Angel Island Moorings Rebuilt

In the March 7 ‘Lectronic Latitude, we reported that a couple of moorings at Angel Island’s Ayala Cove had gone walkabout — thankfully with no boats attached to them — and that boaters should be cautious when planning an overnight stay.

But last week, Rick Hastie, who heads up the maintenance on the moorings, docks and boats at the park, called to report that not only was every mooring completely rebuilt, but they’d been finished since the beginning of the month! 

“Attached to each helix-style auger corkscrewed into the seabed is a length of new 1” chain, with a 3/4” shackle connecting it to a length of 5/8” chain that goes straight to the mooring,” explained Hastie. When asked about the super-high-tech Seaflex ‘snubbers’ that cost $1,700 each, but wound up fouling the props of several boats, Hastie replied, “They’re in the garbage — I cut them up myself!”

Another welcome change is that each row of moorings is now brightly color-coded. “Boaters just need to tie their bow and stern to the same color moorings.” Overnight moorage is $30, but you can tie to the day dock until sundown for no extra charge — just let a park ranger know. Only one boat is allowed to raft to a moored boat, and that boat also must pay moorage fees. See you there!