Duffy Dock: Proposed Offshore Mooring Alternative for Newport Beach, CA

Offshore mooring buoys are an inexpensive vessel storage solution. Unfortunately, offshore mooring buoys require substantially more water area than more expensive slips and piers. In some harbors, mooring anchorages have reached storage capacity and congest boat movement within harbors. The congestion in Newport Harbor, California triggered resident Marshall Duffield to propose replacing mooring anchorages with offshore mooring docks. These offshore docks enable vessels to be safely moored at a much higher density than mooring anchorages. By mooring vessels at a higher density, harbors can either reduce the water area dedicated to offshore vessel storage or they can increase mooring capacity without increasing the offshore mooring area. A case study of Newport Harbor demonstrates the use of mooring anchorages and the space savings potential of replacing the mooring anchorages with offshore mooring docks.