# best mooring setup



## kwf05001 (Jan 22, 2008)

I have been searching through older threads and have found alot of useful info, but not the solution.
I have a through the center bouy and am experiencing the usual problem of the dual pennants getting themselves fouled below the ball and chaffing on the chain. I see two possible fixes: 
add a swivel above the ball, bind the two pennants together and add floats OR
make the ball act as a standard ball by hanging a very short length of chain through the ball and a swivel just below and attaching the pennants there

reference _maine sails_ great photo post on what not to do as mooring storm prep


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## SailingFlorida (Aug 7, 2008)

Nice looking boat your restoring, hows the restoration going? What year is that boat?


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## Leither (Sep 30, 2008)

Any chance of a photo of the setup? As someone from the UK, I have to be careful about offering advice sometimes, because things are just that bit different over here. On the face of it, both of the solutions you suggest sound possible, assuming I understand your mooring arrangement correctly.

Your boat looks beautiful. I know that making progress on a very tight budget can be frustrating, but you certainly sound really enthusiastic, which is more than half the battle.

Keep in touch with the SailNet forums, I am sure that there are lots of people out there who would be very interested in your project, and keen to offer advice.

Stuart


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

*Some rules of thumb..*

*#1* Big heavy chain gives good caternary effect and prevents shock loading.

*#2* Moorings are usually designed at a 2:1 or 3:1 max scope, depending upon local regulations, so this means heavy chain is a must if you want any caternary and protection from shock loading.

*#3* Chain wears where the links meet. Anchors are not constant duty but moorings are. Moorings are exposed to wear & link degradation 24/7 365.

*#4* The biggest chain, or wire diameter, you can buy will last you the longest.

*#5* Galvanized chain adds no real long term benefit as the link wear chews through it rather quickly anyway so self colored chain is fine.

*#6* Long link mooing chain is a good option because shackle fit better through it.

*#7* You should have a top chain and a bottom chain. the top chain will be lighter than the bottom chain. A good rule of thumb is that the bottom or really heavy chain be 1.5 times max water depth. You will replace the top chain every three to four years depending on your location but bottom chain can last as long as 7-10 if big enough..

*#8* Depending on the bottom type you can use: Mud = Mushroom, pyramid or screw. Hard bottoms = Large diameter granite (low and flat is best). Cement is generally considered a bad idea, by just about every municipality that has studied mooring field failures, and many municipalities have banned it's use as it loses a significant amount of weight bellow water and there a re no real "standards". In this vein many have also baned "home made" moorings of engine blocks, cement filled barrels and such. Most require any home made mooring to first be inspected by the local harbor master.

*#9* Many municipalities only allow certain approved mooring companies to set, retrieve, inspect and maintain moorings. The anchorage I'm in now has over 1200 boats and they are very, very strict as to what you can and can not do!

Feel free to watch this video and you'll see the types of mooring conditions boats in Maine can deal with in the winter and during Nor' Easters. Most boats up here use the Wayne Hamilton mooring protocol as shown bellow. None of the boats in the video broke free despite a few of them having 15 footers breaking over them. One actually rolled about 80 degrees and popped back up but did not break free.
Please ignore my video skills..

Enjoy...




Why Not to Cut Corners On Your Mooring System (LINK)


Photo Courtesy of Hamilton Marine (LINK)









This is my bottom chain for a 36 footer..









Bellow the ball pendant attachment causes the least amount of problems unless you have multiple floats and the "equator" of your mooring ball sits bellow the surface of the water. If the waist or "equator" of your ball floats above the surface of the water, no matter how many floats you have, it will wrap the ball and then get suck down to the chain as the boat pulls..


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Bridle Plate Mooring System | Colligo Marine

I like this bridle mooring system.

I feed my pennants through two "foam noodles" and my lines never wrap. I need to replace noodle once a year.


