Moorings Maintenance

Published 18:02 on 8 Dec 2024

Our annual moorings overhaul took place on 7th and 8th December in bitterly cold and difficult conditions.

Rain and strong northerly winds had been forecast for the weekend, although not as severe as the gales that Storm Darragh had brought to the south-west of the country. Moorings Convenor Alastair Johnson and his team decided to wait until Saturday morning to make a decision on whether to go ahead. Neither the river flow nor the wind was as bad as had been feared, so they decided to start on the west chain.

After immense difficulty in undoing a large shackle to split the ground chain, they managed to haul the chain on board the moorings boat and decided the conditions were such they could continue to overhaul the moorings.

They worked steadily downstream, checking and replacing worn mooring tackle as needed. However by the time they finished the tide was coming in and the wind was very cold from the north. They had a real struggle to get the boat back on its moorings as the wind rose.

Sunday turned out to be a better day the wind was still cold but a little calmer and the river flow was reduced.

The team worked on the east chain. Splitting the ground chain to get it on board the moorings boat was comparatively straightforward and soon they were working their way down the moorings, again checking and replacing worn parts as needed.

So both ground chains were completed on schedule. A further check on the surface part of the moorings the rings and buoys will take place in the spring.

Thanks are due to all who helped both afloat and ashore, and particularly to Alastair Johnson for preparing all the equipment and running the show on both days.

This is a difficult cold and dirty job, but it's essential in ensuring that our moorings are fit to be used for another year.