a fifteen foot tall statue of elvis, especially if it had his guitar
sticking out on both sides.

on a serious note, i thought that most moorings were poured concrete,
poured right on the spot using whatever kind of form you can make/find.
concrete cures just fine under water once it's been poured, and i'm
sure concrete is easier to deal than a fifteen foot tall statue of
elvis.

Courtney Thomas wrote:
I want to install a fixed mooring this summer and see that for example
mushroom anchors are expensive.

The environment is... Atlantic salt water, in a fairly well protected
cove, with 6' tides, in about 10-15' of water, virtually no traffic and
a spit serving as immediate breakwater.

Alternative suggestions to a mushroom would be appreciated.

Courtney

purple_stars wrote:
a fifteen foot tall statue of elvis, especially if it had his guitar
sticking out on both sides.

on a serious note, i thought that most moorings were poured concrete,
poured right on the spot using whatever kind of form you can make/find.
concrete cures just fine under water once it's been poured, and i'm
sure concrete is easier to deal than a fifteen foot tall statue of
elvis.

Courtney Thomas wrote:

I want to install a fixed mooring this summer and see that for example
mushroom anchors are expensive.

The environment is... Atlantic salt water, in a fairly well protected
cove, with 6' tides, in about 10-15' of water, virtually no traffic and
a spit serving as immediate breakwater.

Alternative suggestions to a mushroom would be appreciated.

Courtney


My understanding is that concrete loses a lot of it's 'weight' in water,
whereas steel/iron do not and given the recent hurricane rash I'd prefer
all I can reasonably get. Plus I'm not in an area catering to such
services as installing moorings, for example.

Gratefully,
Courtney

On Sat, 03 Jun 2006 16:31:46 GMT, Courtney Thomas wrote:



Courtney Thomas wrote:

I want to install a fixed mooring this summer and see that for example
mushroom anchors are expensive.

The environment is... Atlantic salt water, in a fairly well protected
cove, with 6' tides, in about 10-15' of water, virtually no traffic and
a spit serving as immediate breakwater.

Alternative suggestions to a mushroom would be appreciated.

Courtney


My understanding is that concrete loses a lot of it's 'weight' in water,
whereas steel/iron do not and given the recent hurricane rash I'd prefer
all I can reasonably get. Plus I'm not in an area catering to such
services as installing moorings, for example.

Gratefully,
Courtney

correct on the "losing it's weight" in water ...

sal****er is 64 lbs per cu ft (displaces 64 lbs per cu ft)

per my pocket ref on material weights (any typos are mine)

cast iron 450 lb/cu ft

portland cement 100 lb/cu ft
mortar cement 135 lb/cu ft
gravel concrete 150 lb/cu ft
limestone w/Portland concrete 148 lb/cu ft

marble 160 lb/cu ft

so, water will displace 64 lbs of an item, so cast iron has a bottom
weight in salt water of 386 lbs per cu/ft

the different cement mixes are 36 to 86 lbs per cu ft when in the
water

I've seen both cement and marble slab moorings in this area ... in
blocks (not formed to dig) and while they tend to sink in over time
depending on bottom composition. I've also seen them move to shore
during a storm.

I personally wouldn't use a block without adding a mushroom to the
works ... the block would prevent the mushroom from lifting, the
mushroom would keep the block from moving.

note: I am not a ground tackle expert ... I have used the weight
formulas to determine lift bag requirements or drums to perform uw
lifts and recovery.


- Ed

--
refillable drysuit talc bag $10.95 ppd
http://www.underwaterusa.com

On Sat, 03 Jun 2006 16:31:46 GMT, Courtney Thomas
wrote:

My understanding is that concrete loses a lot of it's 'weight' in water,
whereas steel/iron do not and given the recent hurricane rash I'd prefer
all I can reasonably get. Plus I'm not in an area catering to such
services as installing moorings, for example.

Steel has a higher density than concrete so it takes more concrete to
make a proper mooring. That said, concrete mooring blocks are quite
common and relatively cheap. You only need about 6 cubic feet to make
a 2,000 lb block which is plenty of weight even allowing for the lower
density. Any concrete plant or competent "do it yourselfer" could
make one for you at low cost. Some concrete plants make them up out
of their excess production and may have a few laying around. Typically
a loop of 3/4 inch chain or wire rope is cast into the block as an
anchor point.

Unless you own a floating work barge with hoist, you will need
professional assistance to transport the block and plant it.

On Sat, 03 Jun 2006 14:09:23 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

You only need about 6 cubic feet to make
a 2,000 lb block

Correction: Make that 14 cubic feet for a 2,000 lb block.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Sat, 03 Jun 2006 14:09:23 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:


You only need about 6 cubic feet to make
a 2,000 lb block


Correction: Make that 14 cubic feet for a 2,000 lb block.


I was gonna say...that wheelbarrow of mine must be some strong!

Wayne.B wrote:
Unless you own a floating work barge with hoist, you will need
professional assistance to transport the block and plant it.

maybe you could get it into a cheap wooden dingy, tow it out to where
you want it, and then use large amounts of 4th of july fireworks to
"dramatically" plant the mooring on the bottom. if enough explosives
were involved i'd pay 5$us to see that lol ...

maybe you could get it into a cheap wooden dingy, tow it out to where
you want it, and then use large amounts of 4th of july fireworks to
"dramatically" plant the mooring on the bottom. if enough explosives
were involved i'd pay 5$us to see that lol ...

The way that old Enoch Winslow did it was to back the truck down to the
water at low tide. and dump it.
then he would bring two wooden skiffs with a couple 6x6 lashing them
together, hanging the weight between them.
The chain was attached to the logs by a thick rope. At high tide he woud tow
the skiffs, chain and mooring bouy to where the mooring was to be set. At
the proper place his helper would take an axe to the rope.

Leanne
s/v Fundy

I worked at a sailing school that used a variation on that theme.

They would set the blocks in the water and float a 17' Boston Whaler
over it, setting up a sling that would suspend the mooring directly
under the boat when the tide came in.

The trick was to set up a loop so that one cut would set the block free
to drop. The one time the line got fouled it flipped the whaler.

Jonathan

Leanne wrote:
maybe you could get it into a cheap wooden dingy, tow it out to where
you want it, and then use large amounts of 4th of july fireworks to
"dramatically" plant the mooring on the bottom. if enough explosives
were involved i'd pay 5$us to see that lol ...


The way that old Enoch Winslow did it was to back the truck down to the
water at low tide. and dump it.
then he would bring two wooden skiffs with a couple 6x6 lashing them
together, hanging the weight between them.
The chain was attached to the logs by a thick rope. At high tide he woud tow
the skiffs, chain and mooring bouy to where the mooring was to be set. At
the proper place his helper would take an axe to the rope.

Leanne
s/v Fundy




--
I am building my daughter an Argie 10 sailing dinghy, check it out:
http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr

Courtney Thomas wrote:


My understanding is that concrete loses a lot of it's 'weight' in water,
whereas steel/iron do not and given the recent hurricane rash I'd prefer
all I can reasonably get. Plus I'm not in an area catering to such
services as installing moorings, for example.

The reason for most of the mass of a mooring anchor is to dig it into
the seabed. The mass, after it's buried, isn't too proportional to its
holding power. Thus once buried, a concrete cone would work as well as
an iron mushroom anchor of greater density.

-paul