Lake Mooring Tips and FAQ’s

Permanent mooring systems are designed so that you can leave your boat unattended for long periods of time. In many cases, mooring on a lake is the safest and most cost-effective way to leave your boat in the water. This can mean leaving your boat in until next weekend or riding out a heavy storm. Here are some lake mooring tips and tricks, as well as answers to some often asked questions about mooring on a lake.

What Size Anchor To Use?

The anchor can range from a small mushroom anchor to a concrete block to a large piece of industrial equipment. In the past engine blocks from ship and locomotives were used. Most mooring anchors used today are concrete blocks with steel reinforcing bar.

Here’s a rough guideline to help decide what size anchor you’ll need: 

[important]Lake Mooring Tips: Always check with your local harbor master or authorities first to make sure that you’re not about to violate any regulations governing the placement and type of moorings allowed.[/important]

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Protect Your Lines

Twisted strand line is almost always used for mooring lines because chafe and weakness will be obvious. In braided cover lines the core could be near failure while only a small hole is visible in the cover. Cuts to braided lines are also less noticeable than with twisted lines.

Use chafing gear when mooring lines run through bow chocks or are likely to contact deck hardware. A thimble on the shackle end will prevent chafing at the buoy. Chafe guards that can be removed from the line are necessary to inspect each pennant for wear. Although it depends on the boat and mooring basin, an important lake mooring tip is  to replace mooring pennants every two years.

[important]Lake Mooring Tips:  If your boat is moored in a  with strong currents or persistent strong winds the pennants should be replaced every one to two years.[/important]

Clean grit or bird droppings from the pennants to cut wear. Do the same for algae or mussels on the anchor pennant. Ideally the pennants can be held up out of the water with a hook that pokes a few feet out the top of the buoy where you can store and easily retrieve your lines.

[important]Lake Mooring Tips: It’s a good practice to keep one pennant a few inches longer than the other. That way the short one wears out before the longer one. By doing this only one pennant should break from wear at a time.[/important]

Use a Boat Hook 

When picking up a mooring, use a boat hook to catch the top ring of the buoy. Then shackle the mooring pennant to the mooring chain shackle, instead of the buoy itself. This will put all the strain on the anchor chain and not the buoy.

[important]Lake Mooring Tips: Using a boat hook is also a safer means of retrieving the buoy than leaning out over the side of the boat. If the boat is moving too fast as you approach the mooring buoy, you might get pulled overboard by the forward momentum as you grab the buoy.[/important]

What Size Buoy Will I Need?

A mooring buoy or anchor buoy is usually a hard shell covering over a ball or cone-shaped piece of foam. Usually mooring buoys are white with a blue band. 

The size of a buoy is determined by the weight of the line or chain it supports. To choose the best mooring buoy for your situation calculate the weight of your line, then add another 25%  for safety. Next consult the buoyancy chart for the individual buoy. For a list of best-selling mooring buoys visit Best Mooring Buoys for Lake Boating. 

Securely Mooring Your Boat

In strong winds, the mooring’s holding power can be increased by increasing the length of your mooring pennant. This increases the scope of the mooring, offering greater holding power. Check that other boats at that moorage are far enough so that you won’t foul another moored boat.

In bad conditions, a second mooring pennant can be run to the top eye as a safety in case the primary pennant wears through or fails.

Galvanized shackles should be moused so they won’t open.

[important]Lake Mooring Tips: electrician’s plastic tie wraps work great for securing shackles![/important]

Moorings can drag in heavy wind and waves if the anchor has not had time to dig into its position. Once the mooring anchor is surrounded by silt or sand the mooring will be very strong. Scouring from tides or currents can expose mooring anchors making them liable to drag.

More Articles on Mooring:

• Lake Mooring Tips and FAQs: Use These To Protect Your Boat
• Best Mooring Buoys for Lake Boating
• Mooring Your Boat on the Lake- About Moorings

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