Making a temporary tie-up Storm Proof

[swbca]

We are having our old Shore Station updated to work with a ski boat. The bed adaptors for this older lift are backordered with Shore Station because all marine products have extremely high demand this spring and producers are behind.

 

So the boat will be tied to the dock. We usually have 1 or 2 thunder storms with 60 mph gusts every summer (not this early in the spring). Empty boat lifts tip over and some docks get lifted off their frames.

 

Using 1/2" braided nylon at the moment. About 10' at the front to get some stretch. Planned on doubling in the front but that may be unnecessary.

 

What would you do ? to get the most secure temporary tie-up ? I will make sure there is no rope abrasion, but what else. NOT going to take it out of the lake.

 

Its snowing a little this morning . . temperatures not cold enough / long enough to freeze the boats occupant heater.

(The lift in the picture is for the Pontoon Boat)

 

 

 

[keithh2oskier]

I would pull the boat out ahead of the storm.

[6balls]

Buoy it with redundancy with thick stretchy lines and enough length that it can’t lift the anchors.

Back in the day we got away with that on vacation for two weeks at a time where the boat was in the water. The lake was 4 miles across and a big wind meant serious whitecaps.

Only on very rare occasions did we have to pull the boat.

[WIRiverRat]

Go buy a 20lb danforth anchor with some chain. Dive down and dig it in out away from your dock and put about 50ft of rope off it. Tie the back of the boat to the tree. If set properly that anchor will hold that boat no problem.

[swbca]

@keithh2oskier We commute back and forth - 2 hours from our main home - So we might not be there for a storm. We will only be without the lift a few more weeks so hoping a good tie up to the dock would get through. The dock is very strong but has some elasticity to add to the elasticity of the Nylon rope. Sound like most guys think the dock is a bad tie-up. Thought there might be some recommendations on how to beef up the connection to the dock.

[Jmoski]

Do you have enough waterfront to install a mooring? That would be better than it tied to the dock. We get a lot of wind on our lake and most people opt for a 150# mooring set up.

[swbca]

To all Everyone is recommending moorings or taking the boat out of the lake. What's wrong with tying to a dock?

 

The tensile strength of the nylon rope is 4000 pounds. I am sure many private docks would pull apart with 4000 pounds pulling at a support post . . is that the weak link that makes mooring better ?

 

I bought 2000 feet of bulk ski rope from MasterLine. Being more familiar with ski rope, I am going to add the 16 weave MasterLine woven ski rope with a little slack as a backup if the Nylon fails. I personally tested the MasterLine ski rope to break at 400 pounds for each of the 16 groups in the weave. Maybe the dock will end up on shore but I'm sure the rope won't be the point of failure.

 

I don't have experience with mooring a ski boat with an anchor other than for a cocktail flotilla in the middle of the lake. What can happen tying to a dock with rope that has tensile strength twice the boat's weight ? Not challenging your recommendations . . just trying to understand.

 

 

[swbca]

@Gloersen ASKED AND ANSWERED . . . THANKS !

 

Regarding moorings. I put in a slalom course through the ice this winter. This lake has 24" mud at the bottom. When I let down a 5 pound pointed cast iron window-sash weight for a temporary marker it settles in 24" below the measured depth using a small weight on the end of a fiberglass tape.

 

Maybe it can be done, but I don't know how you anchor a boat in 24" of mud.

 

WOULD THIS DO IT ?

2 days ago I put this 720 pound cement anchor in the lake at 69 foot depth as part of my submersible slalom course. It weighs about 350 under water. The 32 x 32 x 9.5" chunk of concrete might hold the boat because of suction in the mud. When this anchor sinks into the mud it takes high sustained force to make it move.

 

All anchoring in the deep water parts of this lake is via suction in muck. This slalom course anchor isn't setup to tie up a boat and it in a bad spot for a boat..

 

We have a strong dock and strong ropes and I am going to take my chances there won't be an extreme storm in the next 3 or 4 weeks.

 

Thanks for all the input.

[6balls]

Monster anchor, multiple lines. If the first line breaks the second is there and so forth. Much better floating than ruining your dock AND boat when both go ashore. If anchored she can always nose into the wind and nothing is bashing on it.

[skimtb]

Are your dock posts sitting on lake bottom or screwed in?

I’ll assume screwed in, otherwise don’t think your be asking...

Anyway, my additional comment would be to find way such that the rope is at the bottom of the post where is it anchored to bottom of lake vs tied to dock, which would cause the dock to “teeter” back and forth. If that makes sense.

Make a loop on end of rope or get a metal ring to go around iir that will drop or a u-bolt. Many options.

Is your boat uncovered in the snow? Whole ‘nother conversation there...

[swbca]

@skimtb @6balls Its covered and were done with the snow. This dock has a lot of rack strength; enough to deal with any storm I have see here. All valid points, but I think you are thinking of a bigger weather event than I am. For me it too big of a commitment to get another 700 pound anchor in the lake for a short term tie up.

[BraceMaker]

How we do it up north. Nearly every hardware store sells concrete septic tank access lids. About 60 or 80 lbs with 2 rebar handles cast in. This gets chain from one side to an anchor either a auger or even the leg of your dock. Of the other end heavy chain about the depth of the water and then heavy rope to a heavy duty locking carabiner.

