Anchor's Aweigh.

I have been doing some casual research on the "t'interwebby" on the types of anchors that would be suitable for use with our new boat when travelling on tidal rivers.  Selection depends on the size of your boat, the length of your boat, the weight of your boat as well as the speed of the current flow and the depth of the water. There is an additional issue around the type and nature of the bed of the river.

The problem is there is no real "one size fits all" boat anchor.

Then there is the type of anchor, the thickness and length of the chain, the thickness and length of the warp to choose. You could also factor in a second anchor (which will let the specific single anchor weight be reduced) if there are problems with deploying and recovering heavy anchors. Plus the grab load can be shared across two mooring points on the boat. The reason for the chain is to make sure the anchor lays correctly flat to the river bed and the angle is right to dig in and take hold.

I found an interesting quote here. "For an anchor to "hold" it requires a horizontal pull along the bottom of the waterway. Ideally you would have enough anchor "line" paid out to allow for roughly three times the depth of water. The third of the paid out line nearest the anchor needs to be laying on the bottom, to provide the horizontal pull at the anchor stock. Having chain in this section helps considerably, as it tends to lay on the river bed. The effectiveness of an anchor is dependant on this deployment. They are designed to dig in harder, the more horizontal pull is provided. A small anchor, correctly deployed on a correct length line, with a chain length to the anchor stock, will be many more times effective than a heavy anchor on a short line, or one that does not have a suitable amount of chain to ensure the pull at the anchor is along the sea or river bed."

Then there is the problem of deployment and recovery after use. My fact finding is based around selecting an anchor that can be set and recovered by hand. Suitable for a 16 ton 50' standard beam narrowboat.

So what we have to do is come up with a compromise.

CQR (Clyde Quick Release)/Plough

The CQR "Clyde Quick Release" is a plough styled anchor. The CQR anchor is so named due to its resemblance to a traditional agricultural plough, many manufacturers produce a plough-style design, all based on or direct copies of the original CQR (Secure), a 1933 design by mathematician Geoffrey Ingram Taylor. As I work in a University with mathematicians I have learned not to take their theory at face value. Owing to a now well established history, ploughs are particularly popular with boaters. They are generally good in all bottoms, but not exceptional in any.

 
 
The Bruce or Bruce Claw

The "Bruce anchor" This claw shaped anchor gained its reputation from the production of large scale commercial anchors for ships and fixed installations such as oil rigs. The Bruce and its copies, known generically as "claws", have become a popular option for smaller boaters. Claw-types set quickly in most seabeds and although not an articulated design, they have the reputation of not breaking out with tide or wind changes, instead slowly turning in the bottom to align with the force.

The Danforth Anchor

The Danforth Anchor, this type of anchor have two long flukes that pivot and bury the anchor when under tension. They hold best in firm sand, gravel or mud. Danforth type anchors are not recommended for rocky bottoms were they cannot penetrate, and soft clay bottoms were they may not hold well.

 
 
 

The shank is the stem of the anchor in which direction is pulled to set (bury) the anchor. Weak shanks will bend when the boat pulls from another direction.The crown connects the various parts of the modern anchor. Also know as the hinge in the case of the CQR. The stock turns the anchor into an attitude that enables the flukes to dig into the sea bed. Danforth and CQR anchors are examples of anchors with a stock to help guide the points into the seabed. The tripping ring is used for the optional tripping line: by pulling the tripping line, the anchor will break out. The flukes will be buried into the seabed. The very tip of a fluke is sometimes called the bill.

 
 
The IWA Thames Tideway Handbook has a useful table of information that can be used as a rough guideline. 


Length        - Craft type       - CQR/Bruce       -  Chain       - Warp  
20ft (7m)    - narrow boat   - 4.5kg                 -  6.2mm      - 10mm
30ft (9m)    - narrow boat   - 9.0kg                 -  8.0mm      - 14mm
40ft (12M)  - narrow boat   - 11kg                 -  8.0mm      - 16mm
52ft (16M)  - narrow boat   - 16kg                 -  10.5mm    - 18mm
72ft (22M)  - narrow boat   - 18.5kg              - 10.5mm     - 20mm

The next problem is the length of the chain and then the length of the warp to choose. The minimum chain length would seem to be 5 metres and the warp around 15 meters.

A rule of thumb seems to be 10 metres of chain and 20 meteres of warp is a good compromise for most situations. You could however double the chain and warp lengths for a bit of overkill. I will also be attaching an anchor float to the line so that if we ever have to cut the line from the boat. We can then go around and attempt to recover the anchor. When Ken and Lynda the previous owners took us for the grand tour of our new boat, there was an anchor in the front locker. After feeling the weight of it. I am about to order a truss in readiness, just in case I ever have to deploy it!

It is a good idea to make sure the anchor warp has been secured onto the boat. Boats have been known to deploy an anchor that was not secured to the boat!

P.S.  It is not a good idea to deploy an anchor on a canal. You might disturb the clay lining and create problems with leakages or even breaches.

