Mooring Etiquette

We're up in Casco Bay Maine and after talking with locals from Freeport, were given a bunch of great anchorages to visit. The basic advice is that if there is an unattended private mooring, that is ok to pick up and use. Of course, it is also noted that you would have to move if the owner returned. What is the "Mooring Edicutte "? We are long seasoned to anchoring, but rather new to mooring. Problem is, that especially around ports of Massachusetts and New Hamshire, anchorages seem to be going to mooring fields. Comments anyone?

Well, I hate private moorings, particularly in Maine where they are installed with no permits. Someone just drops one in the middle of a great anchorage.


But I am not beyond using one. But I would back down very hard on one first. If it fails, well too bad owner.


Yes, I guess courtesy suggests moving if the real owner shows up even if he showed no courtesy in putting it there in the first place.


David

So, how does one establish/prove/show ownership, legal or not legal, of a mooring?

markpierce said:

So, how does one establish/prove/show ownership, legal or not legal, of a mooring?

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In Washington State, they could produce the mooring buoy permit issued by the state.

Etiquette..

Or it would be written in permanent marker or paint on the mooring buoy.

I don't trust them and I am not about to try and break someone else's property to test if it is OK for me to use for free. Plus the possible hassle of having to disengage and re-moor if the owner shows up, and if they do when you are away from the boat?

The only time we used one was in the Thimble Islands where the generous owner happened by in his skiff as we were looking for a place to anchor, and offered us his; he knew it was strong enough for us. Even passed us up the pennant.

I've only used state-operated public buoys which are available first-one-available. Moorings are rather uncommon here.

IntoTheBlue said:

We're up in Casco Bay Maine and after talking with locals from Freeport, were given a bunch of great anchorages to visit. The basic advice is that if there is an unattended private mooring, that is ok to pick up and use. Of course, it is also noted that you would have to move if the owner returned. What is the "Mooring Edicutte "? We are long seasoned to anchoring, but rather new to mooring. Problem is, that especially around ports of Massachusetts and New Hamshire, anchorages seem to be going to mooring fields. Comments anyone?

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In our neck of the Maine waters, that is what is done. At your own risk and perhaps of your mooring neighbors of course. Different areas will have different customs and, shudder, regulations.

If any TFrs are going to be in Buck's Harbor, Maine, this summer, our primary mooring is available. Just PM me for location. Inspected annually, heavy tackle, very sheltered. No blowboats need apply as depth at extreme low tide is about 5 feet.

In Maine, mooring permits are issued by the local harbormaster. They may or may not be strictly enforced.

Traditionally, and per ordinance in most towns, working boats and shorefront landowners have "first dibs" on a mooring to keep their boat at all season. In populated areas, there may be a waiting list - sometimes decades long.

The problem is the proliferation of "destination" moorings that are NOT used to keep a boat on all season. Some are only used a few days a year. These can completely fill a popular anchorage, making it unusable to everyone else.

I find this practice problematic. The federal government allows the States to regulate the waterways as a public trust. They should be available on some sort of fair and equal basis for all citizens. Allowing local towns to assign a section of anchorage exclusively for the occasional recreational use of one individual ought to be against the law.

But the law is what the lawmen do. And that's how it's done in Maine. So the unwritten etiquette has developed that it's OK to use one of these destination moorings if the owner isn't around. At your own risk, and at the risk of being kicked off, of course. Not an ideal situation, to be sure.

Here on Mount Desert Island moorings are assigned by the towns. I was on a waiting list for ten years before I got my mooring. I pay an annual fee to the town to keep my mooring. As far as the mooring itself goes I own it. It is inspected every three years. All the moorings here have numbers assigned by the towns on them. In addition many people have their name and/or their boat name on the mooring. My mooring has both my boat names and my name. My pickup buoy also has a flag that says "In use 2016" on it. Despite that I have to run people off my mooring frequently during the summer. If I come back and find an unoccupied boat on my mooring I call the harbormaster who moves the boat to a town mooring. Harbormasters are law enforcement officers.

