Boat Adrift? - Northcote

[Fish 0]

There is a boat 'parked' next to the Northern Motorway. On first glance it looks like an innovative new anchoring spot, but it is likely it has broken from a mooring and drifted up on the tide.

 

Its location is in the tidal creek that crosses under the Northern Motorway, just south of the Esmonde Rd on ramp. It is resting on the bank beside mangroves, in a tidal channel. The boat has a small orange mooring buoy it is attached to in the water, so not on an anchor but a mooring buoy, likely broken free below the water line.

 

Description:

Looks like an H28, or similar, same size and era. Well maintained.

White hull, timber / teak cabin top.

Mast laid down, tidily laying along the length of the boat.

Couldn't get a photo as I was driving (traffic was actually almost free flowing, must be school holidays).

Name - I didn't get, but it was a longish name in Italic style, black lettering as an outline with white forming the inside of the letters.

 

No obvious damage, but is likely to drift off somewhere else when the tide turns (assuming it is not actually anchored).

[khayyam 68]

huh. i thought that was intentional, but you might be right!

[waikiore 398]

In Westhaven now, poss towed in by the harbourmaster

[Clipper 343]

I went past about 10ish, was being rescued by a rib, was yellow though, not cg red.

[Marshy 30]

That would be the Harbour Master then!

[GregW 28]

Crap! Hope it didn't bounce off anything (including my boat) on its way.

[erice 732]

was at the harbormasters this morning

 

when someone rushed off that way to collect a boat broken free

 

his word

 

"another idiot lets the rope chaff through

 

we might have to do something about this"

[Freedom GBE 27]

We got three ropes connected to our chain. I will check the boats around me next time and might add a second rope to each old derelict time bomb.

[waikiore 398]

No marks on its gunwhale so looks like she didn't collect anything on the way in.

[Clipper 343]

I know nothing other than what I saw on the drive past at 80kph, but she didn't look like a derelict. Not like some of them.

 

Freedom, I just replaced my mooring lines and threw out the old ones. Maybe I should have used the old ones to beef up that shitter sitting next to you/us.

[ScottiE 174]

In this day of finger pointing I wouldn't do that - the owner is just as likely to turn around and blame you for any snafu attributed to their boat - that's the kind of person they're likely to be.  I have 'heard' that boats breaking away from their moorings and damaging other boats now also insurers' biggest concern when insuring multis in Auckland rather than racing. Ie' derilict boat is old and heavy - muti is light and sparkly!

 

I think about all you can really do is contact the harbourmaster with photos, outline your concern and then follow up on a weekly basis.  Consequently, now that moorings in Auckland are under AT, I suspect that it won't be long before every vessel on a mooring will be required to have 3rd party insurance.

[gonzo 0]

 

And so they should, shouldn't they?

[ScottiE 174]

Yes absolutely - but again just relying on insurance for what really is a simple issue for boat owners to stay on top of is just sh*t. I'd prefer that my neighbour was a courteous responsible boat owner!

[Ed 143]

Insurers are increasongly reticent about moorings these days, I couldn't get any cover while at northcote. Not to say others aren't covered, but that cover is becoming harder to come by

[madyottie 82]

To be fair, third party liability insurance is only a few hundy, a small price to pay for piece of mind.

 

I don't have a lot of expensive boats around mine, but I still wouldn't want to pay salvage on any that sank as a result of my negligence.

 

My policy wording puts the onus on me to keep the mooring well maintained, and that cost significantly more than my premium each year. But again, Insurance is that thing we all hope not to use, but is very nice to have.

 

Referring to Ed's comment above, for a reasonable price I had two options - Youi, or Lloyds of London. None of the mainstream companies would even look at cover, and the specialist marine companies were asking well over a grand. I went with Youi, but since reading their reputation on several websites, I'll likely be switching at renewal time.

[harrytom 642]

we have all chain mooring with a eye,through the eye i have hook with chain to bollard with a doubled rope from eye back to mast,mooring rated for 10t and my boat is 2.5t so do not think it will move.top of panmure river.3 yr inspection,was looking at bucks till insurance co want 18month inspections due to ferry traffic.

 

Had a mooring years ago in torpedo bay and with the arrival of the quick cats mooring wore out in 2yrs

[John B 106]

15 years in Hobson bay, the common denominator in boats on the wall or the bay or the ramp was a rope top strop chafed through, and sometimes the swivel on the actual mooring. I was told that by the ex moorings guy who then became the custodian at the hardstand, and I observed it for myself over that decade and a half looking at those wrecked boats, and there were a lot of them.

 

I used a chain from hook to sampson post . no chafe issues, no chance of chafe issues , easily observed wear and tear, but I never did change that chain.