him) if he has seen any big ones lately.


Many organizations have gone away from the block mentality...the USCG in my area now uses 100 pound or so pyramid iron anchors instead of 2000 pound concrete blocks for small ICW buoys. They seem to do a better job and are much easier to deal with.


When I had my sailboat (23 ODay) the local USCG used to drop 2000 or 3000 pound concrete blocks for us to moor to. Many a Noreaster far less than hurricane force would cause block dragging. Check the weight of stone or concrete compared to it weight in water and see the result.


A properly shaped anchor of far less weight well exceeds the holding strength of a big block...so do the math before you commit your boat.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I suspect it would have been rather expensive to get my ex 8,000 lb granite surface plate where I would want it anyway...not to mention the hassel of drilling it out for the connection loop (although granite, with proper carbide tipped drill, will drill easier than one might expect....I have drilled surface plates before to install epoxied in threaded inserts)

Easy enough to drill granite. Rent a compressor, air drill, drilling iron. I've got two or three of the carbide-tipped bits that thread onto the iron...used, but resharpened. (I've drilled many a hole in my callow youth, using a tapered wedge driven by an air hammer / paving breaker, in order to break granite boulders in a basement that I was digging out.)

It's possible any of the larger electric hammer drills now available would do the deed. My Bosch, bought at The Despot, will go through 20+" of the local Wissahickon shist (of which our house is built) in fairly short order.

I think the tougher problem would be the attachment. It would be the item, that as it wore or corroded, you could never change. The shackles and chain would be renewable, either by replacement or addition.

Perhaps you could build a 'sacrificial' skiff with cleverly attached flotation, whilst at your dock, cast a reinforced concrete 'footing' in it using epoxy-coated rebar (like you see on bridge projects). Tow it out to the site and sink it.

Dune as some have mentioned, a Dor-Mor has a great reputation. But you need to throw on some scuba, grab the end of a trash pump (with a nozzle would be best) and ensure it is well buried in the sand/mud.

It sounds like you have mechanical skills and resources, so there's nothing wrong with welding one together from layers of heavy scrap plate. Probably only needs a coat of epoxy primer and not even be galvanized, especially if it only needs a life of 5 or 10 years.