Small Narrowboat - Size of Anchor?

[Steve Buxton]

I apologise for raising a topic that has been talked about many times, but as a complete newbie I have read everything I can and am totally confused (or should that be bemused).  The difference is that we have just bought a 22 foot narrowboat and it will be moored in a marina on the River Trent in Nottingham so whichever direction we go, we will be using the river.

 

All the information I have seen relates to a full size narrowboat, and we are a maximum of half length so obviously that much lighter.

 

Of course I am hoping never to use it, but is there any way of working out what a reasonable weight of Danforth anchor would be suitable.

 

We only have a T stud at the bow but again with the lighter weight could that be suitable?

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[howardang]

3 minutes ago, Steve Buxton said:

I apologise for raising a topic that has been talked about many times, but as a complete newbie I have read everything I can and am totally confused (or should that be bemused).  The difference is that we have just bought a 22 foot narrowboat and it will be moored in a marina on the River Trent in Nottingham so whichever direction we go, we will be using the river.

 

All the information I have seen relates to a full size narrowboat, and we are a maximum of half length so obviously that much lighter.

 

Of course I am hoping never to use it, but is there any way of working out what a reasonable weight of Danforth anchor would be suitable.

 

We only have a T stud at the bow but again with the lighter weight could that be suitable?

 

Thanks in anticipation.

If you have seen the plethora of threads about anchors on here I would suggest that any responses you get will only add to your total confusion!😀

 

Good luck in your quest for clarity but maybe it would be easier to ask around your home marina, especially if there are some smaller boats nearer to your own size. After all they have all faced the same problem.

 

Howard

 

 

 

[BilgePump]

Going out on a limb here but would suggest a 14kg bog standard Danforth, 10m of chain and more of 14mm rope. Anything heavier and it gets difficult to deploy even in perfect conditions. Anything smaller and it's going to struggle holding a boat like the OP's. You may only need it once in a blue moon but an anchor is of no use if it is either too cumbersome to lift in an emergency or buried beneath junk in a locker.

[LadyG]

I have a Mantus, which is a modern design, much lighter, relatively, easy to handle. I chose this design because it has proven first time holding, this is very  important on the river. It should also hold in various ground conditions, which might be expected eg sand, mud, rock. 

As you are going to have this ground tackle ready every time you leave the marina, you  need a system which is easy to store and deploy. It might be a good idea to have a canvas storage / deployment bag. 

You could buy these and some chain from Jimmy Green, they sell some short  pieces, also anchorplait rope which can be spliced together by them.

Alternatively a hard eye splice at one end, and use shackles instead. I expect they will do this for you, it's not easy. The rope can then be used as a spare mooring rope in strong winds, or in very deep locks, as may be found up North. I have 33m anchor warp, 5m chain., but 22 to 25m total length should be fine, probably better, on a river. 

Rope is easy to attach to the T, use a round turn and three half hitches. You probably only need about 25m total length, ie chain plus rope. 14mm rope is easy to handle. 

You will need a bow shackle to attach chain to anchor, a standard shackle to attach chain to rope. I use Green Pin shackles. Deploying an anchor on a narrowboat in an emergency will cause the boat to snatch, forces will be greater than standard yacht anchoring technique. 

Jimmy Green will match these items for you, though I don't know if they sell  Mantus. Other modern anchors may  not be so easy to store or handle. 

Most ground tackle recommendations refer to yachts, for a 22 foot steel narrowboat, you may need to look at tackle for a 30 footer, in my opinion. 

Search Mantus on here, you will find good info on pros and cons, anchoring technique and so on. 

Standard narrowboat ground tackle, genuine Danforth, chain, three strand rope might be around £100, a significant upgrade, £200-£300.

There are anchor charts which show the recommendations for various length of boat. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by LadyG

[LadyG]

7 hours ago, BilgePump said:

Going out on a limb here but would suggest a 14kg bog standard Danforth, 10m of chain and more of 14mm rope. Anything heavier and it gets difficult to deploy even in perfect conditions. Anything smaller and it's going to struggle holding a boat like the OP's. You may only need it once in a blue moon but an anchor is of no use if it is either too cumbersome to lift in an emergency or buried beneath junk in a locker.

