Mooring buoy ready for deployment at
Green Rock - 2010 |
A majority of the structural damages caused to the reefs around Koh Tao stems from anchoring and improper mooring buoy installation and use. Starting in 2008, Eco Koh Tao has been actively involved with Save Koh Tao will adopting regions of the island to survey, plan, construct, and maintain proper boat mooring systems.
See below for an example of the recommended system from mooring systems on Koh Tao. |
Prescribed method for implementing mooring buoys. |
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Internship, Marine Resource Management and Project Aware participants may be called upon to help replace mooring lines around Koh Tao. We have been an integral part in replacing mooring lines around Koh Tao. In addition floated ropes protecting shallow reef areas have been a part of our resource managment and conservation initiatives. |
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Our three way system for mooing lines ensuring that broken lines don't always result in the loss of all our physical assets - rope, buoy and other fixtures. The picture on the right is a perfect bowline, ideal for fixing lines.
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January 2009
One of the main projects for 2009 is increasing the number of mooring buoys on Koh Tao for the dive boats and other vessels that visit our sites.
As the boat traffic around Koh Tao increases it is disheartening to see the number of anchors being dropped by irresponsible dive operations and other businesses. In order to prevent this happening we need to provide viable alternatives in the form of more anchors.
The objective has been to develop cost effective anchors that are easily maneuverable without the need for industrial equipment to install. |
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Each cement ‘anchor’ has steel reinforcement rods sticking out beneath it between 10cm & 50cm on the underside. This will allow the anchor, over time to settle more and more into a sandy substrate. This also prevents lateral drag. The Anchors have been made broad and flat which will hopefully prevent them being pulled or tipped over. |
In all honesty, the first installment has been rudimentary but so far the results have been very encouraging. We have tried a few different designs as illustrated here and so far they are proving to be quite resolute.
The general idea has been to use a number of smaller cement weights in unison, all tied up to the central buoy line. The load factor should mean that should a force pull against an individual weight, it will counter pull against the other weights in the system.
Our current phase is a a test one to see if it is viable in the hope that our systems can be easily replicated around the island. |
Master Instructor Justin Mayers in our anchor workshop just by the beach in Mae Haad.
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Tying off the primary buoy line on our first prototype big anchor. |
Staff Instructor Nathan Cook with our tie-of ropes for our first prototype mooring system. |
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We hope to use our first prototype to develop a new training site for one of Koh Tao's biggest dive schools Crystal Dive. Hopefully, by using 'new' locations we can reduce the pressure on currently overused natural sites, and 'blood' beginners in more sandy, less biodiverse areas.
In this way we keep the 'nice' sites for the more experienced diver. |
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The anchors were quite heavy but easily transported and manouvered
by longtail and once in the water, by using lift bags and man power.
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