Using mudweights

[blackrose]

I went out of the marine this morning to seek some shade on what is likely to be yet another "hottest day of the year". I'm moored just outside the marina entrance under some trees on the river using 2 x 56lb mudweights at the bow and 1 x 56lb mudweight at the stern, all in the river on the bank side of the boat, in probably in about 5ft- 6ft of water

 

I'm working from home and all is quiet. The boat (57 x 12ft widebeam) seems fairly secure but I haven't moored with mudweights before and I'm just wondering if a boat comes past at speed will it drag the boat and the mudweights? The boat is facing downstream but there's virtually no current he river at the moment so I don't think that's a factor.

 

One of the mudweights at the bow goes out perpendicular to the boat and the other is a few feet forward. Was I supposed to deploy the bow mudweights and reverse back a bit so that they're forward of the boat as one would with an anchor? Without chain I can't see how that would make any difference. The stern mudweight is about level with the back of the boat. 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by blackrose

[Alan de Enfield]

54 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I'm working from home and all is quiet. The boat (57 x 12ft widebeam) seems fairly secure but I haven't moored with mudweights before and I'm just wondering if a boat comes past at speed will it drag the boat and the mudweights? The boat is facing downstream but there's virtually no current he river at the moment so I don't think that's a factor.

 

I have no idea, but it would be intersting to see what happens.

No doubt someone will come past you and an answer will be forthcoming - will you report back later ?

[Tony Brooks]

I think it will all depend on the type of boat and how fast. As a rough guide, the larger (fatter) the boat, the deeper its draft, and the faster it is going, the more water it will be moving about so given the right/wrong combination I am sure it will move a bit. I also suspect (but don't know) that mud weights work far better on waters where thee is a depth of ooze for the weight to sink into, like canals and the Broads. I think the winter foods would keep the bottom of a river fairly clean unless there is weed for the weight and rope to tangle with.

 

In short, I think it will move at some time, but not to any dangerous extent unless the passing boat is a complete plonker passing too fast and too close, in which case they might suck you into them.

[Keeping Up]

I've always tried to space the weights a little way forwards and backwards, mainly out of habit from using an anchor with chain, but also from the instinctive feeling that a sideways pull is less likely to drag than one which partly lifts the weight off the bottom. I've never known them drag when a boat passed, but having said that the only time I've been passed by fast-moving boats was on the Thames which is of course much bigger; more commonly they slow down to ask what you are doing.

 

Would it matter if you were dragged a few feet anyway?

[Scholar Gypsy]

I think Tony's "sink into the ooze" point is a good one.  My homemade mudweights are lumps of concrete. They are certainly heavy enough, but not as dense as cast iron, and often seem to just sit on the bottom. I've not tried using them with chains attached yet, that might help.

[GUMPY]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

I'm just wondering if a boat comes past at speed will it drag the boat and the mudweights?

It's a weekday you will be lucky to see a passing boat on the Nene😉

[blackrose]

33 minutes ago, Keeping Up said:

 

Would it matter if you were dragged a few feet anyway?

 

No it wouldn't matter, unless the suction from a first boat pulls me across into the path of a second.

 

16 minutes ago, Loddon said:

It's a weekday you will be lucky to see a passing boat on the Nene😉

 

All I've seen so far is a few fast moving rowers go past.

 

43 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I have no idea, but it would be intersting to see what happens.

No doubt someone will come past you and an answer will be forthcoming - will you report back later ?

 

I will let you know - if something big does come past.

Edited July 22, 2021 by blackrose

[blackrose]

Narrowboat just went past at about 3mph. Hardly any movement.

[blackrose]

I don't know why I've never done this before. It's great. You can moor virtually anywhere. 

 

And it's still only 22C in the boat.

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by blackrose

[Paringa]

If you have your boat tied tight to the mud weights you will find they drag. If you leave some slack they stay put and you shuffle forward and back before settling again...

 

It surprises me how little you need to hold a boat on a river with minimal flow. A couple of days ago i stopped by a bank of water reeds, threw a large loop of rope fore and aft around them and that was enough to keep us sat for the day. I was going to drop the anchor and pop out a weight but didn't bother in the end.

[PeterScott]

23 minutes ago, Paringa said:

It surprises me how little you need to hold a boat on a river with minimal flow. ...

I wonder if London boaters might try this next to concrete banks ?? The Zoo might not be very keen

[blackrose]

20 minutes ago, PeterScott said:

I wonder if London boaters might try this next to concrete banks ?? The Zoo might not be very keen

 

I remember a couple on a narrowboat told me they used to do it on concrete banks in London about 20 years ago.

Edited July 22, 2021 by blackrose

[matty40s]

26 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I remember a couple on a narrowboat told me they used to do it on concrete banks in London about 20 years ago.

We used them in 2010 opposite the zoo to stop for picnic lunch , although I did have to pull the back end in after the trip boat went past.

[Idle Days]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

Narrowboat just went past at about 3mph. Hardly any movement.

Dam speedster. 

 

 

 

[blackrose]

3 hours ago, Paringa said:

 

It surprises me how little you need to hold a boat on a river with minimal flow. A couple of days ago i stopped by a bank of water reeds, threw a large loop of rope fore and aft around them and that was enough to keep us sat for the day. I was going to drop the anchor and pop out a weight but didn't bother in the end.

 

Mmm.. but I'm not sure a rope around some reeds will stop you drifting if a big boat came past too fast or too close. It's not just a bit of current I was concerned about.

 

Anyway, a couple more narrowboats have gone past, one quite fast and the mudweights have held firm.

Edited July 22, 2021 by blackrose

[furnessvale]

On 22/07/2021 at 13:55, blackrose said:

 

Mmm.. but I'm not sure a rope around some reeds will stop you drifting if a big boat came past too fast or too close. It's not just a bit of current I was concerned about.

 

Anyway, a couple more narrowboats have gone past, one quite fast and the mudweights have held firm.

There is a report on one book I read about a working boatman tying his narrowboat to a rather large thistle on a river (Trent?) in flood!

[Bargebuilder]

I've navigated the Nene on three occasions and moorings can be a struggle to find, with banks being private or overgrown. I just find a stretch that is wide enough, pull over towards the side, drop a plough anchor over the bow, drop back with the current by a distance equivalent to about 5 or 6 times the depth of water until the anchor grabs, then drop a mud weight over the stern to stop the boat from swinging out. I've also done this on the non-tidal Thames and saved a fortune in mooring fees. 

 

One can pick the nicest spots and feel totally safe from troublesome youths on the bank.

Perfect!

[blackrose]

I think you just have to be aware that you're mooring on private land even though your weights or anchor are on the river bed. Riperian rights mean the the landowner is within their rights to tell you to move on.