WYC Mooring Regulations

 

Composition of and Representation on the Mooring Committee. 

 

The Mooring Committee Chair is appointed by the Commodore each season.   Committee members are recruited by the Chair.  The committee should comprise a member from each section of the mooring field, so that the committee includes an individual familiar with the particular problems in each section.  These people will also serve as points of contact for mooring issues in their sections.  Sections are laid out as follows:

 

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Click this link to download a PDF verseion of the 2011 Mooring Application.

 

            Section Number         Section                                                Person

 

                        1                      Far West End.                                     Power or Sail Member

 

                        2                      Near West End                       Sail Member

 

                        3                      Near East End                         Power Member

 

                        4                      Far East End                           Power or Sail Member

 

                        5                      Storm Mooring Field              Slip Member

 

                        6                      Skiffs (West End, Inside)       Skiff Member

 

                        7                      Turnabouts and Day Sailors    Sailing Committee Member

 

 

Development of Regulations

WYC Bylaws grant the Mooring Committee the authority to create mooring regulations for the club, pending approval by the Board of Directors.  Because mooring regulations are not bylaws, the membership is not required to vote on them and the committee is free to change them at any time.  While not required by the bylaws, all mooring regulations or significant changes to mooring regulations will be developed using the following guidelines. New regulations will be:

• Presented the membership at a business meeting, after initial approval by the Board, to obtain membership input prior to establishing any new regulation or significantly changing an existing one.  
• Developed and approved prior to the period in which they are to take effect.  This would mean that any new regulation or changes should be in place by the end of March in any given year.

 

• Communicated to the membership prior to the intended period of use.  This would mean that new regulations or significant changes should be communicated to the membership prior to the end of March in any given year.  They will also be posted in the club, the newsletter and the web site.

Member Responsibility 

Each member is ultimately responsible for the design, placement, and upkeep of their mooring.  As members of Wessagussett Yacht Club, all members agree to the WYC Mooring Regulations, whether they have other mooring rights as residents of Weymouth or of the state.  Each member agrees to follow club regulations regarding the layout of the mooring field, and to follow direction on placement and conflict resolution.  The club will work with members or their contractors to design and site moorings, and to resolve conflicts, but it is the member’s responsibility to follow direction and ensure that placements are effective.  Members are responsible for regularly checking their moorings and their layout with respect to other boats, and to communicate with the committee in a timely fashion when problems arise.  Neither the club nor the members of the Mooring Committee are responsible in any way for problems relating to mooring field layout or gear design, or for damage to mooring equipment due to the club’s inspection or movement of a member’s mooring gear.

 

General Guidelines and Rules 

No club member “owns” or in any way controls a mooring location.  Locations are laid out in our mooring field by the Mooring Committee, in conjunction with the Weymouth Harbormaster, and assigned to a member each season by the club. Assignments can and will change, even if the member has logged a mooring at a location (due to an increase in the number of boats, a change in the layout of the field, or due to inappropriate placement by a member or their contractor, for example).  All members intending to keep a boat at the club must have a mooring in the water in an assigned location, current paid insurance with a binder forwarded to the Mooring Committee, and a Weymouth Mooring Permit sticker affixed to their hull, prior to bringing their boat to the club.  Members placing their boat on a mooring in the club fleet or in a slip without a Weymouth Mooring Permit sticker affixed to their hull will incur a fine of $100.  All slip members with boats longer than 25 feet must also have a storm mooring in the water in an assigned location prior to bringing their boat to the club.

Every effort will be made to allow members to keep their location provided they actively keep a boat at the club and apply before April 1 each year, unless they wish to move closer.  Members who do not actively keep a boat at the club during the year lose their location the following spring.  Members who keep their boats primarily at another location (another club or marina) are considered as not actively keeping a boat at the club (minimum one month continuous), and therefore fall into this category.  If, at a later time, they choose to keep a boat at the club again, they will get preferential choice of available spots, based on their seniority relative to other members wishing to move up and the appropriateness of sites available. 

After the spring of 2006, more-senior members cannot displace previously sited less-senior members who do not wish to be moved.  All moves for a particular year will be determined on the annual mooring “Move Up” night.  Exemptions to this rule, for one season, will be granted in cases where the member was unable to put a boat in the water due to health or other unavoidable reasons. Requests for exemption should be made to the mooring committee by March 1^st of each year, with decisions made prior to the boating season.

