mooring lines

[graphik]

Oka, I think this was discussed before, but I know how to make one (cement with an eyelet), but do I need two, or do I just let the boat float around on one. Do I need to be mindful of anything besides making sure it's enough cement to hold it in place?

thanks
b

[Geoff Standish]

Be mindful of what material your line is made of. If it can rust I wouldn't use it more than a season. Our buddies mooring line broke one year, rusted right through...their boat ended up on the other side of the lake.

[graphik]

do I need to tie the boat up with one line or two? If I only use one, the boat will swing around, but if I use two, I've heard that the boat may take on water if the waves get rough and it can't move around.

[Geoff Standish]

You're saying like one line at each end? Bow and transom? All I've ever used is one, you want the boat to rotate and swing around in the direction of the waves...so the bow is always facing into the waves...Just tie it up with one line to the bow. That's all I've ever done. I've never had a problem.

[graphik]

cool, thanks Geoff. How much weight do you use? I'm just to use cement, so that I can drag it out of the water if necessary, but don't know how much cement to use. My boat is 20 feet, 2800 lbs, and my lake can get windy, but not crazy.

[Geoff Standish]

Humm I really don't know how much weight we used on our old one. But my buddy (Who's line broke last year) used two semi truck drum brakes which weigh about 75 pounds each. I would say some awkward shape about 100+ pounds would do the trick (Provided you can drag/lift that much). Stay away from a circle or the like as it might start to roll across the bottom. Maybe a square or something like that. We make ours really heavy. They are sacraficial, so you just make a new one every few years. If you make it right I don't see why it can't last 10 years. Might be an idea!

Good luck!

[STPHNSN23]

we had a manhole cover at our old place. that sucker never moved.