The brochure and original website also quoted anchoring fees, not just mooring. It appears that effectively, anchoring anywhere commonly known in the Exumas just became a for-profit enterprise benefiting a single company. There is a copy of the brochure distributed by this company available on Bahamas, Land and Sea and the George Town Exuma Cruisers and Sailors Facebook pages.
Also, whoever says moorings are more secure than anchors clearly doesn’t have proper ground tackle. The places these many of these moorings are going in are some of the best anchoring grounds on the planet.
Thanks for mentioning the anchoring fees. In my haste, I forgot to mention that in the story. You would be hard pressed to be able to carry enough ground tackle to be mor secure than a high quality helical screw system, but that’s not really the point either way. This kind of fait accompli is not what we expect in a Democracy.
"Helical systems" is not enough information. During a tropical storm on a river in Florida (being cagy here) an entire mooring system of what were supposedly fantastic latest technology "helical" moorings all failed and over a dozen boats wound up aground. This is a major problem if it happens when the tidal surge is a good 4 feet about high tide. When you go to recover your boat, it's high, dry, and inland. We were all shocked that the "latest high tech helical moorings" were in fact about a 20" diameter piece of steel plate, cut on one radius to the center, then bent to form a very basic screw. These were welded to 1" square steel sections, and the boat installing the moorings "drilled" them deep into the riverbed.
They were sold as the latest and greatest. They all failed in sustained 50 knot winds, 4 feet of surge, and about the same height waves while the wind came up the longest direction of fetch for some hours. These "latest and greatest helical moorings" were garbage and gave a false sense of security. We were shocked to actually see then, drug up with our boats. Just a steel "pie plate" cut and bent to form a screw. "Helical mooring" my ass. I'd want to see them myself.
And if you have to be on one for a serious storm, put out a LOT of extra rode. When your boat is pitching in the waves that may come with a storm, with the wind from the maximum fetch, you do NOT want to be putting any upward tug on these systems. That is their fatal weak point: being gradually yanked upward until they're out. Seeing a dozen big sailboats (including mine) aground trailing these "bulletproof" helical anchors really made an un-believer out of me.
So glad you’ve picked up this story. Keep digging. It’s important that cruisers as well as the Bahamian people learn how this came about and who’s really profiting.
I know I don't have the most popular slant when I say this, but it is their country and they can do whatever they please. They don't owe anyone any information about who profits from it, the environmental study, or any other explanation for the new policy.
Mooring programs have been successful in many countries and it doesn't surprise me to see the trend continue. If you don't like the programs, just keep sailing past until you find a place to drop an anchor.
Ironically, in a couple of places in Fiji, mooring fields that charge fees often are adjacent to anchor areas. The moorings fill up quickly. People there tend to anchor only when a mooring is not available. We have seen this scenario in many countries we've visited.
Multiple countries in the Caribbean have mooring fields and have successfully turned them into revenue streams. It is their right to do this.
My only pet peeve is that the mooring needs to be maintained to standards that prevent yachts from breaking them. Hopefully, this is in the Bahamania plan.
And, while I am unpopular, I will point out that most people visiting the Bahamas on a private boat are from the USA. A country that just elected a leader who openly claims to put the USA ahead of all other countries. So, why are these very same Americans upset when the Bahamas does the same?
Well said. These anchorages are not "the people's land". They are Bahamian land which is why we need a permit to have a boat here. This isn't "just another cash grab." Installation of mooring fields is the tourism industry responding in a capitalistic (ala American) way. The free resource is now in high enough demand to charge for it. The outrage over this speaks to the entitlement some people feel.
I will also amend my comments in context of the new info that’s come out about the potentially subversive methods that were used to begin the work on these moorings. I hope the Bahamian people and gov’t will address the legitimacy and concerns that this specific set of projects has raised. Cruisers should be aware that our outrage can come across as entitlement and remember that we (cruisers) are guests in a foreign country. I’m all about supporting the locals, and I also don’t presume to know what’s best for them.
$35/night should come with a dinghy dock, water tap, a bathroom and a shower ashore. Otherwise, it's a straight up ripoff to charge that much per night for the basic no-frills privilege of mooring.
Does any liability accrue to the "owner" of the moorings if they fail and a boat is wrecked?
How did the moorings in Man-O-War Cay do during Dorian? Not good. All the boats wound up ashore, most were wrecked.
Moorings may be terrific for a few years, and corrode to the failure point in a decade. Stainless steel where it transitions into the sea bed, iron and steel where they go into concrete blocks, etc. They need frequent inspection by divers, and a plan for replacement before they are corroded practically down to "coat hanger wire" thickness.
I've seen it and been shocked enough times NOT to trust moorings that are over a decade old. I've seen mooring chains that were once 1/2" chain effectively under 1/4" diameter due to corrosion. It's more common than you think.
Such moorings might be okay for mooring in fair or normal trade wind weather, and then fail when you really need them, say when the Norther blasts in from a direction with longer fetch. Let the cruiser beware. If possible, especially if bad weather is expected, dive and inspect your mooring system. If in doubt, anchor out, especially if this means moving to a spot with protection from a Norther. (And don't be in the Bahamas during hurricane season, generally speaking.)
Also: the "high tech helical systems" may not be all that they are cracked up to be. See my longer comment on them elsewhere on this thread.
Moorings are generally more secure than anchoring and cheaper than a marina. As long as water, a dinghy dock and pump out services come with the deal, it’s a good thing IMO. Now if you cannot anchor nearby and the balls fill up, that can cramp your cruising plans.
