Mooring for peace of mind?

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by skipmac

How big a boat are you planning to use to carry this thing around? Where will you stow it while you're underway? How will you drop and raise it?

Aside from the details of handling the thing, a good anchor in most situations (like 99% of the time) will hold better than the mushroom. It isn't weight that holds a boat, its the surface area and the anchor digging in to the bottom.

A mushroom mooring holds because it's sunk deep into a soft, mud bottom which in addition to the right bottom usually takes time for the mushroom to set. Dropping it in some random harbor if the bottom is hard sand, shallow mud, grass, or just about anything except deep, soft mud, the mushroom will sit on top of the ocean floor and you will drag away at the first breeze.

Bingo!!! On top of that unless you are cruising on a 16' day sailor a 135 pound mushroom is grossly undersized...

[StuM]

Originally Posted by GILow

Which is EXACTLY why I bought a 42 footer.

Nice one!

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by ryanjames

Thanks for the quick reply and please excuse my lack of knowledge and detail on the topic.

The boats that I am looking at are monohulls in the 35-40 ft range. I assumed a mushroom would be my best bet since I had thought many mooring buoys are secured by those.

So let me rephrase my question: What anchor type and weight would be so secure that I wouldn't even need to think about dragging, even in extremely high winds and currents?

Again, my apologies for my lack of knowledge and information.

-Ryan James

A 4000 lbs granite block, with 1/2" chain length 2x the max water depth, is the standard for a permanent mooring for your size boat in my area. Probably a bit much to self install or move.

[JimsCAL]

And as Maine Sail said above, a 135#mushroom is much too small. In our area, a boat that size would on a 500 or 600# mushroom mooring. I doubt you will want to haul something like that around.

[sailorboy1]

My 43' boat has taken the 5000 pound mooring block I'm on for a walk during a storm! Just for saying.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

My 43' boat has taken the 5000 pound mooring block I'm on for a walk during a storm! Just for saying.

So.... I'm thinking that a 6000 pound mushroom anchor would do the job for the OP. His idea will work just fine if he upsizes the mushroom by 5864pounds.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by GILow

SNIP

After reading a bunch of anchoring threads here on Cruisers Forum I started to get very restless at anchor (actually, I couldn't sleep a bloody wink) but a now that I use a GPS based anchor alarm (Drag Queen) I sleep like a log. At least until the dolphins do their little trick of slapping the side of the boat at 3am. Why do they do that?

SNIP

I have been happy with Drag Queen but there are plenty of other anchor alarms. Have to remember with Drag Queen you may need to plug your cell phone into a power source as it can eat battery power.

As for the dolphin they use their tails to slap the water around small fish and stun the fish so they can catch and eat them. Small fish are attracted to structure, including floating structure, dolphin see small fish near floating structure, swim up to it and slap their tails to stun fish; your boat gets in the way of the dolphin's tail and gets whacked. Happens to everyone.

[zeehag]

couple of good original bruce anchors will work just fine. i use 30 kg for my 29000 pound displacement 41 ft boat. never drag never ever.
and use 200 ft chain for rode, put out 150 if tidal changes and wind.... perfect.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by zeehag

couple of good original bruce anchors will work just fine. i use 30 kg for my 29000 pound displacement 41 ft boat. never drag never ever.
and use 200 ft chain for rode, put out 150 if tidal changes and wind.... perfect.

[zeehag]

btw, what i have seen of anchor drag alarms is alarming.
they tell ye ok but your boat is in spain before ye can catch it.
try using distant marks on shore and mountains.
learn how to take a bearing.

watch countryside slide by and save your boat before it hits coastline or swift current.

[sailcrazy]

makobuilders is right-We've occasionally anchored for as little as 2 weeks in the USVIs...and had to scrub every single link of the anchor chain to get the crap off it. And before you buy the Bruce, check out some of the anchor setting videos-after seeing them our Bruce has become a backup, and never used. Check out a Mantus, or Ronca, or other modern anchor, and use an all-chain rode....not perfect, but as close as you'll come.

[Jsta_Rebel]

Originally Posted by ryanjames

First, I understand that this is a topic that may have been covered in a past post, but I had a hard time finding a specific answer for my question.

I plan on moving aboard a sailboat in the Northern Caribbean within the next 2 years and expect to be living on the hook for a good portion of my time cruising to conserve funds. I already plan on getting an oversized anchor for my boat, but was wondering if it's possible to just use a small mooring anchor.

I don't plan on changing location very often, so how unrealistic is it to carry a 135 lb mushroom on board to toss over the bow when I plan to stay somewhere for weeks or even months at a time?

I understand that this may be a bit over the top for most, but I would be willing to go the extra mile to sleep at night or leave the boat for a few days at a time.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan James

In order to give you some advice about mooring in the Caribbean, first question is where are you thinking about calling home port? This will help because depending on the island your choosing will determine the advice and direction I would point you in. As has been said, forget the mushroom anchor. However depending on where, there are different alternatives including dropping a couple of engine blocks chained together as is done in Anguilla and BTW for the clowners, I'm writing this while on board my boat that is attached to an engine block mooring in sandy ground Anguilla. Also renting an available mooring as is done regularly in the USVI islands. Or just setting up a mooring using THREE SAND SCREWS 8' long in a triangle position w/ 20' spacing with the bridle going up to your ball positioned in the center of the three screws. Lots of options in the Caribbean. What Island are you thinking.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by ryanjames

First, I understand that this is a topic that may have been covered in a past post, but I had a hard time finding a specific answer for my question.

I plan on moving aboard a sailboat in the Northern Caribbean within the next 2 years and expect to be living on the hook for a good portion of my time cruising to conserve funds. I already plan on getting an oversized anchor for my boat, but was wondering if it's possible to just use a small mooring anchor.

I don't plan on changing location very often, so how unrealistic is it to carry a 135 lb mushroom on board to toss over the bow when I plan to stay somewhere for weeks or even months at a time?

I understand that this may be a bit over the top for most, but I would be willing to go the extra mile to sleep at night or leave the boat for a few days at a time.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan James

Hauling around a 135# mushroom is folly. For a permanent mooring they are great in mud. If you get it set in mud how on earth would you retrieve it?

[knockabout]

cqr with strong swivel

[markpierce]

Lightship formerly used at entrance to Golden Gate: