Problems- Tiller and Raleigh moorings- I'm pissed

[Ian]

Well, today did not work out as we had planned! Jack, Barb and I headed out on Spencer’s boat first thing this morning. We had plans of moving the stern mooring further aft behind the transom and installing a new tag line and larger surface jug.

Attempt one;

Jack and I went down first to float a mark where we wanted the block to end up and to tie in our bag line to the link at the top of the chain. We set the 4000# bag at about 15’so that when it was inflated the blocks would be about 15’ off the bottom. Jack moved up the line to inflate the bag, while I stayed at the top of the chain, ready to cut it loose when we reached the point. Just as I felt tension coming on the line, I heard a loud pop. A minute later, Jack was back down to me signalling me up. As soon as we got to the bag, I saw what the problem was. The inflation hose from the tank to the bag had ruptured and we had lost all the air out of the bag. We removed the hose and took it topside where Spencer cut it back and managed a quick fix.

Attempt two;

As Jack inflated the bag slowly (hoping our repair would hold), I was back down again ready to cut the line. As our direction of movement was 90 degrees off the wind and waves, Spencer was to have the boat ready to move as soon as the bag broke the surface. Next thing I knew, I had a piece of chain flying past my face. The rebar had pulled out of one of the two blocks. The second block hadn’t lifted yet but it was light enough that the current was pushing us away from the wreck. By the time the block floated, we must have been 200’ off our mark. I had popped up above the thermocline into the bad visibility and had no idea where we were. I dropped down to the block which was in clear water and watched the bottom pass by. Eventually we hit silt so I knew we were going the right way. Next came the drag marks, then the lost block, then the ship and finally the mark where I cut the bag loose. The position was perfect but we were minus one block.

After surfacing, we talked it over and decided that a single 1000# block wasn’t substantial enough for a secure mooring. We headed back down and disconnected everything. End result, a lot of time and effort wasted and the Tiller is back to one mooring. We now have to decide if it’s worth putting another block out or just leaving it with the one good one we have. I would like some input here. I know that a couple of years ago it wasn’t uncommon to have 2,3 or even 4 boats tied up at a time on the weekend but I don’t think the wreck is getting the same traffic this year. Both lines were well used as there is no muscle of seaweed growth on either of them so there still must be a fair bit of traffic to it. Do we need a second mooring?

One point of good news was that James Detenbeck got out to the Raleigh last night and the buoy was there. It had taken on some water and was floating on its side and not very visible. It has been removed for the season.