Anchor chain/rope length for tidal Thames

[Dr Bob]

4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Do you get a second chance in a Narrowboat, you are not mooring up to go for a swim, you are doing it because you cant drive the boat anywhere. How did you manage to retrieve and reset? I think yours is the only posting I have seen from someone who has had to use one.

Absolutely.

We have set anchors loads and loads of times but never in a steel narrowboat. We have had a dragging anchor and had to try and reset in 30knt winds and it is not easy. I said in an earlier post, it is a good idea to have lots of rope so once the anchor and chain are put overboard, the rope can be paid out so the anchor is not moving fast over the river bed. If its moving fast you have no chance. Also anchors dont hold if dragged down a slope - as opposed to up a slope - so it is important to know if the anchor is likely to be going up or down hill (easier to figure out in a lumpy water boat off a beach). For me, the most important thing is that the anchor is ready to go and someone who knows what to do is there to do it. If it is only the helm, then as soon as the engine conks out, you have to realise what comes next, run to the front of the boat and get the anchor and chain out. By that time it is quite possible the boat is moving downstream at a speed to fast to set an anchor hence the need for a lot of rope to allow some hope of getting the anchor to dig in. And then there is the plastic bag. I dont know how many times the point of our anchor has landed on a plastic bag - which means it will not set - and you have to pull it all up again.

[rusty69]

3 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

For me, the most important thing is that the anchor is ready to go and someone who knows what to do is there to do it. If it is only the helm, then as soon as the engine conks out, you have to realise what comes next, run to the front of the boat and get the anchor and chain out.

On our nearly 70ft boat, I always keep the anchor at the aft end on rivers.Thankfully have never needed it, but wouldn't fancy running 70ft in a hurry. 

[Dr Bob]

15 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

On our nearly 70ft boat, I always keep the anchor at the aft end on rivers.Thankfully have never needed it, but wouldn't fancy running 70ft in a hurry. 

A very good idea......and it would mean less 'grab' on the anchor as the chain/rope goes tight as the boat would turn.

[Alan de Enfield]

6 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

A very good idea......and it would mean less 'grab' on the anchor as the chain/rope goes tight as the boat would turn.

You are making a big assumption there.

I have found that those who have the anchor at the stern will often have it 'tied off at the stern' and not the bow.

Trying to explain the dynamics of anchoring falls on death  deaf ears.

Bloomin spull chucker !!!!

Edited March 16, 2018 by Alan de Enfield

[phantom_iv]

26 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Do you get a second chance in a Narrowboat, you are not mooring up to go for a swim, you are doing it because you cant drive the boat anywhere. How did you manage to retrieve and reset? I think yours is the only posting I have seen from someone who has had to use one.

Luckily this wasn't a narrowboat, but a smaller and lighter vessel  - the second time round it still dragged, but still bought me the extra couple of minutes I needed to get help before ending up on the rocks.

 

 

[Scholar Gypsy]

44 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

Absolutely.

We have set anchors loads and loads of times but never in a steel narrowboat. We have had a dragging anchor and had to try and reset in 30knt winds and it is not easy. I said in an earlier post, it is a good idea to have lots of rope so once the anchor and chain are put overboard, the rope can be paid out so the anchor is not moving fast over the river bed. If its moving fast you have no chance. Also anchors dont hold if dragged down a slope - as opposed to up a slope - so it is important to know if the anchor is likely to be going up or down hill (easier to figure out in a lumpy water boat off a beach). For me, the most important thing is that the anchor is ready to go and someone who knows what to do is there to do it. If it is only the helm, then as soon as the engine conks out, you have to realise what comes next, run to the front of the boat and get the anchor and chain out. By that time it is quite possible the boat is moving downstream at a speed to fast to set an anchor hence the need for a lot of rope to allow some hope of getting the anchor to dig in. And then there is the plastic bag. I dont know how many times the point of our anchor has landed on a plastic bag - which means it will not set - and you have to pull it all up again.

And on the tideway you may need to drop the anchor when you are doing say 7 kts over the ground, or decide to wait a bit (turning the boat will help here, of course)  until you slow down to the 4 knots that is due to the tide ....

[Grassman]

Thanks for yet more useful advice. I hadn't thought of some of those points so I will give so serious thought to what configuration of rope and chain lengths I go for.

[Alan de Enfield]

 

[ditchcrawler]

6 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

But in not one of those cases was he heading with the flow and had engine failure. Planning and setting a mooring is a lot different to an emergency stop when the noisy thing goes all quiet on you. I have never seen any instruction on how to do that.

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, ditchcrawler said:

But in not one of those cases was he heading with the flow and had engine failure. Planning and setting a mooring is a lot different to an emergency stop when the noisy thing goes all quiet on you. I have never seen any instruction on how to do that.

I posted it more as conformation as to why anchoring off the stern is not a good idea.