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How to tie spring lines to a narrowboat


jupiter1124

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I normally tie up with 45 degree ropes bow and stern and that's plenty. For some reason or another where I am moored at the moment, I'm getting a lot of movement.

 

There is a massive debate on CWDN about to spring or not to spring, and being curious I want to give it a try. But in searching the forum and internet I can't see any definitive guide on how to tie spring lines. Nor do I actually understand how they work from a forces perspective, I should think that 45 degree ropes should be as effective.

My boat has a two T cleats on the stern deck (one on each side) and one inverted U bar loop at the bow. (please correct me if these are not the technical terms).

I am moored on rings and armco. I have four nappy pins so I can use these to place the spring fixing points at the best possible location. I have two long (8m) lengths of rope for this purpose.

 

Please could someone provide or point me to a clear description and/or diagram?

Thanks!!

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Tied with two lines as you describe, when a boat passes you surge forward. This means the stern lines comes tight and holds the back in, but the fore line slacks slightly allowing the bow to move out. As the surge reverses you get the opposite reaction.

 

With springs, although you still surge forwards the bow and stern still remain tight to the bank, and as you surge back the same reaction. To explain further, as you surge forwards the stern line will tighten, but so will the forward spring, and then the converse.

 

So although the boat will still move slightly forwards and backwards you will no longer have one end or the other swinging out and bouncing back in.

 

Although you may think your two lines are as tight as they can possibly be, the water level will change slightly as a boat passes which will immediately mean they are less tight (or more, depending upon the relative levels)

 

Tam

Edited by Tam & Di
tidiness
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Suggest you google mooring spring boat/yacht etc. There is loads online and in handbooks. Basically the springs stop the boat going forwards and back and the bow and stern lines keep it in to the bank. Very useful where the water levels change eg tide as the boat can move up and down due to the length and angle of lines. IOn yachts they are used a lot due to the tide

 

i use them where appropriate on my Narrowboat  or I might just put one on in a tight mooring to stop my boat moving forwards or backwards. Beware of tripping over a bow spring when you climb aboard . You may want to make it shorter as it can cross the path onto the boat

 

 

 

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I like to tie my narrowboat with two lines from the tee stud, one going forward to a ring or mooring stake and the other line coming back to another ring or stake.

 

This creates a triangle 'shape' which broadly prevents the boat from surging back and forth, whereas it WILL surge with the trapezoid shape you get with one line at the bow and one line at the stern. 

 

With my method you still need a line at the stern to the bank to hold it in to the bank, but it does relatively little work. All the work is done by the two lines in the triangle shape at the bow.

 

Or you can put the triangle at the stern. Works just as well but one line tends to rub on the back cabin corner on my trad(s).

 

 

 

 

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What I have found, and I may be wrong, in which case someone (naming no names) will point out, the standard strong points on a barge are in the wrong place!

On a yacht the strong points used for springing are not at the point of the bow, but further aft, and at the stern they will be chosen depant on the design. But taking a straight line from the T to the shore as a spring creates a trip hazard, yet it is not a very effective spring. I have a few not-so-strong points along the gunwales intented for fender ties which I use for springs if there is good reason to do so: weather/hire boats/trip boats/constant traffic. If the weather builds up slowly and perhaps I find I am moored in a wind tunnel, I just add another rope, the more the merrier ;)

 

Edited by LadyG
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20 minutes ago, LadyG said:

What I have found, and I may be wrong, in which case someone (naming no names) will point out, the standard strong points on a barge are in the wrong place!

 

Which is why I fitted a pair of hefty fairleads to the front of the boat. Certainly not in an ideal position, but better than just the T stud.

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This is how we managed at an awkward mooring with our hire boat.  The bow line bollard was ninty degrees to the boat so we rigged a rear spring.  Not ideal as it would rub the paint but worked for one night.

 

IMG20220729174258-edit-20230503105213.thumb.jpg.0b637e7a025a003b359815d9f60b0d47.jpg

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34 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Which is why I fitted a pair of hefty fairleads to the front of the boat. Certainly not in an ideal position, but better than just the T stud.

