Temporary Mooring

[Footin]

Next month I will be using a family memebers cabin for a weeks vacation with the family. While there, I want to keep my 205 in the water for a week for ease of use. To do this I will have to make up some kind of mooring to tie up to at night.
The lake can get somewhat rough at times so my anchor on the sandy bottom is not going to hold securely enough, and I want to rig this up quickly when I get there so here is my plan unless you all find faults:

1. Once I get there stop at a local building supply place and buy about 4 of the large cinder block used on house foundations.

2. Carry the blocks into about 4 to 5 feet of water and set them on the bottom.

3. Thread a chain or heavy rope (about 20 feet in length) through all the blocks and attach the other end to a large bouy I already have.

4. Tie the rope to the bottom ring of the bouy with a 5 foot rope with a caraibiner on the top ring of the bouy to hook up the boat easily.

Will 4 cinder blocks be enough wieght to securely hold to boat?

Any other thoughts or faults with my plans?

[zberger]

i would NOT use chain.. it will scuff up the clear coat or possibly nick it.

is there a dock at this place?

[Footin]

No dock I can use. The chian will be under water from the blocks to the bottom of the bouy only. I will use a rope from the top of the bouy to the boat.

I may not use chain, I have an extra 25 foot 1/2 achor line I could use instead.

[Rockman]

No dock I can use. The chian will be under water from the blocks to the bottom of the bouy only. I will use a rope from the top of the bouy to the boat.

I may not use chain, I have an extra 25 foot 1/2 achor line I could use instead.


I would use the chain up from the blocks to the buoy and then a rope to the boat.

We have the same setup you are discussing for our swim raft. I would suggest to use no less than 4 of the BIG blocks. If they are all chained together, that concept will work.

How bad can the lake get (i.e.-waves, etc.)? A few waves or some massive rollers?

Check the thread for "Beaching" and see what concepts were discussed to allow the boat to be close to the shore but not on the beach. These may help as well and we have used some of those at different lakes.

PM me if you have any Qs regarding our setup.

[LakePirate]

I found out the hard way that one concrete block will not hold. This past weekend I took a 40 pound bag of quikrete and poured it into a 5 gallon bucket with an eye bolt in the middle. It shoud hold with no problem. I think that would be easier than 4 concrete blocks. It dries overnight.

[AirJunky]

I wouldn't think that 4 cinder blocks would be enough. Whats the bottom of the lake look like? If it's soft enough & shallow enough, you might try a dock screw anchor. Looks like a giant dog leash screw that you would screw down into the lake bottom & then tie off from that.
Otherwise, I'd use the largest anchor you can find with about 6' or 8' of chain to make it lay down on the lake bottom. That anchor set right would be tough to move in any water conditions.

[jmac197]

We do like LakePirate does except we put 4' lengths of rebar through the sides of the bucket so they cross like an X. If the anchor does begin to drag, the rebar will hopefully dig in and reset itself.

The 6-8' chain is a great idea as well. During normal weather the chain is what keeps the boat in place. The waves may lift some of the chain off the bottom, but by doing so, it keeps the continual pulling motion, produced by the boat going up and down the waves, from unsetting the anchor.

I have used two of these anchors, with the 6-8' of heavy chain as a mouring for years and have never had a problem....except for the one time the guy next to me thought that 4 cinder blocks would hold during a bad wind storm....His mooring rapped around mine and took both of us into the docks. Not a happy camper, but that was years and a few boats ago.

Later
Jim

[Footin]

The worst the lake gets is 1 foot waves with small white caps (maybe once a week). The bottm of the lake is sand. I think the cinder blocks will be ok.

If a bad storm is coming in I can always pull it out of the water for the night.

[erkoehler]

Where is the cabin at?

[Footin]

NW coner of the lower peninsula of Michigan.

[AirJunky]

I have a neighbor who tried to set a 5 mph speed buoy with 2 cinder blocks. It didn't last a week & was sitting on my beach. I'd be willing to bet your boat is a lot more than twice the buoy's size & weight & would drag 4 cinder blocks pretty easily. JimN's anchor sounds like the way to go to me.

[erkoehler]

Whatever you do, make sure you monitor it the first day or so. Remember, better safe than sorry!

[wakesport]

Are you going to your place on Crystal or some other place?

[Memo]

If you have an old tire, block one end with card board insert rebar through the sides for attaching the chain fill it with concrete. It woks very well and also gives you the ability to roll it to place on sand. Use 5-6 ft heavy chain then anchor line. If you don’t have a tire, use the 5 gal. bucket with rebar. Either will be plenty. Heavy chain is the key on both.
Good luck!:wavey:

Memo

[Maristar210]

NW coner of the lower peninsula of Michigan.


sniff sniff

Sounds like Torch Lake? Lake Charlevoix?

Am I close?

In any case 4 should hold for my $.025

Steve

[Footin]

Yes, it is Crystal Lake. I will be staying down the lake a little ways from the CSA so I will be mooring down there.

[zberger]

If you have an old tire, block one end with card board insert rebar through the sides for attaching the chain fill it with concrete. It woks very well and also gives you the ability to roll it to place on sand. Use 5-6 ft heavy chain then anchor line. If you don’t have a tire, use the 5 gal. bucket with rebar. Either will be plenty. Heavy chain is the key on both.
Good luck!:wavey:

Memo


this sounds like a great idea.. :)

[airwear]

I have had my Prostar 195 moored with 3 blocks for the past 2 months and it has not moved, so my guess is 4 is fine.

