Buoy, what a mistake!

[llenrow]

I'm just north of you on Horshead Bay.

I had this guy put a helix anchor in for me in 2016:

Washington State installer of Helix Mooring anchors, Seaflex Floating Docks | Alpha Marine Installations | About Us

Alpha Marine Installations LLC was founded in 2001 by owner James Jim Arnold. Our technology simplifies logistics and eliminates the need for large vessels, cranes and other equipment.

www.alphamarineinstallations.com

Helix anchors have been tested up to 20,000 lb holding power.

No problems since, though Horsehead is pretty sheltered. Couple of thoughts:

1. If you have your permit, the hard part is done. I'm still working on mine.

2. Call Jim Arnold at Alpha marine and get some recommendations. The County's denial of a helix buoy may be due to environmental reasons. If you want to keep your Greenpeace card, you can follow their advice, but once you have the permit, all they look for is the sticker on the buoy--they won't dive and inspect your anchor. If Arnold says he can put a helix in, you can put a helix in.

3. I use a 6ft pennant attached to the buoy ring, then 2 mooring lines--one port, one starboard to the forward (or aft) cleats.

4. I've learned that all winter long, I have to tie up aft--to the stern cleats. In any more than about 15 knots of wind, the bow catches a wind and the boat "sails" off in either direction until it jerks against the buoy with considerable forward and sideways motion. Tied to stern, it trails straight to the wind.

4. The Alpha Marine installation has swivels at both the top and bottom, but they're not foolproof. Barnacles and the general friction of the galvanized metal causes them to frequently bind. So I often have to untwist the lines myself.

I'd be interested to hear how you got your permit. Did you do it yourself, or hire someone?

I PMed you since your I’m neighbor hood and can answer your permit question better

 

[llenrow]

I don't know if it would prevent pennants getting looped/tangled under the buoy in your situation, but we moor with a pair of pennants (for redundancy) that run through pool noodles to the buoy so they remain on surface at all times (makes for easier pick-up too when returning to buoy). The pennants both tie to the same shackle that's on top of the chain (which comes up through the buoy).

Our pennant line has a mast buoy at distal end to easily pick up. Buoy end of line has stainless eye which I put in a shackle at top of buoy. Loose end has soft eye which worked well with cleat. Would not be room for another unless I used another shackle or two soft ends at buoy. Two of anything scares me now. I get the redundancy but increases risk of entanglement. Think I’d rather just get a new line every year

 

[footrope]

Thanks for posting your experience Doug. I bet that beer tasted good yesterday after you got back in the slip! There are many scenarios and endings for what happened to you and has probably happened to others. I got no advice, but I do want to add a story that happened to friends of ours and their 37 foot Santana sailboat. It might generate some more advice here.

At Blake Island, WA, a state marine park in Puget Sound, there is a line of public mooring buoys on the west side. I think it was the 5th one, counting south from the NW corner of the island, that had a habit of disappearing at higher tides. The current is quite strong north-south on that side of the island, close to shore. I have seen that buoy partially submerged and have seen it go under and reappear later. Blake is one of our favorite parks so we've seen a lot of that side of the island. Anyway it is anchored securely to the bottom but I don't know if it is anchored or screwed. My friends went for a kayak around the island and when they came back a few hours later the bow was way down and the stern up. The buoy was submerged. They carefully boarded and soon cut their line. Only damage was a broken wooden toe rail, which the state ponied up to repair. Of course the incident was reported but I do not know what if any remedy was applied to the buoy system at that location. We have also reported the buoy disappearance, before this incident happened, to the ranger that comes around to check payment stickers.

I'm sure glad you ended up with no damage other than to your peace of mind. Apparently an 1800 pound anchor on a short rode is just not enough around here!

Craig

 

[llenrow]

Thanks for posting your experience Doug. I bet that beer tasted good yesterday after you got back in the slip! There are many scenarios and endings for what happened to you and has probably happened to others. I got no advice, but I do want to add a story that happened to friends of ours and their 37 foot Santana sailboat. It might generate some more advice here.

At Blake Island, WA, a state marine park in Puget Sound, there is a line of public mooring buoys on the west side. I think it was the 5th one, counting south from the NW corner of the island, that had a habit of disappearing at higher tides. The current is quite strong north-south on that side of the island, close to shore. I have seen that buoy partially submerged and have seen it go under and reappear later. Blake is one of our favorite parks so we've seen a lot of that side of the island. Anyway it is anchored securely to the bottom but I don't know if it is anchored or screwed. My friends went for a kayak around the island and when they came back a few hours later the bow was way down and the stern up. The buoy was submerged. They carefully boarded and soon cut their line. Only damage was a broken wooden toe rail, which the state ponied up to repair. Of course the incident was reported but I do not know what if any remedy was applied to the buoy system at that location. We have also reported the buoy disappearance, before this incident happened, to the ranger that comes around to check payment stickers.

I'm sure glad you ended up with no damage other than to your peace of mind. Apparently an 1800 pound anchor on a short rode is just not enough around here!

Craig

Yes Craig—-beer good and needed. Along with posts here— which I greatly appreciate— I’ve been reaching out to others as well. I am convinced the midline float—-used and required by DNR to protect bottom and prevent bottom entanglement was a central actor in this drama. It was routinely present on surface at all low tides and somehow—maybe due to my too complex over zealous line use to buoy—-got caught up in things up top. That event cut scope in half and next high tide set my boat adrift.
Obviously my quest is to prevent such a scenario from happening again. So far, my thoughts are 1. Review build of next system—chain and/or rope and where relative to midline. Scope —-depth vs swing to beach. 2. Boat to buoy. I’m convinced simple is best. Maybe even just one new annual pennant line and shackle. I know there’s lots of other ways but I’m feeling like redundancy for PNW summer with new or closely inspected gear not needed. 3. Annual dive/inspection.