I have been recommending this for years to anyone taking their narrowboat to France, as locks can be very fierce. Other than a few waterways such as the Canal du Midi the crew stay on board to mind the lines, and this allows them to take turns around the tee stud for control of the length while the supplementary bollards or fairlead keep the line away from the crew - also away from the corners of the cabin.

 

It is also useful for mooring lines as it moves the contact point away from the tee stud and towards the straight side of the boat which is the problem LadyG highlights.

 

It is probably ott for most UK waterways, but here are a couple of examples.

 

Tam

 

 

springline1.png.0925c4f3381cc43d08805b02bdc40ffc.pngspringline2.png.3b5339df8cdc7d83d90b80bd03a767bc.png

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Here's a recent photo showing what I normally do. I have fitted a couple of folding cleats on the side decks. I've not tripped over them (yet). I normally just have a single line at the stern (more or less perpendicular to the bank), but on occasion will use two there as well. The big squashy fenders add to the comfort as well.

dsc_1034-5.jpg

Edited by Scholar Gypsy
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21 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Here's a recent photo showing what I normally do. I have fitted a couple of folding cleats on the side decks. I've not tripped over them (yet). I normally just have a single line at the stern (more or less perpendicular to the bank), but on occasion will use two there as well. The big squashy fenders add to the comfort as well.

dsc_1034-5.jpg

 

 

 

Blimey what canal is that?

 

Its ever so slightly wider than the K&A down here!!

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17 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

 

Blimey what canal is that?

 

Its ever so slightly wider than the K&A down here!!


It's the River Great Ouse, just north of Ely. Actually it's really a manmade drainage channel, part of the system that is controlled by Denver sluice,

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So in summary, all a spring is, is a second line at one end, that is roughly parallel to the line at the other end? So e.g. at the stern, two lines at 90 degrees to each other and 45 degrees to the boat, at the bow one line at 45 degrees to the boat?

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11 minutes ago, jupiter1124 said:

So in summary, all a spring is, is a second line at one end, that is roughly parallel to the line at the other end? So e.g. at the stern, two lines at 90 degrees to each other and 45 degrees to the boat, at the bow one line at 45 degrees to the boat?


I'm not sure that is a helpful way to think about it. If you have two lines at one end (say the bows, for the rest of this example), as close to parallel to the bank as is sensible, then that will stop the boat moving back and forth and keep the bows close to the bank. The line at the stern can be at more or less any reasonable angle, as it just needs to stop the stern drifting out from the bank. 

Here's the most extreme example I can find - three lines at each end, on a strongly tidal bit of river (Wisbech).

dscf6253.jpg

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I think I get it. With two lines at one end, you want them as oblique an angle to each other as sensible, as each line is responsible for just that one direction. The other line at the other end is actually best off being at 90 degrees to the boat and bank as this line becomes responsible only for the one direction.

Can you help me understand why adding more lines is useful? Once you have two lines in opposing directions, isn't adding a third going to be pointless, as the tighter of the two would be the one that takes the strain?

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5 minutes ago, jupiter1124 said:

I think I get it. With two lines at one end, you want them as oblique an angle to each other as sensible, as each line is responsible for just that one direction. The other line at the other end is actually best off being at 90 degrees to the boat and bank as this line becomes responsible only for the one direction.

Can you help me understand why adding more lines is useful? Once you have two lines in opposing directions, isn't adding a third going to be pointless, as the tighter of the two would be the one that takes the strain?

 

Helps share the load that would otherwise be on a single line. I think on a tidal mooring the more the spring lines are towards parallel with the boat the less constant adjustment is needed as the tide rises and falls. In that situation you do not want any lines at 90 degrees to the boat because you would constantly be adjusting them.

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And just to add that in my Wisbech example above the lines parallel to the bank are great at holding it against the current, but less good at holding the boat onto the bank. Hence the short lines that just make sure you don't fall into a gap when getting on and off the boat, but don't really hold the boat. If you are tied to the bank on a tidal river then you would want them slack as Tony says, tightening them when people get on and off. I was actually tied to a floating pontoon, so that's not an issue (as long as the pontoon goes up and down with the tide). 