The brochure and original website also quoted anchoring fees, not just mooring. It appears that effectively, anchoring anywhere commonly known in the Exumas just became a for-profit enterprise benefiting a single company. There is a copy of the brochure distributed by this company available on Bahamas, Land and Sea and the George Town Exuma Cruisers and Sailors Facebook pages.
Also, whoever says moorings are more secure than anchors clearly doesn’t have proper ground tackle. The places these many of these moorings are going in are some of the best anchoring grounds on the planet.
Thanks for mentioning the anchoring fees. In my haste, I forgot to mention that in the story. You would be hard pressed to be able to carry enough ground tackle to be mor secure than a high quality helical screw system, but that’s not really the point either way. This kind of fait accompli is not what we expect in a Democracy.
"Helical systems" is not enough information. During a tropical storm on a river in Florida (being cagy here) an entire mooring system of what were supposedly fantastic latest technology "helical" moorings all failed and over a dozen boats wound up aground. This is a major problem if it happens when the tidal surge is a good 4 feet about high tide. When you go to recover your boat, it's high, dry, and inland. We were all shocked that the "latest high tech helical moorings" were in fact about a 20" diameter piece of steel plate, cut on one radius to the center, then bent to form a very basic screw. These were welded to 1" square steel sections, and the boat installing the moorings "drilled" them deep into the riverbed.
They were sold as the latest and greatest. They all failed in sustained 50 knot winds, 4 feet of surge, and about the same height waves while the wind came up the longest direction of fetch for some hours. These "latest and greatest helical moorings" were garbage and gave a false sense of security. We were shocked to actually see then, drug up with our boats. Just a steel "pie plate" cut and bent to form a screw. "Helical mooring" my ass. I'd want to see them myself.
And if you have to be on one for a serious storm, put out a LOT of extra rode. When your boat is pitching in the waves that may come with a storm, with the wind from the maximum fetch, you do NOT want to be putting any upward tug on these systems. That is their fatal weak point: being gradually yanked upward until they're out. Seeing a dozen big sailboats (including mine) aground trailing these "bulletproof" helical anchors really made an un-believer out of me.
So glad you’ve picked up this story. Keep digging. It’s important that cruisers as well as the Bahamian people learn how this came about and who’s really profiting.
Do go dig at Exuma park for details of Ierna’s exit
Also ask some Long Islanders how they feel about him. The word starts with g and ends in t
I know I don't have the most popular slant when I say this, but it is their country and they can do whatever they please. They don't owe anyone any information about who profits from it, the environmental study, or any other explanation for the new policy.
Mooring programs have been successful in many countries and it doesn't surprise me to see the trend continue. If you don't like the programs, just keep sailing past until you find a place to drop an anchor.
Ironically, in a couple of places in Fiji, mooring fields that charge fees often are adjacent to anchor areas. The moorings fill up quickly. People there tend to anchor only when a mooring is not available. We have seen this scenario in many countries we've visited.
Multiple countries in the Caribbean have mooring fields and have successfully turned them into revenue streams. It is their right to do this.
My only pet peeve is that the mooring needs to be maintained to standards that prevent yachts from breaking them. Hopefully, this is in the Bahamania plan.
And, while I am unpopular, I will point out that most people visiting the Bahamas on a private boat are from the USA. A country that just elected a leader who openly claims to put the USA ahead of all other countries. So, why are these very same Americans upset when the Bahamas does the same?
Well said. These anchorages are not "the people's land". They are Bahamian land which is why we need a permit to have a boat here. This isn't "just another cash grab." Installation of mooring fields is the tourism industry responding in a capitalistic (ala American) way. The free resource is now in high enough demand to charge for it. The outrage over this speaks to the entitlement some people feel.
I will also amend my comments in context of the new info that’s come out about the potentially subversive methods that were used to begin the work on these moorings. I hope the Bahamian people and gov’t will address the legitimacy and concerns that this specific set of projects has raised. Cruisers should be aware that our outrage can come across as entitlement and remember that we (cruisers) are guests in a foreign country. I’m all about supporting the locals, and I also don’t presume to know what’s best for them.
PS: Please see my note with photo in your chat about this post.
$35/night should come with a dinghy dock, water tap, a bathroom and a shower ashore. Otherwise, it's a straight up ripoff to charge that much per night for the basic no-frills privilege of mooring.
Does any liability accrue to the "owner" of the moorings if they fail and a boat is wrecked?
How did the moorings in Man-O-War Cay do during Dorian? Not good. All the boats wound up ashore, most were wrecked.
Moorings may be terrific for a few years, and corrode to the failure point in a decade. Stainless steel where it transitions into the sea bed, iron and steel where they go into concrete blocks, etc. They need frequent inspection by divers, and a plan for replacement before they are corroded practically down to "coat hanger wire" thickness.
I've seen it and been shocked enough times NOT to trust moorings that are over a decade old. I've seen mooring chains that were once 1/2" chain effectively under 1/4" diameter due to corrosion. It's more common than you think.
Such moorings might be okay for mooring in fair or normal trade wind weather, and then fail when you really need them, say when the Norther blasts in from a direction with longer fetch. Let the cruiser beware. If possible, especially if bad weather is expected, dive and inspect your mooring system. If in doubt, anchor out, especially if this means moving to a spot with protection from a Norther. (And don't be in the Bahamas during hurricane season, generally speaking.)
Also: the "high tech helical systems" may not be all that they are cracked up to be. See my longer comment on them elsewhere on this thread.
Moorings are generally more secure than anchoring and cheaper than a marina. As long as water, a dinghy dock and pump out services come with the deal, it’s a good thing IMO. Now if you cannot anchor nearby and the balls fill up, that can cramp your cruising plans.