How to Anchor a Floating Water Mat

If you're planning on spending the warm weather on cool waters, then bringing your inflatables and floating water mats is a wonderful way to enjoy your time, especially with family and friends. It's exciting to unroll your water mat on the water and relax on its sturdy surface. If you own a pet dog, you can even have them stand on it so they don't miss out on the fun! With a sturdy surface to sit, lie down, or even stand on, even kids can jump and have so much enjoyment on your floating water mat. 

Of course, even with fun, you can't go wrong in ensuring safety wherever you go. This includes checking the weather for your travels, double-checking if your inflatables and water mats do not contain a hole or tear in them, and ensuring that you can anchor your floating water mat so that it doesn't float away from where you are. Securing your floating water mat is essential for safety and ensuring your mat doesn't get lost. Read to learn more about safely and adequately anchoring your floating water mat.

How to anchor a floating water mat?

When using a floating water mat, anchoring it to a secure spot is essential for safety. With currents and winds affecting the direction your mat is floating towards, securing it will stop it from flowing away. 

What do you need to assess when anchoring your water mat? The first one is determining what you need to secure it. Most water mats have grommets to make the anchoring Mg process easier. Another purpose of grommets is to ensure that ropes, cables, and other possible anchoring devices pass through your mat without causing a tear or potential damage.

Picking the anchoring device is essential in securing your water mat. You need to ensure that it is durable, flexible enough, and not difficult to use. Here are some possible anchoring devices you can use:

• Most water mats come along with their own harness or anchoring device attached to them. With a durable, flexible, and easy to use anchor, you can secure your water mat with the clasp attached to it without any hassle.

• If your water mat doesn’t have their own anchoring device attached to them, ropes are a good alternative. There are a lot of rope-based materials to choose from. You need a robust and flexible rope that maintains these qualities even wet. Some ropes, like Manila rope, are not made to be used in water as they tend to shrink in size and strength is compromised. 

• A Polypropylene rope could be an option because its strength does not decrease when in water but has low UV and abrasion resistance, making it deteriorate fast when exposed to the sun.

• Polyester is a recommended choice when anchoring your water mat. Often used for sailing applications and marine use, polyester is abrasion resistant, has UV stability, and exposure to water will not affect its durability.

• Aside from ropes, using cords can be another recommended anchoring device for your water mat. Bungee cords, also known as shock cords, can be used. With most of them with hooks attached to each end, anchoring can be easy. There are also shock cords of a top-quality rubber core and a polyester cover, making it durable, stable, and compact. Since polyester material is used, these cords are abrasion-resistant.

After choosing the anchoring device for your mat, selecting a spot to anchor it is another essential factor you need to consider. Find a sturdy pole or area where you can tie or clip your anchor. This can be on the handles of your boat, a pole nearby the site, or a built-in anchoring station. Make sure to clasp or tie it properly, so it doesn't loosen up, and there you have it!

Do’s and Don’ts in Using your Water Mat

We all are thinking one thing about floating water mats: Fun! However, we still need to take note of some precautions before we head to splash. These are the following:

1. Inspect the area where you'll place your water mat. Ensure that the water it is on is deep enough and without logs, rocks, or underwater obstructions.
2. Make sure to have lifebuoys and lifejackets ready while you use the floating mats just in case it sinks, especially on large bodies of water. 
3. Always anchor your floating water mat to your boat or on a sturdy area.
4. Maintain a safe distance between your floating water mat and any platform, dock, or hard surface that a person may strike if they fall off the mat.
5. Before considering putting dogs on the floating water mats, ensure that the mat can endure your canine’s nails. This is to prevent possible holes or tears that their nails may cause.
6. Do not swim under your floating mat or jump on it from a high platform. This is to prevent any injury or accidents from happening. 
7. After using the floating water mat, do an inspection again for tears, rips, and other possible damages. It is also recommended to clean it to prevent it from rotting.
8. Reducing the amount of time your mat is exposed to direct sunlight is recommended. After usage, store your mat in a place without a direct hit from the sun to minimize fading and surface damage.

Water Mat Aftercare

After a fun day with your mat, it's time to roll it back up and keep it in a safe space. Please note that your floating water mat needs maintenance to maintain its freshness and prevent it from quickly getting damaged. It's recommended to clean it regularly after use. This is because leaving your mat with remnants of dust, mud, or saltwater can cause it to disintegrate. 

Clean your water mat using mild soap and a sponge to remove the dirt left when used. Wash it with clean water and leave it to dry. And that's it!

Conclusion

Having fun at this moment in time just got easier and more innovative. Water sports activities before just used to be playing beach volleyball in the seaside and surfing. Now, we can have floating water mats that we can use for leisure! Of course, for all these new ways to enjoy, there is new information to know. 

Floating water mats require a bit of preparation in terms of anchoring it in place before it does what it amazingly does. It is mainly to ensure smooth sailing of our vacations and getaways. So the next time you will be spending your summer, you are already an expert when it comes to floating water mats! Have fun splashing!