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27 minutes ago, jupiter1124 said:

I think I get it. With two lines at one end, you want them as oblique an angle to each other as sensible, as each line is responsible for just that one direction. The other line at the other end is actually best off being at 90 degrees to the boat and bank as this line becomes responsible only for the one direction.

Can you help me understand why adding more lines is useful? Once you have two lines in opposing directions, isn't adding a third going to be pointless, as the tighter of the two would be the one that takes the strain?

You may find the description of mooring ropes in the Boaters Handbook useful. In case you haven't seen it here is a link for you to download a free copy from Canal & River Trust. It has plenty of other information which you may find useful.

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/41331-the-boaters-handbook.pdf?v=971d3a

 

The aim is to secure the boat so that it doesn't move backwards & forwards I (fore & aft) and also stays close to the bank/towpath.

That is why springs are useful.

 

Hope that helps.

 

 Howard

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Mooring on lumpy water, we have a 10foot - 12 foot rise and fall each day.

We could not moor safely without spring lines.

 

Method 1

 

1) Bow line to forward bollard by about 30 degrees

2) Bow spring line run  to wards the stern to a bollard approximately amidships.

3) Stern Spring line run forward to bollard approximately amidships

4) Stern line to rear bollard by about 30 degrees.

 

No surging forwards and backwards and boat rises and falls needing no attention or interventions.

 

Method 2

 

Bow lines and stern lines as per Method 1

Spring line run from centre cleat (on the boat) to the same bollard as the stern line is attached.

Spring line run from centre cleat (on the boat) to the same bollard as the bow line is attached.

 

There are various permutations of these two options, ie :

 

 

 

 

Simple Spring Lines.jpg

 

 

You can also use a spring line to 'spring you away' from the bank if you have a bit of wind holding you. Example shows a 'Cat' but it works the same for single engined / single hull boats.

 

 

 

 

Springing Off A Mooring.png

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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The only way I could get the boat off the Calcutt marina services with a bit of wind coming straight onto the side was to spring the bow out as far as I could. A very useful technique, especially when single handing. It probably dug a hole in the bed, but AIUI the bed was natural Blue Lias clay so no harm done

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The problem with springs is:

 

1. Unless your boat is modified to have additional strong points, the lines invariably rub on the bodywork somewhere

2. They are a tripping hazard

 

I'd honestly not bother on canals, just make sure to get the basic mooring with 2 lines right. If you have nappy pins, then you have good control of the angles of the lines. And if its on a canal (not likely to change level), then done up tight with appropriate fenders is good.

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2 minutes ago, Paul C said:

The problem with springs is:

 

1. Unless your boat is modified to have additional strong points, the lines invariably rub on the bodywork somewhere

 

That is why you need fairleads, at least at the front.

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7 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

That is why you need fairleads, at least at the front.

 

Generally it is far better (and the normally taught method) to reverse out of your berth.

Go forward on the Spring using the taper on the bow to allow the back end to swing out, once the back end is out, then reverse and as you pass the spring line crew can bring it back on board, continue to reverse until you have room to straighten up.

 

It always amazes me watching some boaters 'bouncing along the bank side' trying to get the bow out and not realising that the boat pivots around its centre - if there is norwhhere for the back to go to, then the front cannot move either.

 

If nothing else, get off and push the bow out.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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39 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Mooring on lumpy water, we have a 10foot - 12 foot rise and fall each day.

We could not moor safely without spring lines.

I can't see from the diagram how spring lines can absorb a 10-12' rise. These four lines are tight, aren't they? If the water level rises with the mooring points staying fixed, this is still going to roll the boat over, isn't it?

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2 minutes ago, jupiter1124 said:

I can't see from the diagram how spring lines can absorb a 10-12' rise. These four lines are tight, aren't they? If the water level rises with the mooring points staying fixed, this is still going to roll the boat over, isn't it?

The boat rises and descends vertically and because of the fact that the springs are tight against the wall and the lines are not stretched tight (my springs generally have a 'bow' (catenary) in them. The 'short' normal mooring lines reduce the fore and aft motion and the spring hold the boat into the side which minimises the swing and snatching.

The spring lines are basically pivoting around a central point - either the central cleat on the boat, or a 'central' cleat / bollard / ring on the bankside

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