Mooring guide

Mooring is generally done where few slips exist either because of availibillity or because of large tidal changes. One of the great advantages of a mooring is that it amounts to having a separate, private space for your home away from home, your boat.
Although there is a lot of new mooring technology, let's stick with the traditional setup that serves so many boaters so well. The goal is simply to keep your boat where it is moored safely.
The mooring setup consists of a mooring line ( usually called a mooring pendant or mooring pennant ) which goes from a strong deck cleat to your mooring buoy which will have a strong attachment point. This line should have a professionally spliced eye to attach to the cleat, chafe gear secured to the line where it goes through the chock at the bow of the boat and a hot dipped galvinized or stainless steel thimble again professionally spliced to attach to the chain at the mooring buoy.
A short length of light chain which usually goes through a center hole in the mooring buoy is shackled to the mooring line at the top end and shackled to a swivel at the bottom end. The mooring buoy used must have enough buoyancy to hold the ground tackle ( the stuff below it in the water ) up and still float reliably and visibly at the surface of the water.
The swivel deserves a special word or two. Although some boaters don't see the need for them, I have seen enough tangled or damaged mooring lines to think they are a great idea. The swivel should be the stongest link in the chain assembly. ( You only buy it once )
Shackled to the swivel is the "light" chain which should be equal in length to the depth of the water at the mooring site at high tide. Shackled to the light chain is the heavy chain which of course should be shackled to the mooring anchor.
Mooring anchors are available in many types and it's a good idea to talk to your Harbor Master as to what works in your location. That being said, iron or steel anchors work well. Please don't use concrete, it just doesn't measure up well. The rule of thumb for mooring anchor weight is 10 to 20 lbs. for every 100 lbs. of boat weight. Unless your boat is frequently exposed to rough conditions at your mooring, 10 lbs. of anchor per 100 lbs. of boat seems to work well. ( Your Harbor Master and "Old Timers" seem to reliable sources for this type of information )

Hope you found this helpful - Any questions, email me, john@mastermarinelines.net, I'll be happy to answer - Remember, this is meant as a guide - Varied conditions demand different needs. Hope you'll look at the mooring lines we have available, Master Marine Lines has a great selection of stock products and I love custom work and solving special problems. Our expertise as a company is based on keeping up with new rope technology and years of experience. So far, we've always been able to solve problems related to special situations and there is never a charge for advice.

All the best, John

Typical Mooring arrangement, Sail or Power