 

Assemble by looping chain around the handles and using chain repair splices to hook it up. Now the boat when pushed by waves or wind has to lift that chain off the bottom. This is why heavy chain. Worst case scenario if it gets pushed back really hard it will try to lift the concrete lid and slide it. In big storms the boat will move the concrete. But the other side gets chained to a auger or the dock leg at the bottom so the concrete just walks around it.

 

As you noted if docks get flipped you dont want to be pulling on the top if the dock you can pull at the bottom IF you have a buffer.

[LeonL]

Back to the initial post. Why won't the boat fit on the dock as currently set up? I know that Shore Station has at least 2 configurations, straight across and with a "dip" for skeg clearance. This is easily remedied by installing taller bunk boards. Unless I misunderstand the situation???

[6balls]

Fair enough. Tie it up and hope for good weather. You will be fine if no big storms.

[swbca]

@LeonL ShoreStation doesn't have the hardware on hand to put their bunks on this old lift. Its not only straight across but has I-BEAM cross members rather than box section. They have a lot of products in short supply now because of high demand and the Covid hangover. Our dock and ShoreStation installer has a machine shop. He says he has made these components before but it cost the customer much more than the getting the parts from ShoreStation. Ill ask him again to see how he can expedite the lift.

[Deanoski]

Best place for a boat during a storm is on a trailer

[swbca]

@Deanoski Mentioned before this is a second home and we live 2 hours away. Every one has to figure out how to assess and manage risk. This is a low risk situation for a short period and I'm not going to spin my wheels over it. I didn't post this question for nothing . . I just didn't anticipate that most of the suggestions would be beyond my reach. Speeding up the Boat Lift is the best option.

[lpskier]

 

I moor in my lake using this anchor at 44 lbs. works like a charm. No worries in wind whatsoever.

[skimtb]

Guessing you have the parts in order for hoist and can’t back out. But, have you called hoist / dock installers working xx mile radius to see if the have extra odds and ends sitting around? Maybe from someone who converted ski boat to pontoon hoist....

[ReallyGottaSki]

I can add have moored for 4 decades, it's worry-free when not here, for anything that blows in, or boat waves. no bashing on the dock

 

One can set the anchor, ball and lines so that the stern/platform can get pulled over to the dock to step on, but not hit.

 

to retrieve boat

Just pull the shore tie over to the dock, and clip it to the outermost dock line. the shore-tie has an intermediate loop placed just for that.

 

stand on the platform and undo the cover, roll it up to the bow.

 

Clip the mooring line's extra tag end to the shore-tie line together,

 

A little tug on the shore tie that is clipped to the dock line, now you have the dock line in hand, clip it to stern.

 

The shore tie is now on the dock, still connected to the tag line of the mooring clip.

let that combo just sink but keep the end of the shore tie on the dock so one can retrieve the mooring

 

Secure boat to dock normally while its in use, reverse the process before leaving, easy peasy

 

 

[LeonL]

I guess yours looks like this ? It works for an inboard boat.

[LeonL]

But you want it to look like this?

[swbca]

@LeonL @skimtb When I called our Dock Guy / Boat Lift guy about fixing up our old lift, his truck was there 15 minutes later. He pulled it out of the woods and took off. He is replacing all the cables, the side bumpers, lengthening the canopy frame, new cover and changing the bunks.

 

He provides incredible and competent service and is the best provider on our area. Maybe I will have him fabricate the needed parts as he has done before for others. The factory bunks are available but not the mounting components for this lift.

 

So I am going to have him finish the job one way or the other.

 

Thanks for your suggestions.

[Jmoski]

Just provide context on the mooring over lashing to the dock:

 

1. Since your not there you can’t align the boat on the leeward side of the dock based on wind direction, so you run the risk of the boat bashing against the dock, damaging the dock & the boat.

 

2. With 60 mph winds you could easily have 2 ft swells - which will act as a hydraulic lift when the swell lifts the boat where the force generated is from the water pressure applied against the wetted surface, so my concern is that could pull the dock apart. Maybe that’s not the case if the fetch (the distance the wind has to act on to induce waves) isn’t that big?

 

Putting in a proper mooring would cost maybe $1000? all in for a professional diver to put it in, but will absolutely handle storm potential you have as a worst case scenario.

 

For me, peace of mind is worth the extra $$ to me given I am 3 hours from our lake house.

[robmollysilverlake]

@swbca you can try contacting boat lift and dock https://www.boatliftanddock.com/product/1475/shorestation-ultra-bunks-flat-rack-retro-kit

 

They might be able to help get you parts quicker?

[bojans]

We had a very small dock at our vacation home that would not keep our pontoon safe. I placed a tire filled with concrete about 75-100' off shore. A rope went from the anchor to a slalom buoy which would then attach to an "Anchor Buddy" https://www.amazon.com/Greenfield-Products-AB4000B-Anchor-Buddy/dp/B003BM5LUI

I doubled these up just to add more tension. I tethered the other end of the boat with a large rope to a tree on shore. The bungee absorbed all of the shock and allowed the boat to move rather than get slammed around. That setup survived some nasty storms on a lake that we 16 miles long with the prevailing storm winds coming right down the lake.

[swbca]

@bojans @Jmoski @LeonL etc I have jacked up the boat lift guy . . looks like that will happen faster than some other mooring setup.

[swbca]

THE LIFT IS IN - PROBLEM SOLVED

But the boat is really gooked up with residue at the wet/dry line from 3 weeks on ropes. Mineral and Organic.