Newport Harbor mooring weights could get heavier under proposed rule changes

Boat owners who berth their crafts in Newport Harbor may be required to increase their minimum mooring weights by 20% to protect boats from drifting and collisions during strong winds.

Harbor Manager Chris Miller told the city Harbor Commission on Wednesday that boats are bigger now than they were when the mooring specifications were written years ago, and every year, heavy weather can lead to dragging moorings.

Miller said certain conditions need to come together for a boat to drag, “but needless to say, the boats do move, and this past year there were several dozen boats that did move. And to me that raises a red flag of ‘Gee, I wonder if we should reevaluate our weight requirements for our moorings.’ ”

For a 20-foot boat, that means increasing the minimum weight from 500 to 600 pounds per mooring point (most moorings are two-point). For a 50-footer, it means going from 2,000 to 2,400 pounds per point; for a 95-footer, 5,000 pounds to 6,000.

The Harbor Commission agreed to the proposed changes. The City Council will take them up at its Sept. 26 meeting.

Miller said many mooring permit holders have already voluntarily increased their weights, especially if they berth in a storm-prone area of the harbor.

Chuck South of South Mooring Co., which services moorings throughout the harbor, agreed.

He said most problems tend to be among boats in the 40- to 60-foot range when permit holders had moorings that hadn’t been maxed out and then bought a heftier boat that was too much for the moorings — for example, a 40-foot craft with 1,500 pounds of weight on each of its two ends.

South said about 40 boats shifted during major winds in December and January, though those winds didn’t exceed 60 mph. Obviously, he said, those weights were too light.

Generally, though, the mariner community is keeping itself in check, he said.

“There are some very prudent sailors out there,” South said. “If you go into the yacht clubs, they’re running 40 to 50% heavier than they’re required to be for the boats that they’re putting on (their moorings). They can’t afford to bang those boats; they’re gorgeous.”

Rules revisions also would require a shift from ring-style buoys to tube-style buoys for offshore moorings, though Miller said most buoys are already tube-style.

A tube-style buoy has a hollow channel in its center through which a chain runs, allowing the chain to be pulled up for inspection. A ring-style buoy has a stationary barbell-style rod through its center, with rings at either end to connect to chains. The rod can’t be examined without destroying the buoy.

The older ring style hasn’t been made in more than 20 years, though some remain in the water, Miller said.

The city also suggests that single-buoy sand-line moorings, like those commonly used on Catalina Island and recently installed near Marina Park for larger visiting vessels, also be allowed and that thicker chains be used in the smaller 20- to 30-foot moorings. Miller said those chain specifications are common already, so the rule change would bring regulations up to current practice.

There are no proposed changes to line requirements.

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