Mooring buoys provide free long-term docking for your boat. You will need to find a desirable anchorage with favorable wind, ties, and currents. Mooring buoys need t to be secured with a heavy anchor and a heavy-duty chain. Mooring buoys are a cost-effective way to keep your boat in the water. Once you have a suitable mooring site, you will need a dinghy or some other means to get from the shore to your boat and back. Often the dinghy is secured to the buoy while your boat is away from the mooring.
Best Mooring Buoys
Here are our mooring buoy reviews.
1. Taylor Made Surmoor Boat Mooring Shackle Next Buoy
- Rope nest design has a built-in cup shape at the top of the buoy that allows the anchor shackle to next below the buoy surface
- Hard-skin polyethylene shell is UV protected to resist the weather effects of sunlight and is foam filled to positively displace water
- Hard skin shell is sandblasted which allows the buoy to be custom painted easily for identification
2. Taylor Made Sur Moor Mooring Buoy
The Taylor Made Sur Moor buoy is the standard design for most mooring applications. This buoy includes all required rigging hardware, it has a reflective blue tape, and it can be painted a custom color pattern to make your buoy your own.
- 18” diameter and 100 pounds buoyancy
- Reflective tape for nighttime visibility
- Sandblasted finish allows the buoy to be easily painted for identification
3. Dockmate 15” Mooring Buoy
- 15” diameter with 50 pounds of buoyancy
- Galvanized eye bolts run through the buoy’s center
- Recessed design protects your boat from hardware
4. Taylor Made Products Sur-Moor Boat Mooring Taper Buoy (24”)
The Taylor Made Sur Moor Taper Buoy is a serious buoy for large boats and enduring moorings under occasionally adverse conditions. This buoy features 165 pounds of buoyancy and a tapered shape that is designed to maximize the surface area of the buoy to increase visibility.
- 3-year flotation warranty, and 165 pounds of buoyancy
- One-piece seamless construction
- Sandblasted finish allows the buoy to be easily painted for identification
5. 4’ Mast/Mooring/Pick-up Buoy
The 4’ Mast/Mooring/Pick-up Buoy is designed to be used in addition to your boat’s mooring. The pick-up buoy attaches to the pendant, which is the nylon rigging that attaches to your boat. The pick-up buoy sticks up four feet above the water to make it easy to grab your pendant.
- Long-lasting 5″ x 11″ foam buoy
- Stainless steel fasteners
- Counterweight encapsulated in heavy plastic
6. R8 one Bungee Dock Lines for Boat Mooring
- Bungee cord is hidden inside of the mooring rope to act as a built-in snubber
- Features a loop and slider at each end for easy attachment and quick docking
- 4 foot lengthy, stretches to 5.5 feet, tensile strength is around 2,000 pounds
7. 3/4″ x 12’ Double Braid Mooring Pendant
The mooring pendant connects your boat to the mooring buoy. This pendant is very well constructed with galvanized steel and whipped splices and a chafe guard that is whipped into place. Mooring pendants take significant wear and tear, and this pendant is built to last multiple boating seasons.
- Heavy-duty galvanized thimble and 15″ spliced eye
- 36” chafe guard
- Whipped splices
Mooring Buoy Buying Guide
Mooring buoys are rated by their size and buoyancy. Size is important because the buoy must be large enough to see. When swells get over a foot a buoy can be momentarily hidden by the swells. Buoyancy is the force that keeps the buoy afloat, and it needs buoyancy to counter the weight of the chain. Buoys are rated to carry a chain that weighs 50% of the buoys rated buoyancy. This means that a buoy with 100 pounds of buoyancy would carry a 50-pound chain.
After choosing the best buoy for your boat based on your requirements for size and buoyancy you may choose to paint your buoy. Buoys are often stenciled with letters or numbers to indicate the buoys owner. The anchor underneath the buoy may be more valuable than the actual buoy, so it’s best not have any confusion when mooring. Anti-fouling paint should be used on the bottom of the buoy to prevent barnacles and other marine life from growing on the buoy, which increases the weight of the buoy and reduces buoyancy. Bright colors or unique patterns could be used on the top of the buoy for easy identification.
Additional gear for your mooring includes the pendant and an optional pick-up buoy. The pendant is pronounced “pennant” and it is a nylon rope designed to connect your boat to your buoy. A pick-up buoy is afloat with a long mast used to identify your pennant, so you can reach out and grab the pendant from the water. If your boat has more than a foot of freeboard you will need a pick-up buoy or a boat hook to retrieve your pendant.
With the right mooring gear, your boat will be conveniently secured for long seasons of boating. It is important to frequently inspect your mooring gear for wear because it is exposed to harsh environments. Expect to have to replace these items every year or two.