As a yachty (retired), the practicalities of laying out a chain on some narrowboats would put me off 10m. I have less chain but heavier chain, sits at back of  bow beck. Even feeding out rope is going to be tricky in an emergency situation, it could be coiled in a plastic tub, bitter end attached to T, working end to chain which could be in another tub. 

A modern anchor will be lighter than a Danforth, relative to holding power. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by LadyG

[LadyG]

8 hours ago, Steve Buxton said:

I apologise for raising a topic that has been talked about many times, but as a complete newbie I have read everything I can and am totally confused (or should that be bemused).  The difference is that we have just bought a 22 foot narrowboat and it will be moored in a marina on the River Trent in Nottingham so whichever direction we go, we will be using the river.

 

All the information I have seen relates to a full size narrowboat, and we are a maximum of half length so obviously that much lighter.

 

Of course I am hoping never to use it, but is there any way of working out what a reasonable weight of Danforth anchor would be suitable.

 

We only have a T stud at the bow but again with the lighter weight could that be suitable?

 

Thanks in anticipation.

I assume that your T stud and its construction will be the same as a full size boat, (you could ask the shell builder) so it could be relatively stronger, there is really no need to downsize the Danforth, you are more likely to have your anchor ready to deploy than most muddy ditch dwellers. 

 

 

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

If the T stud is welded on rather than bolted through with a heavy backing plate then it would be bets to get another really strong point fixed to the boat. Some welded T studs are cast iron that needs more care with welding and have been known to pull off when under unusual strain.

[Steve Buxton]

Thanks for all the answers. Thinking cap on for a bit longer and a bit more research.

[MtB]

"Small Narrowboat - Size of Anchor?"

 

In my opinion there is no correct answer. The bigger the anchor the more likely it will hold the vessel stock still in a wide variety of conditions. But to 100% guarantee to hold it in every imaginable condition (boat mass, speed of current, wind speed, depth of water, type of river bed, etc etc) will require an anchor that needs four of you to heft it over the side.

 

On the other side of the coin an anchor light enough for you to deploy easily, may well still slow the boat enough to buy you some time to get the engine started again, and is more likely to actually get used. A compromise needs to be arrived at.

 

Maybe two or three smaller anchors on board would be better that one huge fecker.  I never see this suggested.

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by MtB
Add a bit.

[LadyG]

8 hours ago, MtB said:

"Small Narrowboat - Size of Anchor?"

 

In my opinion there is no correct answer. The bigger the anchor the more likely it will hold the vessel stock still in a wide variety of conditions. But to 100% guarantee to hold it in every imaginable condition (boat mass, speed of current, wind speed, depth of water, type of river bed, etc etc) will require an anchor that needs four of you to heft it over the side.

 

On the other side of the coin an anchor light enough for you to deploy easily, may well still slow the boat enough to buy you some time to get the engine started again, and is more likely to actually get used. A compromise needs to be arrived at.

 

Maybe two or three smaller anchors on board would be better that one huge fecker.  I never see this suggested.

 

 

 

There is no point in more than one anchor as the ground conditions on a river will be unknown at the point on deployment because it is usually an emergency, and even if one is mooring up for some other reason, it's not likely one has suitably detailed charts, I don't think I would deploy a great big 20kg Danforth against an 8kg Mantus, in any situation. I would never get it up nor would I be confident it would stop the boat immediately,

Only one anchor at a time can be deployed, carrying two is a waste of money. Use that money to keep engine in tip top condition, ideally two fuel filters, remove contaminants from diesel tank etc. 

As stated before, one can add weight with heavier chain, but you have to balance weight against crew capacity. A standard narrow boat is not designed for weighing anchor, you may have two crew, but one may need to be at the helm, in yachting the boat is generally brought up over the anchor in order to break it out. Same with any boat. 

A modern anchor design will not act as a mud weight unless it is seriously undersized, it will hold the boat, even if it drags for a while, this is not what is needed in an emergency, first time holding is more important than long term holding in storm conditions. I was once at anchor for ten days while a series of storms went through, it took considerable effort, two strong lads, to lift the anchor as it had dug deep in the substrate, that is not going to happen on a river. 

Edited March 18, 2022 by LadyG