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McNaughtical said..

I am one of the couple that Cisco can't remember meeting due to alcohol addled brain....lol...

I was very impressed with your mooring which was under construction when my son and I called in on you and your lovely wife Cisco.

I met NSW when he came past my way in his beautifully cared for Top Hat., and I hope to get to the Seabreeze get together in November .... will be very upset to miss it.

Looking forward to meeting many more of you in time.

I am so sorry G. I had not forgotten you but I do have a problem sometimes putting faces to names sometimes. (Most of the time.) Maybe catch up again next Easter.

All good Cisco, I knew you wouldn't really forget me.

I'll be back your way last week in January for my annual family thing, so we can catch up again then if you haven't sailed away somewhere.

Lots happening on this front. We got one 250 kg block laid today.

We lifted the block off the beach using the tide and floated it out to position using bearings and shore reference points and soundings. The soundings are where it went a bit pear shaped.

The block has 9 metres of riser line and the block was calculated to be dropped into max 7 metres of water. The soundings indicated we were in the right spot so we lowered it down with two lines almost evenly. One line went slack and the other was almost out so it seemed one end of the block was on the bottom. It may have been. If it was it must have been on the edge of the ledge.

When the second line was fully eased, it ran and the block went into 10 or 11 metres of water. The result is that the buoy is only on top of the water at half tide or less. Fortunately we are smart buggers and have set it up so that extension strops can be added between the riser line and the buoy tackle.

Two more blocks to be lowered into the drink. Pics coming soon.

Would dropping it so it sinks help anchor it?

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slammin said..
Would dropping it so it sinks help anchor it?

It is a muddy river bottom and the blocks are from cast steel scrap put together in such a way that mud can come through the bottom of the blocks to aid sinking.

It is not intended that these blocks will ever be raised. The mooring servicing will be done by a diver with a knife and the new tackle.

We got the short tackle problem sorted. On a low tide we looped an extension onto the riser line and put a small buoy onto it. Then it was just a matter of unlooping the main buoy and relooping it onto the extension.

Easier said than done. The tide just didn't go low enough and the buoyancy was impossible to overcome. There was no alternative except to cut it off and make up a new strop through the buoy. Many thanks to Wanderer66 for his assistance on the day.

I got the new tackle made up eventually and is now attached so the moorings are complete except for attaching a link line with small floats between them.

John has his Adams 31 parked on his moorings and is quite happy with the holding. I just have a couple of little jobs to do on Second Wind before I bring her up the river.

This is my downstream mooring. Pics self explanatory.













The construction side of things complete then comes the critical logistical tasks. Once they are placed it would be nigh impossible to shift them.





Thanks to Rod who owns the house in the left of the pic which fronts onto the waterfront reserve and his wonderful truck "Rufus" we were able to get the mooings to the water's edge.



Rrmmmmm.......rrmmmmmmm Rufus and that is the Bundaberg Rum distillery on the opposite bank of the river. Nice to have this at the bottom of your back yard.





Down the bank...... That is Rod's cat and my mooring goes in just upstream of him.



Onto the beach at low tide and lash the barge over the blocks.






Set anchors up and down stream and wait for the tide.







Towing the barge out with a 10 ft tinnie and 8 hp o/b is nigh impossible. We placed a fender each side of the bow of the tinnie and tied it into the gap between the drums. That gave us control but not much speed.

When we had it near position we anchored the barge fore and aft, checked our bearings, adjusted, and then lowered the weight by easing the lashing lines. It was preferred to have a controlled drop in case we got off position during the drop.

The dropping process was pretty hectic so there was no time to be taking photos.

My next post in this thread will have Second Wind on the mooring.

Where is the "Like" button when you need one! Well done.

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Ramona said..
Where is the "Like" button when you need one! Well done.

plus 1 ........... well done cisco ..... major project !

Well done Cisco,

Just one question... didn't see a swivel in your gear???

Thanks guys.

The not so well done part is that it has taken me a year to get it all together. That thing called LIFE has a habit of interrupting the other thing which is my DREAM. The current LIFE interruption is a tenant who has done a runner a week before Christmas. Lovely!!!

Philip, there are no swivels because 1. These are fore and aft moorings and 2. The crap that comes down the Burnett River by way of chemicals from farm runoff and sewage plants upstream chew out chain and swivels in 3 years or less.

