Tying Up

[system 4-50]

I am not doing very well.

 

Three weeks after getting my boat, I returned to it to find it had come adrift at one end and had been re-tied by some kind person. It had originally been secured with "nappy pins" to the armco and one end of one nappy pin had been levered wide open. The other pin was undamaged. Since then I use a nappy pin at one end and a chain with two rings (goat's chain?) at the other on this type of bank. I am not sure why.

 

A few weeks ago I was moored at the visitor moorings in Leighton Buzzard using 2 (not 4) pins and I spent quite some time putting the pins in, to find somewhere solid in what is generally soggy ground, but when I returned, the boat was across the canal and had already been re-pinned at least once. I will buy two more pins as soon as I possibly can so that I can cross them. Maybe that will help. I don't understand why a high quality path has been installed with no provision for decent mooring points on a visitor mooring.

 

Today I returned to the boat to find a peculiar arrangement. The boat was still tied up, but someone had used one of my fender strings complete with fender to attach the stern to a thin loop around a railway rail and concrete slab type bank, despite my original mooring rope still being present and undamaged, but attached differently. Admittedly I am moored opposite a playground (Berkhamsted).

Is the use of thin rope loops the best way of dealing with this type of bank? The friction on the loops seems very high.

 

I am not certain but I am beginning to detect a difference in pressure on my fixing arrangements depending on whether I am actually present on the boat. When I am on the boat my arrangements seem to survive much longer than when I leave it for a while. But perhaps I am imagining it...

 

How many other types of bank are there? Do I need any more varieties of fixing gear?

[matty40s]

in the last week and a half you will have been passed by many working boats along with normal traffic heading to Rickmansworth. Now some are headed back up north.both Leighton Buzzard and Berko are very shallow on the towpath sides so passing boat movements are amplified.

You will find that 2 pins will almost invariably be pulled out of wet ground by passing boats if not deep enough or at the right angle.

Search for springs on here and you will find a thread which explains all.

 

I tend to use a combination of pins/nappy pins etc, however, if there is nylon string loops around railway lines, will always take advantage as they usually hold well and have been there for ages.

[blackrose]

How long are your mooring stakes (pins)? Some people use stakes that are far too small, don't knock them in adequately and then wonder why their boat comes adrift. I have a range of stakes - some are over 3' long.

[steelaway]

I find these are better than the nappy pins for armco ..............Mindland Chandlers

 

 

Alex

[sharpness]

I find these are better than the nappy pins for armco ..............Mindland Chandlers

 

 

Alex

Thats all we ever use on the Gloucester Sharpness.

 

Steve

[sociable_hermit]

Yep, the chains are good. I've got two but could really do with four.

[Liam]

The other thing to remember is to keep your lines nice and tight. It stops the boat from picking up momentum in going backwards and forwards, and putting more pressure on your mooring pin/stakes.

[adam1uk]

The so called nappy pins, or paper clips as some call them, are really only designed for a centre rope. They need upward pressure to stop them falling out. If you use them at the bow and stern, there's a high possibility that they'll come out. Much better to use chains round the armco, or the mooring hooks pictured below, which are designed to work with ropes that are nearer horizontal.

 

[mayalld]

The so called nappy pins, or paper clips as some call them, are really only designed for a centre rope.

 

No they aren't.

 

Given that you should never moor using a centre rope, that would be silly.

 

The key thing is that when using them, you need to tie up tightly.

[NB Alnwick]

The canals are so shallow around here that, most of the time, all I have to do is drive the boat into the side so that it is hard aground

[Proper Job]

The canals are so shallow around here that, most of the time, all I have to do is drive the boat into the side so that it is hard aground

 

[NB Alnwick]

No they aren't.

 

Given that you should never moor using a centre rope, that would be silly.

 

The key thing is that when using them, you need to tie up tightly.

 

I agree that they are not designed for use with the centre line. I also agree that the centre line should not be used for tying-up except in very unusual circumstances (there is always an exception) but it is probably important to point out that using the piling as a secure mooring attachment does require careful thought. I have seen many examples of damage to piling that could have been avoided with a little more consideration.

 

Here are a few rules that I suggest as a means of helping to protect the piling from unnecessary damage:

 

Always attach the piling hook or mooring chain as close as possible to the ground anchor - this is a long bolt that goes under the towpath to hold the piling in position. The location is easily identified because there will be a large nut on the water side of the 'Armco' shaped retaining steel.

 

Do not attach the piling hook or mooring chain to damaged, corroded or misshaped piling, or where the towpath behind the piling has collapsed or been eroded or washed away.

 

Do not leave the mooring lines loose but use longer fore and aft lines where the water level is inclined to change.

[Midnight Rider]

I've got nappy pins, chains & spikes on board & out of choice always go for the nappy pins.

 

Never had a problem yet ---- famous last words, no doubt.

[mayalld]

I am not doing very well.

 

Three weeks after getting my boat, I returned to it to find it had come adrift at one end and had been re-tied by some kind person. It had originally been secured with "nappy pins" to the armco and one end of one nappy pin had been levered wide open. The other pin was undamaged. Since then I use a nappy pin at one end and a chain with two rings (goat's chain?) at the other on this type of bank. I am not sure why.

 

A few weeks ago I was moored at the visitor moorings in Leighton Buzzard using 2 (not 4) pins and I spent quite some time putting the pins in, to find somewhere solid in what is generally soggy ground, but when I returned, the boat was across the canal and had already been re-pinned at least once. I will buy two more pins as soon as I possibly can so that I can cross them. Maybe that will help. I don't understand why a high quality path has been installed with no provision for decent mooring points on a visitor mooring.

