What is a Mooring Ball?

  a dear friend asked me; 

What is a mooring ball?

A mooring ball is a place to safely secure your boat for a few hours or the night. A mooring ball floats on the surface and is connected to a large, heavy anchor permanently attached to the seabed. A length of line called a pennant – usually with a loop at the end – is attached to the mooring ball.

  

I'm on W3.  (far left back row rt 3rd)

a sample ball laying on shore

 A new arrival ties up to a ball

 Prodigal on W3

a line of balls (w3-w10)

The mooring field

So my choices are:  a.) to anchor for free somewhere in this very tight harbor, out of the channel and over 100' from the mooring field.  b.) the other extreme to tie to a dock at a marina for about $1,200-1,500 per month. (this option is nice because you are AT shore and dont have to dinghy in.  plus you have electricity to run your AC and keep the boat cool.  also you can get cable TV and keep up with all the news.)  c.) a mooring ball is the third choice.  it costs about $350-400 and includes pump-outs and access to shore at the marina.  (showers, tvs, laundry, library)  Hey, a thousand bucks is a thousand bucks!  I have a dinghy and two outboard motors.