Ok...while on the topic of a permanent mooring I'll explain here what I did this past summer. The plan was to sink 750-800 lbs of Home Depot Qwikcrete concrete/scrap steel and rebar. It was on Youtube that I came across the following video. I thought it was very clever and was determined I could construct the same and launch it from our neighbors boat ramp on our utility trailer near our cabin.Dougiestyle wrote: ↑Sat Jan 15, 2022 5:47 pm Well we got a mooring ball in 2021which is about 40 minutes from the house. So thats not bad at all. High mountain lake so the winds are either on or off. I learned how to stall the rudders in low wind conditions
, and get back when the squall lines start showing up
.But we LOVE IT. It gets out on the water more often, and camping with it, especially with all the covid restrictions that have taken place
I constructed the form at home with a sheet of OSB on the trailer and brought it up to the lake.
My plan hit a road block once I arrived at the lake...literally. The boat ramp I was relying upon to launch the floating
anchor was occupied with plastic dock blocks and they weren't moving this summer. The nearest boat ramp was many kms away and it would
have been too risky to float the anchor the long distance (bro-in laws 14 ft boat with a small outboard) whether it be from the wind picking up or the wake from another boat swamping it prematurely from my anchor destination. Filling it on the shoreline would also be risky as the form is flimsy and the wave action could destroy it while the concrete was curing. Plan A was not going to work.
Ok, so it was now Plan B. Hmmm...years prior I brought up to the lake a polyethylene cube. I figured it might be useful one day at the cabin for whatever. This was the day. I cut an opening with a sawzall and dragged it down to the lake shore. It was a perfect vessel. Filled it with concrete and steel so that the water line was 6" or so from the top. Also added was about 10 feet of heavy 7/8 inch ground chain. From the end of that ground chain I used 5/16 inch chain to the mooring ball. After a couple days for the concrete to cure we towed it out to the destination...rocked the vessel 2 times and down it went very quickly.
You can see the truck brake rotors I used to give you some scale.
Concrete curing prior to launching it. See the water line.
Some may argue it might not be enough weight. Submerged my estimate is close to 500 lbs.Enough to give me a good nights sleep I hope when the winds get nasty. I only had the Mac moored on
it a short time last summer so it hasn't really been tested. I complemented it all with a quality Mantus
mooring bridle.
)
I don't trust any body of water especially this big lake. Water depth is 13 feet low water and 16' high as they control levels (gates) at the mouth for salmon management. I've got 30' or so of ground chain and riding chain combined.