Later....

What's in a name.

Well, the title of this blog was going to be Narrow-boat Wits-End which is the same name as our family home. The house is located at the end of a cul-de-sac and so lends itself to the name. We thought long and hard over narrow-boat names going through the usual "Onion Bargee" which is a play on the Indian culinary dish "onion bargie". However, settling after a while to eventually at some point in the future renaming the boat to match the house. Maybe even renaming to "Wits-End II".

All this was long before we eventually found "our boat" on the Internet. Everyday we would both go trawling on the net looking at boats on Apollo Duck and other such on-line brokerage sites. We had a few visits to view various narrow-boats but could not find anything exactly to our liking.

I did come across some pictures one day of a boat which I sent by email to Mag's for her to have a look. Her swift reply was "I want that boat" but as far as we knew the boat in question was not for sale. The pictures had been done during the narrow-boat fit-out for advertisements. Fast forward several months and a minimum of 20 boat viewings later. I had a look on the ABNB brokerage web site. I could not believe my eyes when I found "our boat" from the Internet was actually up for sale.

There she was "Rose of Arden" a 50ft Narrow-boat and we knew that she was exactly what we wanted.

The name "Rose of Arden" also rang a bell with me, but I could not for the life of me remember why. Soon afterwards we had a boat viewing, which just confirmed what we already knew. She was a stunning boat, that looked better in real life that the pictures on ABNB. Rose of Arden had certainly been kept in first class order. After her survey not a single fault could be found. Ken and Lynda were looking to move to a river cruiser and so Rose of Arden was up for sale. 

During our conversations when viewing the boat, Lynda mentioned going to Henley on Thames and I got the feeling again about the boats name! So much so that I did a trawl of the Internet when we got home. Bingo! Arden Rose is an artist who paints scenes from around the world in the French impressionist style. I love art, I love the French impressionist style, more than any other form. So much so that I went to Rome just to see three Monet's a few years ago. I timed it by chance (April 2005) to fit-in exactly with the late pope's funeral. (but that's another story for another posting)  One of Arden Rose's pictures is titled Henley and the subject matter is the River Thames at Henley. I remember admiring it in the past. What is it they say about Elephants....

To see some of Arden Rose's works click here.

Cutting a long story short, we have had a change of mind! No, we don't want to sell the boat, we want to keep the name. "Rosie" as she has already become known to us, will continue to sail under the name chosen by Ken and Lynda. So at some point in the future I suppose, I will have to re-name the blog!

I know that it might seem to be fate had eventually drawn us together. Personally I don't go for that myself. I just think it was a series of pleasant coincidences and that we were lucky to acquire "Rosie" from Ken and Lynda.

Our thanks also go to ABNB and especially Barry number III for making the experience as professional as possible.

ABNB provided a First Class service, one that some other brokerages that we visited could learn a great deal from.

We are (as my mother would have said) beginning to look like a right pair of grinning Wally's - Does anyone have a recipe for a potion that will remove the smiles from our faces.







Running Total 65 miles, 9 locks and 8 swing bridges.

Later....

Man overboard!

Well, we have just returned from our first long weekend aboard the boat. We went from our current guest mooring in Doncaster. Heading up the river Don towards Sheffield. However, we only intended to go a short distance whilst Mag's go to grips with operating locks and to enjoy the magnificent weather. At Doncaster Town lock, we were sharing with wide beam narrow boat Isambard. Poppy, for reasons known only to her, decided to abandon ship whilst we were in the lock. However, at the time we were not aware of her being in the water. We were the first out of the lock and made our way a short distance up river. When the shortage of a crew member was noticed. I did a quick turn around and headed back towards the lock scanning the water and river bank for any signs of Poppy. We feared the worst. We saw Nb Isambard heading our way and they were waving at us.

An unknown narrow-boat with two men on board heading in the opposite direction had spotted her in the water inside the lock. They rescued Pops from the lock and passed her over to Nb Isambard. A very wet and bedraggled dog was brought back aboard in mid stream. We then restarted our voyage back up river as far as Sprotborugh Lock. Poppy had in the meantime been in the shower for an unplanned spruce up! We only found out the full story of her little adventure later. We had not put her life-jacket on as the weather was so hot. So for the rest of the voyage she was kept on a leash. The ending of this little saga was a good one and all three of us learned a valuable lesson. Or did we?

We spotted an ice-cream vendor on the tow-path at Sprotborugh lock so we moored up for a couple of large 99's. However, by now Poppy had been forgiven and was being allowed a share of the treat. We then turned the boat around and moored up on the opposite bank to the tow path. There were several other boats moored up (Nb Monkey Business and Nb Out Of The Blue) and we soon joined in with everyone on the bank side in a general discussion about all sorts of topics. We were having such a good time with everyone we decided to stay over night.