 

Today I returned to the boat to find a peculiar arrangement. The boat was still tied up, but someone had used one of my fender strings complete with fender to attach the stern to a thin loop around a railway rail and concrete slab type bank, despite my original mooring rope still being present and undamaged, but attached differently. Admittedly I am moored opposite a playground (Berkhamsted).

Is the use of thin rope loops the best way of dealing with this type of bank? The friction on the loops seems very high.

 

I am not certain but I am beginning to detect a difference in pressure on my fixing arrangements depending on whether I am actually present on the boat. When I am on the boat my arrangements seem to survive much longer than when I leave it for a while. But perhaps I am imagining it...

 

How many other types of bank are there? Do I need any more varieties of fixing gear?

 

All of the above seems to be symptomatic of ropes that aren't tight enough.

 

Basically, you should be looking at the following checklist;

• Main ropes fore and aft running at 45 degrees
• Springs running back towards centre
• All ropes tight
• Ropes tied off on board (NOT at the bank end of things) using a proper knot.
• If using paper clips, placed adjacent to a piling bolt, so that they can't pull loose.
• If using pins, good long pins, hammered well in, with the rope no more than an inch off the floor.
• Pins at 45 degrees away from the pull line of the rope.
• If in soft ground, use an extra pin through the eye of the first pin, and if needed a third pin through the second.

 

 

 

[WotEver]

If in soft ground, use an extra pin through the eye of the first pin, and if needed a third pin through the second

I'm not sure I understand this. Is there an image anywhere?

 

Tony

[Speedwheel]

Admittedly I am moored opposite a playground (Berkhamsted).

 

I amazed you could find a mooring there given the nose to tail continuous moorers that are usually there.

[WJM]

Probably a good idea to drop your anchor over the outer side - and mudweights if you have them

[WotEver]

Probably a good idea to drop your anchor over the outer side

I was always told that anchors should never ever be used in a canal.

 

Tony

[ditchcrawler]

No they aren't.

 

Given that you should never moor using a centre rope, that would be silly.

 

The key thing is that when using them, you need to tie up tightly.

I agree

[alan_fincher]

Admittedly I am moored opposite a playground (Berkhamsted).

 

I amazed you could find a mooring there given the nose to tail continuous moorers that are usually there.

 

He really is, and currently you could even fit one or two more in there, (yes, honestly!....)

 

I have to say I'm intrigued by the "MVCL" boat name......

 

Top hit on Google gives "Metro Vancouver Cricket League", which seems a bit improbable.

 

Or were you ever an Assembler programmer ?

[Guest User]

He really is, and currently you could even fit one or two more in there, (yes, honestly!....)

 

I have to say I'm intrigued by the "MVCL" boat name......

 

Top hit on Google gives "Metro Vancouver Cricket League", which seems a bit improbable.

 

Or were you ever an Assembler programmer ?

 

.... in roman numerals MVCL is 1155, or five minutes to midnight, and the closer the clock is to midnight, the closer the world is to ending .... Doomsday Clock (.... on reflection, this probably doesn't help, but hey ho )

[system 4-50]

...He really is, and currently you could even fit one or two more in there, (yes, honestly!....)

 

I have to say I'm intrigued by the "MVCL" boat name......

 

Top hit on Google gives "Metro Vancouver Cricket League", which seems a bit improbable.

 

Or were you ever an Assembler programmer ?

Guilty as charged. Those were the days... Writing our own CCWs to write data to disk. Ahhh, the romance of it all.

Edited May 24, 2011 by system 4-50

[adam1uk]

No they aren't.

 

Given that you should never moor using a centre rope, that would be silly.

 

The key thing is that when using them, you need to tie up tightly.

 

I wasn't suggesting you should moor up with a centre rope. What I was suggesting was that these particular hooks are vulnerable unless you have an upward pull. I've seen enough of these come out from behind armco that I wouldn't trust them, particularly for any length of time. For example, there's a boat moored on the offside at the railway bridges at Hillmorton, where the passage of dozens of boats over several months has loosened the ropes, the hook has dropped down, and it's almost out of the armco.

 

Why use something which is vulnerable when there are better options, like the hooks I pictured in the previous post, or chains? Surely it makes sense to use the best tool for the job. And nappy pins/paperclips aren't it.

 

I am not certain but I am beginning to detect a difference in pressure on my fixing arrangements depending on whether I am actually present on the boat. When I am on the boat my arrangements seem to survive much longer than when I leave it for a while. But perhaps I am imagining it...

 

That'll be the habit of some people to slow down when they think someone is on board, and not bother if they think the boat is empty.

 

Good example of this the other weekend when we were moored for lunch by the golf course in Rugby. Boat comes flying past until the helmswoman was level with the dinette window, at which point she saw us and immediately slowed down.

[Bordergirl]

We have also found using springs really helpful where the ground is a bit soft or where its busy, as it reduces the backwards and forwards movements when boats pass. We've also used two pins together but crossed where its soft. On the armco bits its personal preference but I find chains much easier to put in and take out than nappy pins.

[mrsmelly]

Probably a good idea to drop your anchor over the outer side - and mudweights if you have them

 

I use chains mainly but have some nappy pins onboard. The trick with nappy pins so they never pull off is to use them upside down and keep the rope taught.