Anchoring - Ooops!

[alanch]

Being a belt and braces type of boater I have been in the habit of dropping my anchor and about 5 metres of chain on the bottom when moored up. Did this recently at Dorchester, wandered ashore, good kip that night and underway in the morning. Moored up again at the refuse point at Days lock and then again on the lock approach. As the lock was on self service went up and did the business, and noticed on the way back from the lock that the anchor was down. Oh Bother. Struggled to recover it but eventually did so with half a tree hanging off it - and the shank was bent 45 degrees. There was no indication at all on the way upriver that the anchor was down - no chain bashing the hull and the boat behaved perfectly normally. If you are looking for a moral to the story then I don't have one. Suggestions invited. Be kind!

 

[Chris_d]

Ha
See lots of peeps do this and always thought its a waste of time, to be kind I think you must need a different anchor that will actually set properly.

 

[oldgit]

Did once apon a time drop anchor as a half hearted responce to the usual third party rumors as in my mates uncle heard from his plumber brother that his mate was cast adrift in the middle of Dartmoor.
However after attempting to move off with the anchor still down a couple of times......

 

[Chill]

Yeah been there got the T shirt. I now put the engine keys in a different place which when looking for them stirs the grey matter and reminds me to haul up the anchor

 

[Outinthedinghy]

I did this in the late 90s when I lived on narrow boat. I had another boat tied to mine (2 x 55ft narrow boats).

We were moored at dockett eddy lane moorings just down from the ryepeck residential moorings. as it was by a road and a bit shall we say "iffy" I chucked the anchor in overnight.

Anyway I forgot it and we started going (still breasted up - 2 narrow boats tied together).

After about a hundred yards the boats performed a Jaws like maneouver - I thought a shark had got us and so did the skipper of a nice wooden gentleman's cruiser called Naiad Errant who was approaching usbdownstream. I will never forget the expression he had as he passed us performing what was an impossible maneuver.

I did get the anchor back, a bit bent.

Quite funny.

I also did it once before that - dragged the anchor all the way from Higginson meadow at Marlow to Temple lock where it finally got caught on the inverted goalposts.


I don't bother with the anchor these days...

 

[alanch]

I don't bother with the anchor these days...

Neither will I from now on. It doesn't seem to have much holding power anyway.

 

[jct1981]

I'm very relieved that this thread exists. I certainly didn't drive down half the regatta course one evening at Henley, past all the boats moored on the pontoons, with my anchor down. Oh no, certainly not me....

 

[oldgit]

Have in past tried to get my anchor to "set" on a river bottom without much luck.
In the end had so much chain out it was purely the weight and drag of the chain that stopped the boat moving.
Best you hope for is that it slows the movement of the boat and it will take an hour or two to drift to the weir instead of 10 mins. ?

 

[alanch]

[QUOTE I'm very relieved that this thread exists. I certainly didn't drive down half the regatta course one evening at Henley, past all the boats moored on the pontoons, with my anchor down. Oh no, certainly not me....[/QUOTE]

Brill. No one saw me!

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Adam at Cookham lock gave me an old seagull century outboard when I passed in august. It is seized.

Would it be worth using it as an anchor or shall I try to get it going

 

[Mirror Painter]

Have in past tried to get my anchor to "set" on a river bottom without much luck.
In the end had so much chain out it was purely the weight and drag of the chain that stopped the boat moving.
Best you hope for is that it slows the movement of the boat and it will take an hour or two to drift to the weir instead of 10 mins. ?

Not trying to be smart but you do know that's what the chain is for?

Had many a happy snooze on the very upper Thames with the anchor out. A tiny boat though of course.

 

[bumperdump]

Adam at Cookham lock gave me an old seagull century outboard when I passed in august. It is seized.

Would it be worth using it as an anchor or shall I try to get it going

Get it going

 

[byron]

Adam at Cookham lock gave me an old seagull century outboard when I passed in august. It is seized.

Would it be worth using it as an anchor or shall I try to get it going

Just for information. Andrew at Sheridans owns all the Rights to Seagulls (as well as Freemans). If anyone can help you get it going he can.

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Thanks for the tip about Sheridan marine. It's quite a tidy outboard all complete and with the long range brass tank and metal carb bowl so I think its worth trying to get it going.

I've put diesel in through spark plug hold and its stored as if raised out of the water so almost horizontal. Still seized. Blowtorch is probably the next thing to try, gently heating the block.

 

[Brayman]

I used to drop the anchor when moored in a town, not so much to be set but to wake me up as the chain ran out if we were cast adrift.