Where Have All the Moorings Gone?

"This isn’t a good sign for the moorings at Angel Island’s Ayala Cove," writes Gary Ryan of the Sausalito-based Hanse 34 ‘iliohale. "I’m not sure what happened — if these broke loose or what — but I’d caution any boat planning to spend the night on the moorings to be cautious as there’s no way of knowing what kind of shape these moorings are in."

Dave Gissendaner, owner of Sausalito’s Dave’s Diving and who has performed maintenance on the mooring field in the past, says that park personnel are as concerned about the field as boaters are. "I’m actually going out there today to relocate those two moorings, as well as start a survey of the whole field," he said.

Dave told us that the park has some challenging limitations when it comes to maintenance. "They can only spend a certain amount of money on the moorings over a specific period of time, generally three months," he explained. "Once we hit that target, we have to stop work." Unfortunately, the cost of labor and parts can add up quickly, especially when you’re working on moorings that feature custom Seaflex ‘snubbers’ that cost $1,700 each. Of the 27 original helix-style moorings that were installed in ’07, Dave says he’s rebuilt more than a dozen.

While we await Dave’s findings, heeding Gary’s advice to moor with caution might be wise.