Mooring buoys are hard, white plastic spheres about 18" in diameter. The main purpose of the mooring buoys is to support the mooring chain. They provide a convenient way to secure your boat. Mooring buoys are used to keep one end of a mooring cable or chain on the water's surface so that ships or boats can tie on to it.
Mooring buoys also help preserve the fragile coral reef ecosystem by preventing anchors from striking the coral and anchor ropes or chains from chafing or breaking coral. Reef-mooring buoys are used by boaters to avoid damaging coral and other sea life.
There are two favorite kinds of buoys: The traditional buoys with hardware, and buoys with a tube through the center. Both types of buoys provide floating reliability. Depending on the salinity of the water, these buoys can last for many years. Buoys that are in fresh water will have a longer useful life.
A permanent mooring system should secure your boat allowing you to leave it unattended or with little attention for a long period of time. A mooring system consists of a mooring buoy, a mooring anchor and a length of chain which runs between the anchor and the mooring buoy. The right ground tackle should include galvanized shackles and swivels. The following factors are important for the mooring system to function properly: boat length, anchor weight, length and diameter of the chains, length and diameter of the pennant -part you pick up and connect to-, and water depth.
Buoys transmit the strain of the boatÕs activity through the ball, with the lower part of the mooring system holding the boat vertically and the pennant holding the boat horizontally. In many cases, the wind is enough so that the boats on the moorings point into the wind and for this reason swing in the same pattern. There is a limited maximum excursion that the system allows. When picking up a buoy, you should start shortening the painter on the dinghy. Watch it, because you donÕt want it to get fouled in the propeller. One crew member should go to the bow with an extended boat hook. The helmsman and this person should have some already planned hand signals about forward, reverse, neutral, and other important instructions. As you come into the anchorage, note the direction of the bows of the other boats. This is the direction from which the ball should be approached. Do it under very low speed with the bow person pointing at the ball. You should agree to a planned side to pick up the ball. However, those on the bow should be ready to make adjustments as needed. Come up to the ball, shifting gears slowly through neutral to reverse to stop the boat, and then return to neutral.
Someone on the bow should lean over the lifeline and grab the pennant and then slide the boat hook up the line, until it can be caught in the hand. After that, the person should pass the pennant line under the lifeline. If there is a permanent loop, it has to be secured over the cleat. The engine should be kept in neutral for a few minutes. It is essential to watch your surroundings and double check that you are secured. If this is not the case, then just try it again. To leave, just shorten the dinghy painter. Be careful not to foul it, since you will be going in reverse. Point the boat into the wind and drift back. Use the engine in reverse only as needed to travel away from the ball. Someone on the bow should let off the line. It is a good idea to point out where the released ball is so the helmsman knows where not to steer. When the full pennant is clear of the bow, then a signal to the helmsman should be made indicating so.