Hello all

I have asked something similar to this question but I have a query still about leaving my cat in Tassie.

My wife and I are pretty excited about sailing south, instead of north, which is what we have done about 6 times before. As we work as teachers we have a nice break over the summer. I am going to take some extra leave (love my job) and sail the boat down early. Deb will fly down and meet me.

At the end of Jan we will leave the boat, either to sail back in Easter, or more probably to leave for the year and come down in the hols. I might miss the winter hols and just do a couple of weekends to check her out.

I built my boat and although she is not the snazziest she is pretty important to us. I am thinking of leaving her in Prince of Wales marina, which seems to have good rates for cats (11.6m LOA, 7.0m BOA) But I was still thinking of leaving her on a mooring in the Huon region.

Now it seems as though Taswegians use railway wheels for moorings. I don't know why, I would prefer a big lump of concrete. They also seem to sell moorings for much more than we can in NSW so I would probably want to rent one but it would have to be very sturdy and in a very sheltered part of the world. As it is, we bought our house because it was close to the mooring, I check the boat everyday, mostly from the shore but any excuse will have me rowing to check her out.

So its either the marina or a really, really nice snug spot where someone I can ring can see her. Somewhere with a big concrete block and huge ship chain. I think I would prefer to have the boat in the channel rather than at POW marina but I think the marina people would not mind me ringing them up every now and then to check the boat.

I would like to cruise Tassie without worry, which means not stressing about getting there and back in 9 weeks and am happy to pay a bit more to know she is being well taken care of when she stays there and I fly home.

I know there are many Taswegians on the forum. Any thoughts on my plan?

cheers

Phil

Railway wheels are better than concrete. Check the weight of steel under water versus concrete.

Put it in the marina.
Also with the moorings there was a major rule change about 20015 so many are not transferable and can't be sold but people still do so you may be getting nothing
Not many spots give all wind protection as well.
Your insurance will often be void in Tas if you can't see the boat from your house,
For instance my insurer will cover my powerboat only if I am in residence but not if I am on the mainland working.
and I put down a 50 tonne commercial survey mooring,
If you are leaving the boat for extended periods go the marina option.
Cheers

Hi Phil

We live on the waterfront at Port Huon and would be happy to keep an eye on your boat if you wanted to keep it here

The Kermandie Marina is also about 30 seconds drive away and is very sheltered and a lot of mainland sailors leave their boats their and fly down to use them but at the moment the web site is being worked on and not live so i am nopt sure how their prices compare with POW

There are quite a few vacant moorings here in Port Huon and i can see all of the bay from where i am sitting typing this and if you like i can ask around and see if anyone would like to rent one to you or if any are for sale

Normally moorings in Hobart or Kettering will sell for $5000 upwards where as down here they are around the $1800 mark

As Ramona said a steel wheel does not lose any weight under water where as concrete does and the wheels tend to bury themselves and are very secure

I think that the heavy chain laying on the bottom does most of the work anyway

This is a photo of the bay from out lounge room

Regards Don

Thanks everyone. Lots to think about. I will give my insurer a call.

Phil

Don's pic is Hospital Bay at Kermandie, one of the best all weather anchorages.
Also on the bus route from Hobart to Geeveston and Dover.
Shops are about 2 km up the road and there is a pub very handy.
The Trading Post also has the best scallop pies in the world.
Another advantage is that you are immediately cruising as you leave the mooring whereas Hobart is a good few hours to get down the Channel.
Lastly, if cruising and not used to Tas weather (which takes a bit of learning) it has the best cruising weather guide going.
That is when the Abalone boats leave Kermandie at 0300hrs to go to the South coast you know you have a good three days of great weather.

Don, tell Steve and Scott that one!

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Hospital Bay looks very nice but why the high cost for moorings?

Up here (NSW) I can get a brand new mooring laid for about $1200 for my boat. Looking at the secondhand moorings in Gumtree I can see they go for sometimes much more. I know that pre - 2014 moorings come with a certain location but in say Hospital Bay it does not look crowded so we could just put a new mooring in if allowed next to an existing mooring at a safe distance.

So I pay $1500 (maybe) for a new one rather than $2000 for an old and undersized one. What is going on?

cheers

Phil

Phil
It will much more than $1500 to put down a new mooring.
also mooring contractor might come to town once a year.
You will also need to be a resident to put it down
also in a lot areas no new moorings can be put down.

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Kankama said..
Thanks everyone for the replies.

Hospital Bay looks very nice but why the high cost for moorings?