I spoke with Ray Foley who owned Mid Town Marina and a dozen or so commercial moorings in the town reach and he said I would be lucky to get 3 years out of chain and he should know.

He had tackle on his moorings done exactly the same as I have done except he used Silver line and plastic tubing for anti chafe.

I have used Super Dan line with a working load rating just under 7 tonnes and on Ramona's recommendation have used lay flat irrigation hose for anti chafe. It does not harden up and is UV resistant.

Really interesting, thanks for sharing and I love the way you've done your research Into what works in your mooring area. Congrats and enjoy Second Wind safe and secure. I think you've earnt a Bundy or Three.

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FreeRadical said..
I think you've earnt a Bundy or Three.

That could be dangerous!! The Bundaberg Rum bond store on the opposite bank of the river is surrounded by what looks to be a very high voltage electric fence and CCTV cameras everywhere.

Nice job Cisco, would've like to have been there when you and Terry did your unscheduled abandon ship drill in the the tinny? I will have to get onto getting my mooring early in the new year. My excuse is the construction site pictured below for eating up my spare time, although realistically I would have spent that time sailing given the choice. Had our first beer on that nice bluegum slab bar last night so things are looking up!!

Good job Cisco. Creative and informative. Well done.

Philip, there are no swivels because 1. These are fore and aft moorings and 2. The crap that comes down the Burnett River by way of chemicals from farm runoff and sewage plants upstream chew out chain and swivels in 3 years or less.

Damn, didn't really read that did I Cisco!

As far as the chain is concerned its all that Chinese crap that's not up to standard, hence only 3 years of use!

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nswsailor said..

As far as the chain is concerned its all that Chinese crap that's not up to standard, hence only 3 years of use!

I don't think quality of the hardware is the issue in the Burnett River. More the toxicity of what comes down the river.

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cisco said..

We got the short tackle problem sorted. On a low tide we looped an extension onto the riser line and put a small buoy onto it. Then it was just a matter of unlooping the main buoy and relooping it onto the extension.




I think it's time for a review of this mooring arrangement Cisco. I have been sitting about waiting for an update with underwater photos etc of how this attachment method is working out!

I have to change the riser on my mooring in the next few days. Presently I have heavy chain on the bottom, shackle to a swivel and another shackle to the riser rope. Shackles are moused with cable ties. The riser is 40mm Sea green. The swivel is occasionally on the bottom and has fouled and caused the riser rope to unravel! What I am planning is to do away with the shackles and use the same attachment method as Cisco but with nylon rope [25mm]. Strop on the bottom about 1.5 metres, swivel and then nylon up to the bollard. The thinking being that the swivel will be clear of the bottom at all times and separated from other metals. The spliced loops will make changing the whole lot or parts of it easy underwater using the hookah. I think cable ties around the ends of the flat fire hose on the bottom splice where it attaches to the chain might be a good idea to keep some sand out.

Thoughts?

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Ramona said..

cisco said..

We got the short tackle problem sorted. On a low tide we looped an extension onto the riser line and put a small buoy onto it. Then it was just a matter of unlooping the main buoy and relooping it onto the extension.




I think it's time for a review of this mooring arrangement Cisco. I have been sitting about waiting for an update with underwater photos etc of how this attachment method is working out!

Mate, there will be no underwater photos because even a diver has to work by feel in the Burnett River.

Be assured that it works as the owner of Midtown Marina (no longer existant) used the same system on his 20 odd river moorings.

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Ramona said..
I have to change the riser on my mooring in the next few days. Presently I have heavy chain on the bottom, shackle to a swivel and another shackle to the riser rope. Shackles are moused with cable ties. The riser is 40mm Sea green. The swivel is occasionally on the bottom and has fouled and caused the riser rope to unravel! What I am planning is to do away with the shackles and use the same attachment method as Cisco but with nylon rope [25mm]. Strop on the bottom about 1.5 metres, swivel and then nylon up to the bollard. The thinking being that the swivel will be clear of the bottom at all times and separated from other metals. The spliced loops will make changing the whole lot or parts of it easy underwater using the hookah. I think cable ties around the ends of the flat fire hose on the bottom splice where it attaches to the chain might be a good idea to keep some sand out.

Thoughts?

This method of attachment makes it very simple for a diver to go down with new tackle and a knife to cut the old one away.

With a swing mooring you need a swivel in there somewhere. What you have proposed sounds fairly bullet proof.