Mooring vs docking

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Some lake shore campsites don't have a dock and are rocky. Anybody moore their boat before? Thoughts?

[CAMAN]

If I'm on a lake like that I like to bring 3 anchors. One large one big enough to hold the boat and two smaller ones to keep the stern from swaying side to side. I drop the large anchor a safe distance from shore and back the boat towards shore. Make sure the anchor holds, thread the line through the bow eye(to keep it as close to the waterline as possible) and up to a cleat and tie it off. Next tie the smaller anchor lines to the back corners and stretch the lines at 45deg angles from the boat and secure them into the gound.

It works great and if the wind and waves come up at night you don't need to worry about the boat getting swamped. Just make sure if you are near an area with a lot of boat triffic you mark the bow line with a bouy of some sort so people can see it, and always trim the boat motor high out of the water. Only problem is it usually requires you to get wet.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

It would sure be a bummer if the anchor didn't hold

[Jim Almquist]

If you use a sea anchor with a length of chain on the end it should hold just fine if you can get it to stick. If it is too rocky you may never get it to hold.

[CAMAN]

It would sure be a bummer if the anchor didn't hold

Like Jim said, the proper anchor with chain and a length of rope 4 times the depth of where the anchor is at should give you no issues. I use the motor at a safe enough distance from shore to ensure the anchor will hold and allow it to dig in, then lengthen it to the desired depth.

I've done this technique numerous times with my 16 foot lund on up to a 34 foot twin engine cabin cruiser (and have seen it done with 50+ footers) and never had an issue. You just need to take the proper precautions and ensure the anchor has held.

[nater]

I bet a power pole would help your concern.