Most places have rental moorings available. Rental moorings are generally inspected annually. If there are none available, call the harbormaster and ask if there are any moorings available. The harbormaster knows which moorings are in use and what size boat they are set up for. If you just pick up a mooring it may only be sized for a 16' boat and a trawler would drag it in even a moderate wind. Also moorings are spaced based on the boat size they are set up for. For example, my mooring is sized for a 40' boat (3 ton granite block, 1-1/4" bottom chain, 5/8" top chain and 1" mooring pennant). A mooring next to mine is sized for a 20' day sailer and has a 150' mushroom with 5/16" chain and a 1/2" pennant. A trawler on that mooring could swing into my boat and drag the mooring in anything over 15 knots.

For me, the main questions about 'borrowing' a mooring anywhere, are when was it last maintained and what size boat was it designed for?

Has anyone heard of guest/public docks? They're much more convenient than a temporary mooring.

markpierce said:

Has anyone heard of guest/public docks? They're much more convenient than a temporary mooring.

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We have public docks here but they have a two hour limit with no overnight stays allowed. If you want to tie up to a dock in this part of Maine you are going to have to go to a marina and pay $2.75 to $4.00 per foot for the night.

markpierce said:

Has anyone heard of guest/public docks? They're much more convenient than a temporary mooring.

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Again, it is a regional thing. If guest docks were readily available, folks would know about them.

TDunn said:

We have public docks here but they have a two hour limit with no overnight stays allowed. If you want to tie up to a dock in this part of Maine you are going to have to go to a marina and pay $2.75 to $4.00 per foot for the night.

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So, what's your complaint? Anchor if you don't believe the location is worth it.

markpierce said:

So, what's your complaint? Anchor if you don't believe the location is worth it.

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No complaint, just stating the local situation that we don't have public docks you can tie up to overnight here on Mount Desert Island, ME.

If you pick up someone else`s mooring, for sure you know it is not yours.
Our Maritime Authority grants annual licenses to install mooring apparatus. Many boats are kept on private and marina owned moorings. You are required to service it annually. There is a practice of picking up other peoples moorings (OPMs), and getting off if the owner returns. Though Ku Ring Gai MYC instructs members not to require a non member to move off at night from its Club moorings in Refuge Bay.
National Parks provides moorings for 24 hour use for boats to 15M in some of the nicest places you could overnight.
While an empty mooring might be seen as inviting usage, I think you pick up an OPM at your own risk, and if you damage it you are responsible to the owner whose property you used without permission.

I would'nt use a mooring bouy unless there was a sign (at least slightly weathered) saying anyone can use this mooring bouy anytime.
If it's not yours you've got no business latching onto it.
Sure glad I don't live on the east coast.

New South Wales has some very good public boating facilities compared to Queensland. We recently bought our boat up from Sydney to Brisbane and found the public moorings, jetties and pump out facilities in New South Wales very good. In Queensland they are almost non existent.

As Bruce said moorings in Australia are pretty much completely regulated by the state and I wouldn't use anyone's private mooring without permission,

Brett

Agree with Eric on this one. I prefer to anchor and never use a dock while boating because its usually just a big noisy party going on. No thanks. But I admit to being somewhat anti social.

There are some nice places in the northeast where anchoring is just not an option due to bottom makeup or the previously mentioned "all filled up with moorings" issue, or the usable anchoring spots already taken by either transient or semi-permanent users.

But it all works out one way or the other, you move on to the next spot which is typically not far away. If anxiously paranoid, you plan ahead , call the harbormaster and get a transient mooring reserved if available. Our heavy preference regardless of location was to anchor or moor every night, and our boat (Hatteras 56MY) was too big for a lot of moorings, yet we blissfully managed to do the whole eastern US to our liking a few times.

