The chain wraps. Every time.
- Vertical stem invites chain to wrap around it
- Effective scope shrinks, peak loads rise
- Mooring balls can be pulled under
- Chain or shackle failure under load
- Harbormaster gets the call — at any hour
Patent-pending mooring safety · Made in Maine
The Mooring Anchor That Won't Chain Wrap
Tested at Yale Cordage · Proven in Casco BayMoorSafe replaces the standard mushroom anchor with a conical design that stops chain wrap before it starts — protecting your boat, your mooring, and the people responsible for the harbor.
Patent PendingU.S. design patent filed
Made in MaineDesigned & manufactured locally
40,657 lbTensile strength at Yale Cordage
See it in action
The MoorSafe anchor at work.
A look at the patent-pending conical geometry that stops chain wrap before it starts.
The problem we solve
Every mushroom anchor in a soft-bottom harbor has the same flaw.
The cast-iron mushroom anchor is the standard for a reason — it sinks into mud and gains suction over time. But its vertical stem is also its weakness: as tides, currents, and wind shift, the chain wraps the stem. Scope shrinks. Peak loads spike. Mooring balls pull under. Boats break free.
Three bars. Conical shape. No wrap.
- Three symmetrically positioned bars create a cone
- Chain can't catch — geometry won't allow it
- Holding performance matches a traditional anchor
- Anti-fouling — safer for boats and the environment
- Predictable. Quiet. Off the harbormaster's call list
The anchor
A simple geometric change. A complete fix.
We didn't reinvent the mushroom anchor — we removed its flaw. By adding three symmetrically positioned bars to a traditional mooring anchor, we created a conical shape that physically prevents the chain from wrapping. The anchor still beds into mud. Still gains suction. Still holds.
It also exceeded the structural strength of a traditional anchor in tensile testing — failing only at 40,657 lb versus 38,560 lb for the standard mushroom design.
See the full product
Tested where it counts
Numbers from real Maine harbors.
We tested the prototype at Yale Cordage in Saco and on a muddy seabed in Casco Bay. It met or exceeded the traditional anchor on every metric that matters.
Structural Test · Yale Cordage, Saco, Maine
Tensile strength to failure
A horizontal tensile test on a 100-foot test bed capable of 1.3 million pounds of force, loading both a 300 lb traditional mushroom anchor and a 300 lb MoorSafe prototype to failure.
38,560
Traditional · stem fracture
40,657
MoorSafe · joint dislocation
Field Test · Casco Bay, Maine
Breakout resistance after 28-day embedment
Both anchors set in muddy seabed and left to bed in for 28 days, then tested with a lobster boat at 3:1 scope using a 4,000 lb digital load indicator.
1,575
Traditional · partially buried
1,295
MoorSafe · fully buried
The MoorSafe anchor was fully buried in the mud at the breakout test — a sign of better embedment over time. Read the full method and results on the Why MoorSafe page.
Made in Maine
Designed by people who know the harbor.
MoorSafe was founded by Scott Karkos and Captain Gregory Smith — a Maine Maritime Academy captain with two decades of mooring service work and a first-hand view of every way a chain wrap can ruin a season.
We design and manufacture in Maine because the people who make our anchors are the same people whose boats depend on them.
Read the story
By the numbers
Tested where it matters.
40,657 LB
Tensile strength to failure — Yale Cordage, Saco, Maine
28 DAYS
Field embedment in muddy seabed — Casco Bay, Maine
3 BARS
Symmetrically positioned, forming the conical anti-fouling geometry
100% MAINE
Designed, manufactured, and tested in our home state