The mooring field is designed so that boats of a similar type, size and characteristics will be moored in the same regions.  This is because boats having similar characteristics will lay to the current and wind in a similar way.  Grouping them together will reduce the possibility of contact between boats.  The initial layout will be as follows:

 

            Section Number         Section                                   Boat Type

                       

                        1                      Far West End.                                     Power and Sail, Powerboats                                                                                                   Inside, Sailboats Outside

 

                        2                      Near West End                       Sail

                                               

                        3                      Near East End                         Power

 

                        4                      Far East End                           Sail (Small Power Inside)

 

                        5                      Storm Mooring Field 

 

                        6                      Skiffs (West End, Inside)       Power Less Than 20’

 

                        7                      Turnabouts and Daysailors     Sail Less Than 20’

                                                (East End, Inside)

In general, smaller boats drawing less water will be sited closer to the beach, and larger boats toward the channel.  There is no size limit to boats kept in the WYC mooring field, but in all cases boats longer than 35 feet LOA must be on the outside of the field, closest to the channel.  Layout of boats in the field will be kept track of through the maintenance of a database of mooring locations, in LAT/LON format with depth, and on a mooring field chart.  The committee will collect this information from members’ applications and from mooring contractors, and will update the database and the chart regularly. Copies will be posted in the club, and appropriate sections of the database will be provided to mooring contractors to assist them in mooring placement.

 

Mooring Field Design

The Wessagussett mooring field is located in an area having strong currents, an almost ten foot tidal swing, significant fetch to the northeast, a mixture of large and small power and sail boats, constant wake activity and a sloping bottom contour.  As such, it is a very difficult place to set up a densely packed mooring field.  When designing the field, the committee will make every effort to place your boat in a location where it will be safe and accessible, while creating a layout that utilizes space efficiently and is centralized around the dock system.

 

Because of the number of boats and the space available we cannot create a layout that keeps each boat’s swinging circle from overlapping those of adjacent boats.  Given this constraint, we try to place boats with similar characteristics together, so that at any combination of current and wind they will lay to their moorings similarly, and boats will not come in contact.  It is expected that boats may from time to time be close, particularly

at a low tide with slack current and wind, but they should never touch.  Unoccupied moorings do not respond to wind and current the same way they would if a boat were attached.  Given this, it is expected that when winds and current are affecting boats significantly, unoccupied moorings floats may occasionally bump adjacent boats.  The layout should, however, be designed so that this is not a regular occurrence.  If a boat is on its mooring and is making contact with adjacent boats, or is frequently coming into contact with the mooring floats of other boats, the Mooring Committee will take immediate steps to adjust the layout to eliminate the problem and/or to mediate conflict resolution.

 

Mooring Placement

Members may place their own moorings, or may have a contractor provide the service.  In either case, the placement must be directed by the Mooring Committee.  Members placing their own moorings must have someone from the committee present, or the committee’s designate.  This is best achieved at Mooring Work Parties, held each week on a weeknight regularly during the spring, and scheduled in advance and posted in the clubhouse and newsletter.

 

If a member’s mooring is placed incorrectly, causing a conflict with other moorings, it is the responsibility of the member, or of their contractor, to correct it, at the member’s expense, unless the placement was directed by the Mooring Committee.  If there is a conflict in placements where the fault is ambiguous, or if the Mooring Committee

provided incorrect guidance on placement, then the club may choose to move the mooring.  The member must be present and approve the final placement.  Adjustments can be accomplished using the club’s mooring puller operated by a committee member or the member at a regularly-scheduled Mooring Work Party, or by a contractor.  Members must be present to move their boats from the mooring when it is moved.  In cases involving more than one mooring, each member must be present to move boats and to approve the new layout. 

 

Mooring Design

Members should have as much say in determining the configuration of their moorings as possible.  The committee will make recommendations on mooring design to members, particularly with respect to size of mushroom anchor and the size and length of chain.  Minimum requirements for moorings are as follows.  Moorings must be comprised of a single mushroom-type anchor with all-chain rode.  The mooring ball must meet Coast

Guard regulations, and be labeled with the owner’s name, boat name, boat length, and the Harbormaster’s permit number (as required by the Weymouth Harbormaster).  Storm mooring floats must have the top three inches painted red, and be marked by a red “S.”  In situations where the member chooses not to follow the committee’s recommendation, the club will inform the member of the problem in writing, and adjacent members will be provided copies.   If conflicts with other boats arise due to the length or composition of a mooring, the mooring will be removed to the beach for corrective action.

 

Mooring Sticker Enforcement

 

The Weymouth Harbormaster has offered to allow the club to enforce mooring sticker regulations instead of the Harbormaster’s office.  Provided that members respond to reminders from the club, tickets for sticker violations can be avoided.  Each season beginning August 1, the Mooring Committee will, with the assistance of launch operators, inspect boats for valid Weymouth mooring stickers.  If a member’s boat is found to lack a mooring sticker, a letter will be sent to the member indicating the situation, and providing the member a date by which to rectify the situation.  If the member does not display a valid sticker by the date specified, this information will be sent to the Board of Directors for assessment of the $100 penalty.

