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River Avon,no anchor?


Dave Payne

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Heading into Stratford in a couple of weeks, would like to mooch down the avon to bideford for the night, problem is i have no anchor and dont really want to buy one if i can help it.

Is the avon safe enough, from playing around in a little motor boat a few years ago i seem to recall its not flowing much?

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17 minutes ago, Dave Payne said:

Heading into Stratford in a couple of weeks, would like to mooch down the avon to bideford for the night, problem is i have no anchor and dont really want to buy one if i can help it.

Is the avon safe enough, from playing around in a little motor boat a few years ago i seem to recall its not flowing much?

I would not call the Avon safe if you are left drifting and heading for an unguarded weir, which they mostly are.  It is your call to make, clearly people do it with no anchor and live to tell the tale, but don't think anyone can responsibly advise you that it is OK with no anchor.

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The Avon can be a most volatile river with a days rainfall around Nuneaton making a strong stream around Stratford in a few hours. If you don't want to buy an anchor, do you have a substantial mud weight? Anything is better than nothing.

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I too think it would be plain daft to go on a river with unguarded weirs and no anchor.

The chances of engine failure are small and if one's engine fails, the chances of drifting onto a weir instead of just converging with the bank are small, but the background worry would spoil the trip for me. 

As others have said, any old weight will be better than nothing. Borrow a 56lb Avery scales weight or two from someone. A small Mitsubishi engine would make a great mudweight too. 

 

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Last week coming up the K&A we had a lovely pale blue sweat shirt snag the prop. Between us we managed to grab parts of trees and put a rope to one. It was fairly frantic for a few moments and I'd not want to have had it happened without and anchor as a back up! Ian.

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Most of the weirs are unguarded. But when the river is low it is an effort to get a canoe with a couple of inches draft to go over them. As long as the river is low you would be ok without an anchor.

Edited by WJM
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1 hour ago, Dave Payne said:

So what size anchor would be suitable for a 57ft ?

It will entirely depend on the 'type' of anchor you go for :

A folding 'grapnel' anchor - maybe a 50kg would slow you down a bit

A 'Danforth' (that most NBs seem to have as it is easy to stow away, but performance is not 'good') ideally 30KGS - 25Kgs at a 'pinch'

A CQR or Plough 15 kgs will do

A Fortress 10kgs will do.

Just as important is the length of chain, an absolute minimum length of 3x water depth (+ the height of the 'fixing' on the boat above the water line) Ideally 5x water depth..

 

REMEMBER : if you are deploying the anchor on the inland waterways it is because the dung is about to hit the fan - you need it to work 1st time every time. Having the wrong 'bit of kit' gives a false sense of security.

Buy it once and buy it 'right'

 

'Open Water' boaters may anchor every day/night and get a feel for how to 'do it'  - when you get an anchor, practice with it and learn how your boat will respond / react.

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7 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Wouldn't that make them concrete weights?

I suppose so. They're about 15" long (can't find a  photo at the moment). Maybe the OP should be advised to go to the chandlery and ask for a long weight?

Edited by Scholar Gypsy
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You may have difficulty recovering your anchor from a river bed as there are trees and other 'snags' underwater.  Consider rigging a separate tripping line with a float.  This only for practising.  In emergency you would NOT rig a tripping line.

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1 hour ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

I suppose so. They're about 15" long (can't find a  photo at the moment). Maybe the OP should be advised to go to the chandlery and ask for a long weight?

And some sky hooks, tartan paint, new bubble for the level and of course not forgetting the sparks for the grinder.

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3 hours ago, Dave Payne said:

No mud weight either.

 

I think ill give the avon a miss this year, looking at costs its a little too much for me in short notice, would love to do all the avon and then up the severn so maybe one to plan for next year.

 

 

That's a wise decision.  It's astonishing how the character of the Avon changes with only a bit of rain it's comparable with the Aire & Calder in that respect but I think the Avon is more volatile.

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10 hours ago, Dave Payne said:

Heading into Stratford in a couple of weeks, would like to mooch down the avon to bideford for the night, problem is i have no anchor and dont really want to buy one if i can help it.

Is the avon safe enough, from playing around in a little motor boat a few years ago i seem to recall its not flowing much?

The question I would ask myself is IF the boat was damaged or heaven forbid a total loss after any sort of engine failure or prop problems etc etc would my insurance company pay out if they could prove or if it was evident use of an anchor would have mitigated such damage/loss.?

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Blimey that's a lot of 'if's. So you strongly advise the OP not to take on even this tiny amount of risk? 

Owning a boat comes with all manner of minor risks. Are you sure you're cut out for boating?! :)

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10 hours ago, WJM said:

Most of the weirs are unguarded. But when the river is low it is an effort to get a canoe with a couple of inches draft to go over them. As long as the river is low you would be ok without an anchor.

I agree. I lived on the Avon for 3 years. It's treacherous in flood, but when the river is low you really wouldn't have a problem without an anchor even if your engine cut out above a weir. Just make sure you get a weather forecast first.

Edited by blackrose
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