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## kwf05001 (Jan 22, 2008)

*what i did for now...*

So I did make some changes to my setup:
-ran 15" of chain through the ball with a shackle keeping it from falling through
-below below the ball this chain hangs out only one link and is shackled to a swivel
-the pennants are also shackled to the top of this swivel
-the top chain is connected to the bottom of the swivel (there is also an existing swivel btwn the top and ground chain)
- my pennants are siezed together to about 4' of the bow (one (NE ropes braided) has about a foot of slack when pulling dead astern) just above the thimbles both pennants are fed through a float I got at defender to keep the shackle from drooping and possibly taking a side load

Maine Sail:
You prev. info is most detailed and very much appreciated
I already had what you described when it was installed earlier this year (based in part from reading your posts), but I wanted to add a second pennant and was experiencing the "strangulation" effect b/c of the dumb TC3 ball. hopefully I've resolved that with the above. my mooring is a couple hundred yards from the nearest boat and have approx. a 4:1 scope on a spring tide w/o waves and theres only a 3/4nm fetch at most

do you have a link of that bottom chain on your mantle to calm your nerves during a rough storm? -i would

To the compliments of the boat:
I wish she looked like his: Island Sailing Adventures
but with lots of time, patience and a steady stream of small monetary investments someday she could
oh and she was built in holland in 1962, hull No. 38


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

kwf05001 said:


> So I did make some changes to my setup:
> -ran 15" of chain through the ball with a shackle keeping it from falling through
> -below below the ball this chain hangs out only one link and is shackled to a swivel


This is good but always be sure to go considerably larger on this swivel than you would on chain. The swivel is THE weak link and will see considerably more wear than any of the chain links. I recommend 7/8 as a bare minimum for a 30-35 footer and 1" for 35-40. Over that they get very, very expensive!



kwf05001 said:


> -the pennants are also shackled to the top of this swivel
> -the top chain is connected to the bottom of the swivel


This is good!



kwf05001 said:


> (there is also an existing swivel btwn the top and ground chain)


This is unecessary and not really such a good idea unless you are a diver or know one. Out of site out of mind is bad when it comes to swivels. One swivel is more than enough unless you are in a river with constantly reversing currents. If this is your situation you will be replacing swivels bi-yearly anyway! A bellow the ball swivel can be inspected by you quite easily and should be.



kwf05001 said:


> - my pennants are siezed together to about 4' of the bow (one (NE ropes braided) has about a foot of slack when pulling dead astern) just above the thimbles both pennants are fed through a float I got at defender to keep the shackle from drooping and possibly taking a side load


This is very good. Keeping the shackle in a constant plane is something many moring installer over look let alone boat owners. it is perhaps one of the sigle most important aspects to prevent bellow the ball pendant chafe. The flaots should have enough floatation to keep the shackle in the same position whether the boat is pulling on the mooring or not.



kwf05001 said:


> do you have a link of that bottom chain on your mantle to calm your nerves during a rough storm? -i would


My mooring guy buys it surplus from the USCG.. I honestly don't know where to find it at a reasonable cost. He cuts the chain into usable sections and cuts out wear areas.



kwf05001 said:


> To the compliments of the boat:
> I wish she looked like his: Island Sailing Adventures
> but with lots of time, patience and a steady stream of small monetary investments someday she could
> oh and she was built in holland in 1962, hull No. 38


Sweet boat!


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## kwf05001 (Jan 22, 2008)

*thanks for the approval*

that gives me some serious confidence coming from you, can't wait to get home so I can see that video
b/c of my large scope I can actually pull that lower swivel up fairly easily, the boat is in a suedo-river (niantic river in CT), it swings around quite frequently, I was already considering removing it, but didn't have the energy that day...
I'm going to take your advice and upgrade my swivel size as soon as the present ones start to show wear and order from hamilton since theirs spec. US made and the price premium seems to indicate higher quality

when I get to it I'll send you some pics of what happened to one of my pennants in just a few weeks


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

kwf05001 said:


> when I get to it I'll send you some pics of what happened to one of my pennants in just a few weeks


Please do I would really appreciate it!


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