Mooring ball buoyancy?

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by Kalimniosjohn

It’s a screw in type mooring that is removable by simply unscrewing it. I’ll be taking the whole setup with me cruising and in the event of a storm my gf and I put on the scuba gear and place the mooring wherever we are. I’m not sure how any vessel but mine would have the opportunity to get to it before me. I guess the Main problem I’ll actually face is weather or not the bottom composition allows it to be fully screwed in or not.

I am worried about other boats taking the mooring while I’m still living in Florida though because we will be doing 1-2 week Bahamas trips. I guess I’ll just take the buoy with and let the chain sink to the bottom until I return.

What prevents the mooring from simply unscrewing itself? That's what happened to a friend's boat in a public mooring field in Florida during a tropical storm, and it ended up on a rock jetty.

[team karst]

Facing a similar potential; i head for bahamian canals with mature trees
Saying that, just left a dorian affected woodlands. 90% of the largest pines went down, and very near 100% mortality of all tall trees in the area.

[pjShap]

If the mooring ball is in an area of heavy current, you need to size it larger than just the required chain weight. My Hudson River NYC mooring ball was easily visible at slack current, but sometimes underwater at peak current. The mooring for my 45' boat was 1" bottom chain, about 1 1/2 times the water depth, and 5/8" top chain, about equal to the water depth at peak tide height. If you're using this for serious storms, you might look at hurricane-style double mooring pendant. I was very please with the help I got when I bought the mooring setup from Inland Marine Moorings in MA https://mushroommoorings.com/

[team karst]

Have you surveyed potential sheltered sites in bahamas that have 3’ or more of more or less loose bottom? Lots of limestone out there. I think maybe canals like LWW and Gin have had the hard pack dug out.

[rgleason]

One thing to consider while thinking about your mooring ball and pennant, is its wave damping action in storms and hurricanes. Too small a ball and too short a pennant, and you will derive no benefit from absorbing the higher loads by pulling the ball under water, because the whole assembly will be taut!

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by rgleason

One thing to consider while thinking about your mooring ball and pennant, is its wave damping action in storms and hurricanes. Too small a ball and too short a pennant, and you will derive no benefit from absorbing the higher loads by pulling the ball under water, because the whole assembly will be taut!

Some excellent points, thanks.
Also so many critters see these floating devices as a great place to set up home. And the weight of the growth both on the ball itself and the hanging rope/chain adds significantly to the weight issue.