Newport council OKs mooring tackle standards that relax earlier proposals

Newport Beach relaxed a proposed set of mooring tackle standards Tuesday as the City Council approved specifications requiring increased mooring weights only if a boat moves due to insufficient weight, adding safety chains to older ring-style buoys and requiring minimum chain strength.

All mooring tackle — consisting of weights, chains and buoys — is owned and maintained by those who hold permits to lease the patches of water where their boats berth in the Newport Harbor mooring field, which is run by the city.

In September, the city Harbor Commission agreed to a set of specifications to require boat owners to increase their minimum mooring weights regardless of whether their boats have drifted because the weights were too light; require that any remaining ring-style buoys be converted to the more widely used tube style; and require thicker chains in the smaller 20- to 30-foot moorings.

The City Council put off its final approval at the time until the city gathered more feedback from boat owners of the Newport Mooring Assn.

The council’s action Tuesday generally means mooring permit holders don’t need to beef up their tackle unless it fails.

Mooring failures during the last round of heavy winter weather prompted the new standards.

More than 40 boats drifted out of position during last winter’s storms, said Harbor Resources Manager Chris Miller, indicating that some yacht owners weren’t using heavy enough weights.

If that happens again this winter and into the future, boat owners will need to increase their mooring weights by 20%. For a 20-foot boat, that means an increase from 500 to 600 pounds per mooring point (most moorings are two-point). For a 50-footer, it means going from 2,000 to 2,400 pounds per point; for a 95-footer, 5,000 pounds to 6,000.

The ring-vs.-tube buoy style should affect relatively few boat owners. The ring style hasn’t been made in more than 20 years, though some remain in the water, Miller said. They will be allowed as long as they have a safety chain backup to prevent swinging in case of buoy failure.

A tube-style buoy has a hollow channel in its center through which a chain runs, allowing the chain to be pulled up for inspection. A ring-style buoy has a stationary barbell-style rod through its center, with rings at either end to connect to chains. The rod can’t be examined without destroying the buoy.

Chain sizes won’t be changed, but boat owners will be required to use a minimum strength of grade 30. Existing size specifications must be adhered to regardless of chain grade, though, meaning a higher chain grade would not result in a smaller chain size.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

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