 

Winter Procedures

 

Moorings may be left in the water over the winter, or they may be removed.  Moorings left in the water must be logged, and the log must be marked with the owner’s name (per the Weymouth Harbormaster’s regulations).  Terminal gear used during the season, including mooring ball and pennant(s), must be removed.  All moorings must be pulled or

logs installed by December first each year.  Individuals who are no longer members, or members who have lost their position in the mooring field, must remove their mooring from the field by June first. 

 

Conflict Resolution

 

The committee will decide on the action to be taken in any mooring field placement conflict.  As club members, all members agree to abide by the committee’s decisions regarding placement and conflict resolution.  Members having a mooring conflict with another member or members must contact the Chair of the committee to provide as much detail as possible.  The committee will then contact all involved parties to collect information on the case.  At a regularly-scheduled meeting, the committee will review the information and decide on a course of action.  The committee will then contact all parties to inform them of the decision and the action they should take, if any.  Appeals of the Mooring Committee’s decisions should be made directly to the Board of Directors.

 

Corrective Action

 

In cases where members or their contractors place moorings in the field without direction, or ignore direction, they will be informed in writing that their mooing must be moved by a specific date (usually within 1 week).  If it is not moved by the specified date, then the club will place the mooring on the beach.  Repeated infractions will be referred to the House Committee.  Contractors will be informed that they will be removed from the preferred list of contractors if they do not seek and follow the committee’s direction when placing moorings. 

 

Modification or Use of Others' Mooring Gear

Moving, modifying or use of another member's mooring without the knowledge and consent of its owner is strictly forbidden, and cases where this occurs will be referred to the House Committee for action.  Members may borrow another member's mooring with permission of the owner.  Those whose boats are away from their moorings should let a steward know the dates they will be away, if they have made arrangements for anyone to borrowing their mooring in their absence, if they would allow other members to use their mooring during their absence, and contact phone number for use while they are away.  This information will be kept on a white board in the Steward’s Locker. Any club member wishing to borrow the mooring must contact the member to obtain permission prior to using it. 

 

Transient and Guest Use of Moorings

Any unoccupied mooring in the WYC mooring field can be made available for use by guests or transients from outside the club.  Members whose boats are away from the club should notify a steward of the dates they will be gone so their mooring can be made available.  Guests are those from other clubs that have a special reciprocal relationship with WYC that allows its members the use of WYC facilities, and have contacted the club in advance to make arrangements.  Guests from clubs having special reciprocal relationships with WYC will not be charged for mooring use.   Members can also invite a guest to stay at the club, but these visits are limited to three days.  After three days, the regular transient rates will be charged.  All other transients will be charged a nightly or weekly fee established each season by the Mooring Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.  For the 2007 season, transient rates will be $20/night, and $100/week. Guest and transient use of moorings must be coordinated through the Chair of the Mooring Committee via the Chief Steward. 

Mooring Installation Process – New and Current Members

 

1.      Member submits mooring application with a copy of their insurance binder annually to WYC Mooring Committee (MC), by April 1 of the application year.

 

2.      If application is not submitted by April 15 of the application year, then the member will lose their site(s) in the mooring field.

 

3.      MC confirms membership approved/member in good standing and that application is complete.  

 

4.      MC assigns a new location or confirms and existing location based on seniority, boat type, boat length and available sites.

 

5.      MC informs member and service provider of assigned location.

 

a.      MC updates Mooring Field Chart.

b.      MC updates Mooring Field Database.

 

6.      Member informs a preferred service provider that they wish to have a mooring serviced or installed, or attends a mooring work party to install the mooring themselves.

 

7.      MC works with vendors to coordinate installations.

 

8.      MC will:

 

a.      be present for installation or

b.      confirm placement is appropriate post-installation.

 

 

Mooring Move Process

 

1.    Member completes the Move section of mooring application and submits to MC by April 1 of the application year.

 

2.    MC confirms move appropriate based on seniority, boat type and boat length.

 

3.    MC determines the sites available in the mooring field by April 30 of the application year.

 

4.    MC Hosts a Move Up night, to assign sites to members moving up.  All members (or their delegates) must be present at the Move Up night to secure a new placement.

 

5.    The MC updates the Mooring Field Chart and Database accordingly.

 

6.    Installations proceed according to the Mooring Installation Process above. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update 5/13/2011