Is there a locking mechanism for a mooring ball?

[Kastaway]

Try one of these buoys

[thinwater]

An interesting look a whether we want more government regulation or less.



In another state the OP's mooring would probably never have been permitted (no destination moorings). In Maryland, you can place moorings in most places, but not control their use. No permit or fee for reserving public space for private use. The majority view would probably that it should be removed, but balanced off by those don't mind and some that like and use moorings.


My guess is that if the OP makes too much fuss (close to Annapolis--there are already many private moorings and not everyone is happy about the situation) mooring regs could expand in MD and he wouldn't come out on top. Yes, it is his property. Yes, it is trespassing on MD sea bottom. An interesting case.


These are the only parralel examples I can think of:

• You can't place cones etc. on a public street to reserve a space.
• You can camp most places in national parks, with restrictions not unlike mooring locations (specified distance from roads, structures, waterways, and other campers). Additionally, the camp must be occupied every night (no destination camps) and there are restrictions on how many nights in one location.
• Hunting blinds are placed with a permit, with location restrictions. A waterfront owner has a right to a certain number and certain number based on frontage and others can apply. They are not used by others and a number is posted.

In my neighborhood there is a long rail-to-trails park. Many people:
* Discard of yard waste over their back fence into the park.
* Mow parkland and use it as yard. This includes cutting trees that provide a buffer to the park.

* Some place playground equipment or small sheds.
All of this is trespassing. Parents should be embarrassed for their children to see their true nature. I wish the park service would drop them a note ask them nicely to stop. Then ask less nicely, including charges for remediation.



There is the occasional (frequent?) conflict in a creek with moorings that make navigating the creek or anchoring by others difficult. I sympothis with the PO's problem, and if there were a public meeting I would vote to have all destination moorings removed and permits for all private moorings (to insure they are not in the way and that they are not actually destination moorings). Sorry.

[CaptTom]

This is a great topic, and I'm glad there is lively discussion.

Obviously it's a highly regional thing. Some areas have good, workable laws and/or local tradition. In others it's a source of conflict.

Here's a well-written example of one side of the argument:

Originally Posted by zstine

...Why should people have the right to use something for free that someone else has paid for? If you're not using your car, can I just take it for a spin? you left your house for vacation, I guess I can stay for free there too!?

On the face of it, some very good points. Allow me to make a few counter-points.

First let's look at what was "paid for." Your mooring gear on public lands, and in public waters, is in no way analogous to a house on private land. Or a car on public land. If it's in a legal parking spot, following all the rules, it is off-limits to others. But if those rules are broken, it will be towed away.

As others have pointed out, I may own a tent, but I can't set it up in the middle of a public ball field and prevent others from playing on the field.

It gets more complicated if you paid the local harbormaster for the "right" to put your mooring there. Presumably, there are rules to decide who gets a mooring permit, and where. In a perfect world, those rules would take into consideration the public's right to use the water and the submerged land. In the US, those resources belong to everyone, for use in navigation, fishing and fowling. The different levels of government are supposed to manage the resources with this in mind.

If we go back to the tent analogy, there are government-run campgrounds where I can pay a fee to set it up, and I can exclude others from "my" campsite for as long as I'm using it and paying the fee. But those are in select locations, where it won't impact others' use of the park.

Originally Posted by zstine

As I said/assumed, most of the moorings are permitted (at least around the north east USA) from the 'public', ie. the government that owns the 'land'. The mooring owner has paid a fee to lease the 'land' from the public...

Agreed. So the question comes down to, are the rules properly balancing everyone's right to use the resource? Are we pitching our tent in the ballfield, or the campground?

My position is that locking everyone out of a prime anchorage, forever, except for a select few locals who paid a token fee to some small-town harbormaster is not in keeping with the mandate to manage the resource in the public interest. The water and submerged lands need to be managed equitably.

There's nothing equitable about one person claiming a permanent spot in a popular anchorage for occasional use, and denying that space to everyone else all year.

[thinwater]

And then there is the issue of unused, abandoned moorings. The guy used it while he owned the boat, sold the boat, and there it stays until the chain falls off. The Chesapeake is full of these. Thus, If I see and empty mooring, I would not use it, in part because the owner might return, and because the condition is totally unknown. Anchoring is easy, no big deal.



But I would not hesitate to anchor in such a way that I will swing very near the mooring, and possibly into or over it if the wind shifts in a way I do not expect. When the owner returns (if he returns) he might think I am way too close. The reason I do this is simple. Many nice creeks have abandoned moorings in them and I don't feel the need to avoid them until the chain rots off in 30 years. And in many, many dozens of experiences, never once has the owner returned. So while I will not use an unknown mooring, there should be no expectation that I will keep clear. That is really hogging space.



If you are actively using it, leave dinghy attached. I will give that room, no problem.

[Mike OReilly]

As I said, while I dislike personal moorings, I understand why they are desirable, and sometimes even necessary. But there is usually a simple way for everyone to have their cake, and eat it to. Just make sure you place your mooring on the edge of the anchorage. Either place it very close to land, or further out.

Moorings. by their nature, do not require the same amount of scope, so are ideally suited for waters that can’t easily be anchored in. The issue is that too many private moorings are placed as if they were anchors. Too often they are dropped in the best place for anchoring. This is what produces the conflict — a conflict which is largely avoidable if the mooring owner just applied a little common courtesy to their installation.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

As I said, while I dislike personal moorings, I understand why they are desirable, and sometimes even necessary. But there is usually a simple way for everyone to have their cake, and eat it to. Just make sure you place your mooring on the edge of the anchorage. Either place it very close to land, or further out.

Moorings. by their nature, do not require the same amount of scope, so are ideally suited for waters that can’t easily be anchored in. The issue is that too many private moorings are placed as if they were anchors. Too often they are dropped in the best place for anchoring. This is what produces the conflict — a conflict which is largely avoidable if the mooring owner just applied a little common courtesy to their installation.

The BVI is notorious for this. Where mooring are installed they are in the only decent anchoring areas. The deep unmanageable places nearby have no moorings.

We’ve diverged a bit from the OP question BTW