General
The days when it was possible to pick a secluded spot, drop a train wheel on the bottom and moor your boat to it have passed. There is now such a demand for a share of sheltered waters statewide, for all kinds of aquatic activity, that moorings have had to be strictly regulated.

Rules apply to where moorings can go and to the quality of moorings – boats breaking adrift endanger other people’s boats as well as themselves.

MAST can supply you with a map of gazetted mooring areas, a copy of important mooring rules and a list of mooring contractors.


Applying for a new mooring
After you have selected an area where you would like to place your mooring you must complete an “Application for Registration of Mooring” form which is available from Service Tasmania, MAST or our website at www.mast.tas.gov.au. If your application is successful MAST recommends using a mooring contractor when laying a new mooring. The application must be approved by MAST prior to the mooring being laid.




Once a mooring is registered, owners are sent an identification tag with a four digit registration number which should be displayed by attaching it to the mooring buoy.



From 1 July 2009 identification tags issued after this date will be valid until 30 June 2012. MAST also encourages moorings owners to engrave or paint their registration number on the buoy.

It is not an offence not to have a current registration tag on the mooring, but it is if you do not have the registration number clearly visible on the mooring.



Mooring tackle
MAST recommends a cable length of between 2-3 times the depth of water on a high spring tide (HWOST) with the maximum being 3 times. The mooring buoy must be an approved type and of a conspicuous colour not less than 200mm in vertical diameter. MAST again recommends you seek advice from a mooring contractor or naval architect on the type of mooring device that will best suit your vessel and weather exposure.


Buying an existing mooring
Moorings are advertised from time to time in the local newspapers and contractors can often help you as well. Before you buy an existing mooring MAST recommends you contact us first to check it is registered and suitable for your boat length and design. The registration permit has a change of ownership section on the reverse side, alternatively a Change of Ownership - Motor Boat/Mooring form can be printed from the MAST website, completed and returned to Service Tasmania or MAST within seven (7) days of the sale.


Increasing vessel length
If you wish to put a larger vessel on the mooring than it is approved for, you must make application to MAST. The mooring site may have to be re-inspected to ensure there is safe swinging room for the larger vessel.





Maintenance




Wear and tear can cause moorings to deteriorate very quickly. They can be moved out of position by severe weather and corrosion and abrasion can reduce the condition of the mooring significantly.

Mooring licence holders are required to maintain their moorings in the appointed place and in good order and condition. It is also compulsory to have every part of the mooring lifted and inspected at least once every three years, however MAST recommends that this occurs more frequently.


Auditing
MAST conducts regular audits of all mooring areas statewide. With over 3700 moorings around the State these audits focus on -

• Unregistered moorings.
• Moorings that do not display a valid registration tag.
• Moorings that do not use an approved buoy.
• Mooring buoys/posts that are partially or fully submerged and a hazard to navigation.
• Moorings with the trailing line floating free causing a hazard to navigation.

Audits conducted to date have resulted in the removal of some 300 unregistered and abandoned moorings.


Location of moorings
To ensure continuing accuracy of mooring locations, Longitude and Latitude co-ordinates taken by DGPS are used. To help manage this, MAST has developed a Geographical Information System. GIS is a desktop mapping system which ultimately provides a more efficient way of managing and charting moorings which will help with customer enquiries, resolving disputes, assessing new applications and field auditing. Charts can also be sent electronically, so if you would like a chart of your mooring area drop us an email at admin@mast.tas.gov.au with your registration number and we will happily send you one.


Mooring Management Contracts
To help MAST manage two of the more populated mooring areas, a contractor has been engaged to manage moorings in these areas.

They are –

• Port Dalrymple Yacht Club area at Beauty Point on the Tamar River managed by same.
• Tamar Yacht Basin area in Launceston managed by Tamar Yacht Club.

Moorings in Cruising Areas
Cruising anchorages are located in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, parts of the Tasman Peninsula, East, North and West Coasts. Typically these anchorages are used for casual, overnight anchoring by vessels cruising Tasmanian coastal waters. A number of Marine Reserves also exist around the State in which moorings are prohibited. For more information about these areas please contact MAST.

In some circumstances MAST will allow moorings in cruising anchorages. Therefore, MAST in consultation with the Tasmanian Yachting Association has developed a policy in dealing with new mooring applications in traditional cruising areas as follows :

• All new applications from persons who are not adjacent landowners for positions in cruising anchorages will be refused by MAST.
• Applications for any area outside recognised mooring areas, or an area in which there are no or only a few existing moorings will be forwarded to Tasmanian Yachting and Cruising Clubs and Associations for comment.
• Applications by landowners for a mooring adjacent to their property may be allowed, with the proviso that its position does not generally interfere with traditional anchoring locations and future renewal will be dependent on the mooring owners continued ownership of the adjacent property.
• Existing moorings are transferable only to adjacent property owners.

Use of existing moorings in cruising areas
Protocol for the use of existing moorings in cruising areas, as developed by MAST and others is as follows:

• If more than one boat wishes to use the mooring at a time, they would raft up together no later than one hour before sunset, providing anchored vessels are unaffected. (This optimises the available space since the rafted boats don’t have a swing distance and provides more room for vessels to anchor).
• Vessel owners who wish to berth a boat at a mooring would not displace boats anchored in the cruising anchorages if they arrive one hour before sunset.
• The design of the mooring buoy would be amended so as to not interfere with the safe navigation of other boats that are likely to use the anchorage.