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When it comes to owning a boat mooring, there’s a lot going on beneath the surface.
From the installation of a new mooring to repairs, inspections and ongoing maintenance of an existing mooring, each area plays a role in safely securing a boat owner’s vessel to its spot on the water.
Few know more about such things than Jack Rogers, a marine systems engineer who recently purchased Sandspit’s Rodney Mooring Services.
His company looks after an area with around 1500 moorings, from Leigh to Stillwater.
“Seventy per cent of our work is maintenance of moorings, the other 30 per cent is upgrading and installing new ones.”
Prospective owners should begin with some basic questions, he says. For example, where do you want the mooring, is there a site available, and what are the costs involved with installation and ongoing maintenance?
“Choosing the right location for a mooring is one of the most important steps,” Rogers says.
“We recommend choosing a low risk area, that’s sheltered in severe weather. The less exposure to harsh weather, the better.”
Before the installation can go ahead, the site must be officially approved.
“An applicant must apply for a mooring site with Auckland Transport’s (AT) Harbourmaster. They’ll be allocated a site (if the area isn’t full) that will suit their vessel’s size from swing room to draft.”
Swing room refers to the circular area a vessel moves within when attached to a single-point mooring, while draft is the vertical depth of the boat beneath the waterline.
The boat owner can then contact a mooring service provider to install it.
“All moorings in the Auckland region must comply with AT’s requirements. So each mooring is built and subsequently serviced to a standard.”
He adds that once installed, owners are not permitted to work on their moorings – it must be done by a certified contractor.
And it’s something that can’t be put off. Rogers says the biggest safety risks of neglecting regular maintenance are damage to someone’s vessel and other boats.
“Most moorings are serviced on a two or three-year cycle, depending on the area – and it’s the owner’s responsibly to book it in.
“We’ll lift the mooring, inspect and measure all hardware, cut and replace hardware that is out of tolerance, clean the mooring buoy(s) and re-lay onto its GPS coordinates. A certification form is then filled out and filed with the Harbourmaster.”
Rogers says the larger the mooring, the larger the cost to service.
“Deep, large moorings are the most expensive, as they have the heaviest and most amount of hardware, and vice-versa for the smaller, shallower moorings.”
Signs that suggest a mooring needs urgent attention include top rope twisting and chafing as well as badly deteriorated anodes, which “could indicate the mooring is also taking a hit from electrolysis” (corrosion of a boat’s underwater metal components caused by electrical current).
So what’s Rogers’ best piece of advice for someone new to owning a mooring?
“To check on your boat often. The ocean is the harshest environment we’ve got, so always secure your vessel correctly, and if you’re not sure feel free to ring and ask a mooring service provider,” he says.