Up here (NSW) I can get a brand new mooring laid for about $1200 for my boat. Looking at the secondhand moorings in Gumtree I can see they go for sometimes much more. I know that pre - 2014 moorings come with a certain location but in say Hospital Bay it does not look crowded so we could just put a new mooring in if allowed next to an existing mooring at a safe distance.

So I pay $1500 (maybe) for a new one rather than $2000 for an old and undersized one. What is going on?

cheers

Phil

Hi Phil

If you give Lynn and Russell from Southern Mooring Services a call on 0439826170 they will give you the cost to lay a new mooring

They came to Port Huon to service our moorings and liked it so much they have bought a property and now live here

Regards Don

I don't know if you are on facebook, but there's a Tasmanian multihulls page that would probably have some collective knowledge. I hope we (Tasmania) can turn on some hospitable weather for your stay!

Good weather, never get good weather down there.
South Coast heading Port Davey, southern ocean xmas 2015

Hi guys

I think I know why the moorings are pricey - they cost about double what ours do in Lake Macquarie. That for a single train wheel weighing about 330kg. I am not sure I would be happy with Kankama on that. She has a 1.2 tonne concrete block at the moment. I get the diff in density but it is still light. As well as the weight it is pretty hard to drag a bigger block through the mud so I would like either two wheels or a big block.

If I lived down there I would just make a lay my own - it is not too hard. With a cat and a box trailer you just float the boat up to the trailer, tie the mooring block on to the forebeam, back away and then cut it when in place. Maybe there is a surplus of train wheels in Tassie. When I made my own I threw in lots of steel I could find so it was extra strong and heavy.

Probably the marina then for the boat.

cheers

Phil

Not apples and apples.
Usually the start is a loco wheel (solid wheel) followed by train wheel (spoked)
also you are assuming the bottom type will allow the block to sink.
Not so with hard sand bottom so depends where you are.
Lastly the chain riser in Tas tend to be very heavy stud link and longer than might be usual.
Only little boats use concrete blocks.

If you do lay your own check with the insurer as they will have a different view.

I get the idea that areas are different, I just can't get the idea that concrete works well in NSW and QLD and not in Tassie. We have a lot of different bottoms in NSW too. My mooring is open to nasty westerlies and gets tested every year as do all of the boats around me. I think it must be cultural thing as railway wheels are not used by mooring contractors I see in NSW. It was really the cost doubling that got me thinking - but to be honest, much of that was for barge travel. Still I won't put my boat on a single 330kg train wheel as quoted. I will be far away and need to be able to sleep when gales hit Tassie and I am back in NSW.

cheers

Phil

K
I have two loco wheels and two train wheels and heavy stud link on the big mooring.
Cheers

That sounds better for sleep at night. I should probably want something similar.

Just got an email back from MAST. Hospital Bay is full so I have to buy a mooring lease from someone else. Marina is looking less hassle.

cheers

Phil

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Kankama said..
Just got an email back from MAST. Hospital Bay is full so I have to buy a mooring lease from someone else. Marina is looking less hassle.

cheers

Phil

Hi Phil

Do you want me to ask around and see if any one wants to sell or rent one of the many unused ones in the Bay

This one http://huonyachtclub.org/?page_id=1339 is for rent but it is a little bit further down river (around the corner from where we live so i cant see it ) and probably a bit more exposed than in the bay but there are a few other boats on moorings in that area

If you are interested in putting it in the Kermandie Marina give Dean Marks a call on 0412744890 www.facebook.com/deanmarksboats/

He has a wooden boat building business next to the Marina but I believe he is the contact person for it and the ship lift as well

Regards Don

When you look at the MAST website below is what is shown as being in Hospital Bay but these are photo's i took this afternoon and it looks completely different

There are a few empty moorings but i don't think that all of the ones shown are actually there

Thanks Don that would be great, if there are any for sale/rent I would be interested.

It would have to be a nice heavy mooring. The boat is only 4000kg but she does have a bit of windage. I can see there is a bit of a difference between what MAST's computer tells them and the photos.

I have talked to Dean and he can fit Kankama in so there is no stress either way.

cheers

Phil

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Kankama said..
Thanks Don that would be great, if there are any for sale/rent I would be interested.

It would have to be a nice heavy mooring. The boat is only 4000kg but she does have a bit of windage. I can see there is a bit of a difference between what MAST's computer tells them and the photos.

I have talked to Dean and he can fit Kankama in so there is no stress either way.

cheers

Phil

Hi Phil

The one for rent i posted the link to http://huonyachtclub.org/?page_id=1339 is actually a bit up river from Hospital Bay and is actually in a pretty good position shelter wise (For some reason i was thinking it was in another spot) if you are interested in it

Regards Don