[LakePirate]

I have had my Prostar 195 moored with 3 blocks for the past 2 months and it has not moved, so my guess is 4 is fine.

That's because it is still iced in...:D

[wakesport]

Yes, it is Crystal Lake. I will be staying down the lake a little ways from the CSA so I will be mooring down there.

When will you be there? We are leaving this Thursday for 10 days.

[Footin]

Not till the last week in July, I will get there on July 22.

[stevo137]

I would not use the blocks. Last year guy left his pontoon anchored and blocked and it still drug all of them and ended up by the pier.
Would it be too much trouble to just trailer it at the end of the day?

[Footin]

Don't want to trailer every day, the ramp is a few miles away.

Worst case is: down the lake 2 miles there are permanent moorings and I could rent one for the week if I had too, but it would be nice to have it right in front of our cabin.

[ski_king]

If the water isnt too deep, why not dig into the sand and bury the anchor or blocks? I realize that this easier said than done.

By the way Stevo137 has the best looking temporary mooring system (http://www.tmcowners.com/teamtalk/showpost.php?p=66531&postcount=1555) I have ever seen.

[stevo137]

If the water isnt too deep, why not dig into the sand and bury the anchor or blocks? I realize that this easier said than done.

By the way Stevo137 has the best looking temporary mooring system (http://www.tmcowners.com/teamtalk/showpost.php?p=66531&postcount=1555) I have ever seen.
LOL Powerslot! ;)

[east tx skier]

I've moored my boat with a twelve-pound river anchor off the bow eye and two dock lines off the rear lifting rings tied to the dock pilings. With a mild current on the Llano river arm of LBJ (sandy bottom), the boat didn't move over two nights.

Obviously, the more weight, the better. But digging potential plays into it, too. Two lines to the dock is good insurance (and makes it easier to retrieve the boat).

[BeavenX5]

4 blocks and a heavy chain will be fine in a soft bottom. If the sand is hard, you will need something heavier.
Remember, concrete is about haft its normal weight in water when metal remains the same weight in water. Its all about density.
A heavy chain is a must to act as a "spring" and avoid constant hard pulls on the front hook of the boat if the lake becomes rough.

[Jorski]

Usually the problem with anchors other than the absolute weight, is the amount of scope. The general rule of thumb is something like 5-8 feet of length for every foot of depth for proper anchoring. The greater the amount of scope, the greater the holding power.

Just keep in mind the amount of room required for the boat to swing (ie the diameter of the circle) increases with the amount of scope.

Here is an article about anchoring:
http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/boating/7_4.htm

[milkmania]

Here is an article about anchoring:
http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/boating/7_4.htm

is it just me.....
or is this person continually misspelling ROPE with RODE?

or is RODE a term I need to learn?

[JDK]

is RODE a term I need to learn?

Yep. Rode is an anchor line or more commonly an anchor chain.

[causewayskiier]

I agree that the cinder blocks will not be enough to hold the boat in place. The very large screw anchors (that are used for trailor tie downs) will work well, but if you use them, attach to them with chain. I once used a rope for attachment and my rope chaffed into where it attached to the anchor.

[milkmania]

Yep. Rode is an anchor line or more commonly an anchor chain.

thank you,
I thought I'd seen it once, it must have been a typo....... then I kept seeing it:)

[phecksel]

The worst the lake gets is 1 foot waves with small white caps (maybe once a week). The bottm of the lake is sand. I think the cinder blocks will be ok.

If a bad storm is coming in I can always pull it out of the water for the night.
I wouldn't count on knowing if a bad storm is coming. A sudden squall line can generate some pretty heavy winds, and you don't want to be messing around with the boat if one of those storms kicks up. If you can easily get to the bottom and it's hard, I'd like to see something screwed in. Possible even use the anchor as reinforcement

[Ron Grover]

The weight of the anchor is only one factor in keeping the boat still.

I had always just used a small portable anchor that I carried in the boat. The problem was with every wave the bow of the boat would just lift the anchor and move it unless it was hooked under rocks or limbs. I found something that solved my problem.

I purchased an Anchor Buddy from Overtons. It is an anchor rope that stretches from about 12' to 40'. There is a rubber/elastic tube, (i only know that because daughter took off without pulling anchor once) inside a poly anchor rope. When the boat moves the rope stretches and springs back. Since gettting an anchor buddy rope I haven't had any problems. The stretch in the rope doesn't give the anchor the sudden and sharp tug like a solid rope does. The boat stays put.

The sandy bottom might be a problem but I would guess if you chained the concrete blocks together and then hooked an anchor buddy to the chain that would probably hold it OK.

Just my $.02

Ron

[RickDV]

I would be concerned with 20' of rope between the blocks and the bouy, especially in only 4'-5' of water. The bouy could drift quite a ways, settings yourself to snag the rope in your prop.

You may want to keep the anchor line to 8'-10' in length.

Sounds like you have a great week planned. Have fun!

[Jim]

Use the 4 blocks, 8 feet of 5/8 ths chain and then connect it to an anchor buddy. Its basically a stretch line, helps absorb the shock of waves and rollers and keeps your anchor or blocks from breaking loose. You will need to set the blocks deep as the line will stretch from 15 to 30 feet. Thats ok though, nothing wrong with lots of scope. Tie the back off to the beach with a normal line at about 50% tension. Anchor buddys are about $30 through Overtons. Totally worth the investment.