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Anchors away.

Greybeard

By Greybeard
in Boat Handling

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carlt Veteran II

carlt

Posted
Posted
But you've forgotten Carl, you're supposed to run THROUGH the boat :lol:

Ahh yes, sorry!

 

The second to last thing I want to be doing is running along the outside of a boat.

 

I forgot I should be inside the boat, if it sinks, fulfilling the captain's responsibility of going down with his ship.

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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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Considering that you're carrying about 39m too much warp for even the shi* canal, when you cut it down can I have the spare to adorn my T-stud?

 

:lol:

 

Actually, it's a bit of large diameter hairy white nylon rope that I'm so ashamed of I keep in a bag under the seat in the cockpit. It would suit you perfectly.

 

If the Severn is approx 5 metres deep, it sounds like I'll need 20-25metres of warp and chain. Is that right?

 

Richard

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Nine of Hearts Experienced

Nine of Hearts

Posted
Posted
I forgot I should be inside the boat, if it sinks, fulfilling the captain's responsibility of going down with his ship.

 

If the emergency is that your boat is sinking, why would you be deploying an anchor? To throw it upwards in the hope of snagging a cloud?

 

Pedant's corner: My boat is 64' from it nose to its a-noose, and I can get from stern to bow past 54' of superstructure. If you've got a 70' run, that's some boat!

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carlt Veteran II

carlt

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Posted (edited)
If the emergency is that your boat is sinking, why would you be deploying an anchor? To throw it upwards in the hope of snagging a cloud?

 

Pedant's corner: My boat is 64' from it nose to its a-noose, and I can get from stern to bow past 54' of superstructure. If you've got a 70' run, that's some boat!

If my boat was sinking I would attempt to deploy the anchor in such a way that the current takes me to the shallower edges, to ease refloating (this was how the Ken Keay tug Lionheart was saved, when it sank on the Thames).

 

In attempting to be pedantic you have missed the point that we are talking about rivers where the maximum length of boat is often much longer than 70 feet.

 

My back deck was barely 2' long and my t-stud no more than 6 inches from the stem. 70' seemed a reasonable round figure..

 

I apologise for using my boat as an example but I was unaware of the length of your boat and didn't realise I was addressing you personally :lol:

 

I still wouldn't fancy the 54' dash that you estimate, either, in the event of an emergency.

Edited by carlt
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carlt Veteran II

carlt

Posted
Posted
Electric anchor winch and a switch at the helm sorts that problem out. :lol:

I would definitely have a manually deployed emergency anchor, as well.

 

Pushing that button, in an emergency, and getting no response, with no manual back-up would be a trouser filling experience.

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Naughty Cal Veteran II

Naughty Cal

Posted
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I would definitely have a manually deployed emergency anchor, as well.

 

Pushing that button, in an emergency, and getting no response, with no manual back-up would be a trouser filling experience.

 

Override and manual deployment. It is a good idea to check it works before setting off though.

 

Bump.

 

Richard

 

At least

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Nine of Hearts Experienced

Nine of Hearts

Posted
Posted (edited)
I still wouldn't fancy the 54' dash that you estimate, either, in the event of an emergency.

 

Me neither, and it wouldn't be a dash in my case. It would be a high-speed sideways dance. Punctuated with a splash.

 

Pardon my mischievousness, I can of course appreciate why an anchor would be needed in many emergencies. I just found the thought of anchoring to the sky and hauling your boat to safety appealing.

 

[To answer Richard's bump, isn't the ratio 5:1 warp:depth in normal conditions? That should answer for most inland applications, I'd have thought, as that's a salty rule of thumb.]

Edited by Nine of Hearts
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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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[To answer Richard's bump, isn't the ratio 5:1 warp:depth in normal conditions? That should answer for most inland applications, I'd have thought, as that's a salty rule of thumb.]

 

Where I'm going with this is - there shouldn't be a big mystery about cable length. 25 metres is how long your anchor chain/warp combination should be for most rivers that 99.9% of narrowboaters are going to use. If you are doing the Ribble link or tidal Thames then make different plans.

 

Right?

 

Richard

 

I'd have a boat length of chain and another 20m of rope.

 

That's 44 metres for us. It's an awful lot of chain too.

 

Richard

 

Richard

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carlt Veteran II

carlt

Posted
Posted (edited)
That's 44 metres for us. It's an awful lot of chain too.

It is a lot of chain and it is a tricky thing to advise on.

 

The rode needs to be as horizontal as possible, for as long as possible so that the catenary of the chain absorbs the snatch as the anchor brings the boat to a dead stop.

 

The rule of thumb I've always used, offshore, is chain twice as long as the boat and overall length 8 times the maximum expected depth.

 

This is way too much for inland use, though and there is (as far as I can see) no authoritative opinion on how much you should use.

 

I have only had to deploy an anchor once, in an emergency, when the outboard died, on the tender, on the Alde and I was unable to row against the incoming tide.

 

Imagine my surprise when the whole 35' of rope and chain was deployed and the anchor still didn't reach the river bed.

 

Fortunately I was able to row close enough to the bank to find some shallower water and, even luckier, the guy at the boatyard saw me drift past the lifeboat I was aiming for and decided to take the yard launch out, to check I was okay.

Edited by carlt
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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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<snip> and there is (as far as I can see) no authoritative opinion on how much you should use.

 

Agreed.

 

The trouble is that this is all highly nebulous. You need a warp/chain combination that is long enough to do the job but not so long you are on a weir before reaching the bitter end (yes, I remember). You need it to protect you from the dangers that you face, but I'm not sure what these are. You need something practical that you can actually use on a boat. You need it to be suitable for the rivers you are boating on but there's no information on their depth.

 

Sigh

 

Richard

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Nine of Hearts Experienced

Nine of Hearts

Posted
Posted
You need it to be suitable for the rivers you are boating on but there's no information on their depth.

 

If you promise to pay my wages I will happily (nay, blissfully) patrol the entire system with a (tatty) lead line and report my findings to you on beautifully draughted charts.

 

(please oh please oh please)

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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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Posted
If you promise to pay my wages I will happily (nay, blissfully) patrol the entire system with a (tatty) lead line and report my findings to you on beautifully draughted charts.

 

(please oh please oh please)

 

Changing your name to Mark Twain are you?

 

Richard

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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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Posted
Is this not the little wooden paddle steamer that was effectively given away a couple of years ago, by a trust that could no longer keep up its maintenance?

 

Could be. Details of Phoenix on the Steamboat Association Register

 

Richard

 

Warning. There's many a wasted hour to be had browsing that register

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