Eastern Caribbean warning. Do not trust a mooring ball in an English speaking island. A few are good and checked regularly.You would need local knowledge to determine this. Most are serviced only when the line breaks. Again and again we hear of boats set adrift by broken mooring lines.

While I totally respect the legalities of state or town permitted moorings that are registered with the authorities and inspected regularly, I have little respect for the "destination" moorings found in Maine.


We have cruised Merchants Row for example, a group of pristine islands, mostly uninhabited with nice coves between them. Right in the middle of the cove, you sometimes find a destination mooring. Someone dropped it there with no permit. And it blocks the anchorage.


Do these moorings have the same rights as permitted ones? I think they have the same status as a sunken and abandoned boat.


David

djmarchand said:

Do these moorings have the same rights as permitted ones? I think they have the same status as a sunken and abandoned boat.


David

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Don't be too quick to assume you know the status of a sunken and abandoned boat. It does vary by jurisdiction.

To me it's simple. I know the mooring isn't mine. Unless someone gives me permission to use it, I have no right and would only do so in an emergency or some sort. I just do not consider myself having the right to use others' moorings without permission.

It's been a few years since I've anchored there but one of my favourite stops is Beaufort NC. The anchorage in front of town had been pretty well taken up with private moorings by locals who would come out in a dink to charge you for using their mooring. At that time these were installed without town/USCG/state permission, just a few locals trying to make a buck with a couple of scrap V-8's welded together, a chain and a float. Now it's not my country and I ralize as a guest, I have no say in the matter but it does not seem right that someone can usurp public waterways for private gain. Can anyone tell me if this is still going on at Beaufort as I'll soon be heading that way again.

djmarchand said:

While I totally respect the legalities of state or town permitted moorings that are registered with the authorities and inspected regularly, I have little respect for the "destination" moorings found in Maine.


We have cruised Merchants Row for example, a group of pristine islands, mostly uninhabited with nice coves between them. Right in the middle of the cove, you sometimes find a destination mooring. Someone dropped it there with no permit. And it blocks the anchorage.


Do these moorings have the same rights as permitted ones? I think they have the same status as a sunken and abandoned boat.


David

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If a car is parked in a no parking zone, that doesn't mean that you can borrow it, vandalize it, or steal it. Unfortunately, the same principle applies.

If those moorings are not permitted, and are interfering with the allowed use of the state waters, then file a complaint with the appropriate authorities. Of course it is unlikely they have the resources to do anything.

It sounds like some of you have issues with people sinking private moorings.

I don't see the issue with sinking your own private mooring as long as it is in an area that allows such, does not interfere with navigation and isn't disrespectful of others' desires to anchor in the same area. Personally I would write the words "Private Mooring" on it and possibly my phone number as well.

makobuilders said:

It sounds like some of you have issues with people sinking private moorings.

I don't see the issue with sinking your own private mooring as long as it is in an area that allows such, does not interfere with navigation and isn't disrespectful of others' desires to anchor in the same area. Personally I would write the words "Private Mooring" on it and possibly my phone number as well.

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I don't think they have a problem when it's in an area that allows such to legally be done.

BandB said:

I don't think they have a problem when it's in an area that allows such to legally be done.

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Exactly....even pirate moorings are OK with me if they don't wind up blocking cruisers from enjoying a great spot.

As long as there is still reasonable access to an area, even long trem anchoring doesn't bother me if it isn't affecting others to an unreasonable point.

Nomad Willy said:

I would'nt use a mooring bouy unless there was a sign (at least slightly weathered) saying anyone can use this mooring bouy anytime.
If it's not yours you've got no business latching onto it.
Sure glad I don't live on the east coast.

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I couldn't have said it better myself.

If its not yours or a friends who gave you permission leave it alone.

What next...well i didn't see anyone home so i just borrowed their house for a day or 2 while they were away.....
Surprised to that instead of wondering, why you guys don't just drop your anchor and use that?

And if your anchor system is broken then fix it....