Here you see the fishing Vessel TARRFISH pulling, bucking and swinging on her mooring in Naskeag Harbor during Saturday’s high winds. About 200 feet away, FV ALL-IN also was acting like a lassoed wild horse:
I’m not sure what mooring gear these Brooklin boats are using, but it must be substantial. The literature indicates that lobster boats typically use heavy-duty gear designed for stability and 360-degree swings into tides and winds.
The anchors commonly are 2,000-to-4,000-pound blocks of concrete or granite, or mushroom/helix anchors on the seafloor, The anchors usually are connected by heavy galvanized ground chains, shackled to lighter top chains that are connected to the ball buoys. Swiveled inter-connections prevent chain twisting. Heavy duty rope or a poly steel line finished with anti-chafing gear links the buoy to the vessel’s bow.
Note that both of these boats fly blue and white International Alpha Signal Dive flags; these indicate that wetsuit diving is done from the vessels. (images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 5, 2026.)