river anchoring

[Guest]

Took a trip to Windsor at the weekend, spent our first night aboard since getting our boat last Sept. Had a drink or three in the pub, back to boat, struggled for ages making up berth (learned valuable lesson to do it before heading off for the pub!), fell into it exhausted, woken up an hour later by a another boat crashing into us.

They'd been moored half a dozen boats upstream of us and it seems their stakes were pulled up (we'd been warned this or ropes being cut sometimes happens, particularly on this stretch of river). They'd managed to grab onto the boat in front of us and ergo had swung round onto us, so we rallied fenders and ropes and they lashed onto us and a nearby tree for the remainder of the night, not sleeping a wink.

These folks had been advised that dropping anchor probably wasn't a good idea, particularly not right there because of the way the current goes, the boat would end up swinging midstream and not a good idea with disco boats plying up and down etc.

We'd been advised to always drop anchor when moored up on a bank, just in case, because even if the anchor didn't stop us from drifting on down to the nearest bridge or weir then at least the clatter of the chain paying out would wake us up and alert us to the problem.

What's the general consensus of opinion?

 

[ToMo]

I think from what you write that moving the boat to another river would be the best advice, or failing that a large unfriendly dog tethered to your mooring lines for the night might deter lunatic behavior!!
Stay cheerful
ToMo

 

[martin]

I have been mooring up on the river banks between Chertsey and Marlow for 8 years now and never had or heard of the problem. I would think this was a fairly isolated incident.

Having read your message now, seems best to deploy anchor and leave lots of fenders out to be on the safe side.

 

[byron]

Unfortunately that stretch is notorious for such incidents for reasons too lengthy to go into here. Apart from dropping anchor and ample chain ensure you don't tie off on shore. Put the line through the ring and bring it back aboard tieing off to the 'seaward' cleat. This makes it difficult for the Yoboes to get to.
Pity really as that area is a great spot and close to the shops. Also if you have kids aboard there is that splendid swimming pool too.

 

[colinroybarrett]

Maybe you have just been lucky?

In my 30-odd years on this very stretch of river, we have been untied more than once and had to “catch” a passing boat twice. Given that we are fairly frequent river users, clearly this is not an epidemic problem, but certainly one to be aware of, particularly in such popular places.

As Byron suggests, a double loop around mooring stakes, or rings, with a return aboard is always wise, use rond anchors with a welded loop and chuck out the anchor where deemed necessary.

I have often anchored at Windsor, due to arriving late evening and finding no free mooring space of sufficient depth. If you have a mind for the likely routes taken by the Disco boats and also the fast moving “Salters Steamers” returning unloaded (sometimes unlit) it is quite easy to park yourself well out of the way.

Recently the current has been extreme, agreed, which may cause the boat to swing around a little, but more often it is difficult to find any current to talk about, particularly in the Fawley Reach downstream of Henley.

Cheers, CRB