Sprotborought Lock. There are very good moorings on the off side. With a large well kept area of grass with a few scattered seats all sandwiched between the canal and the river. A Spar supermarket is available in the village, which is a short distance away over the canal bridge. (The Spar closes at 9:30 in the evening) There is good car parking available on the tow-path side. For boaters there is a BW water-point available along side the lock keepers office. Don't moor on the tow-path side for over night stays. The Wyre Lady runs a booze cruise up and down the river at the weekends. So it can be a bit noisy and the punters can be a bit boisterous when the wyre lady arrives back around midnight to disembark her well marinated passengers.

The resounding defeat for the Capello "team" from England, perpetrated upon us by our arch foes from Germany could have led to many a fan jumping in the canal.

In the late afternoon I was having a siesta "as you do" when there was a knock on the boat roof. Someone was asking if we could move a bit along the bank to leave room for them to moor up. This was it later turned out John and Anne on river cruiser "Champagne" from Great Heck. At the time, I was still half asleep, I missed my footing and went over the side "for a look" it was dark brown, quite like strong brewed tea and quite warm. However, I was awake in an instant! Later, we got to know John and Ann much better and enjoyed a very pleasant evening chatting and swapping stories and  having a few drinks, as you do.

Today we were awaked by the arrival of John and Tracy and their dog Holly. We had a late breakfast and then at about 11am we started a slow cruise back to Doncaster. On arrival we enjoyed a late lunch and a quick tidy up of the boat was followed by a short drive home.

Distance Today 6 miles, 4 locks and 0 swing bridges.
Running  Total 65 miles, 9 locks and 8 swing bridges.

Later.....

First Voyage - Wed 22nd of june 2010.

We had booked our passage on Tuesday the 22nd of June for 10:30am on the 23rd from Torksey lock. In the event we locked early (on the advice of the lock keeper at Torksey) onto the River Trent and set off from Torksey at 09:40. Steady if uneventful progress was made down river on an ebb tide. I had done some safety preparations for our maiden voyage, I set up the heavy anchor, chain and warp on the bow. I also prepared the small anchor ready for deployment on the stern. I then programmed the VHF radio to channel 16 and 74 so that we could monitor any large traffic movements on the Trent, just in case of any eventuality. I did all the usual pre-start checks - radiator water, engine oil and stern gland greaser.


The weather was superb the sun was exceedingly hot in an almost cloudless sky.


The crew for this trip was myself John and Tracy who were both newbies to boating. So this trip was going to be a good baptism for the pair of them. Tracy was put in charge of the galley and charged with providing refreshments along the way. John was getting some training in on basic boat handling skills. We were taking it in turn to steer the boat. Mag's was unfortunately working and missed out on our maiden voyage.


When we passed West Stockwith basin, the Trent was at a low water point as the lock cill was clearly visible.  We did not meet any other boats until we were about 5 miles from our destination when we caught up with Narrow-boat's Mojo and Sailor Vee.  We joined the back of the convoy and adjusted our speed to match theirs. Nb Mojo was trying to raise Keadby Lock by VHF marine radio as he passed under the M180 as did Nb Sailor Vee a short time later. But there was no answer from the lock keeper. When we were in sight of the wharf cranes, at about 13:30 we heard the keeper say via radio that he would not be able to lock any boats before 2:45 due to the low water level over the cill. This meant that Sailor Vee and ourselves were all sailing around in a circle on the Trent to kill some time. We did this between the M180 and the railway bridge.


When the first tranche of craft eventually came out of the lock at about 3pm, the lockie would only allow two vessels into the lock including Nb Mojo. He then released a second tranche from the canal onto the Trent. However, this time he would not allow any vessels from the Trent into the lock!! Whilst he turned around an empty lock to eventually release a third tranche from the canal. At about 4pm we were called into the lock, whilst the river had by this time changed from a steady ebb into full flood condition. We were at this point at the head of the circle of boats and had to manoeuvre into the lock first. This was a good test of Rosie's engine. Keeping half a boat length from the wharf we edged up to the lock entrance and with a quick burst of speed and hard over on the tiller, we entered without a problem. Not a bad result for a first attempt on a full flood tide. Sailor Vee who was behind us also managed to complete the manoeuvre without a hitch much to the relief of the crew.


The lock keeper was able to give us the latest football score.... England -v- Slovenia 0-1 to England.  The suspicion amongst everyone was that the lock keepers had been watching the world cup match.


We had lost a great deal of time, so we pressed on straight up the Stainforth and Keadby Canal and eventually cleared the Vazon road  and Railway crossing after waiting some time for a gap in the traffic.  Thereby lies another story of this trip. We ended up in the extensive weed bed at this point. When the crossing keeper called us on, our prop was fouled by the weed. This required a quick trip into the weed box to clear the prop. I get out of the box just in time to see the crossing close. After waiting for another gap in traffic. (This time we stayed in the weed free centre of the canal) We finally cleared the rail crossing and the associated road crossing. Soon after this we moored up for the night. Myself and John went in search of a chippie for our supper. It was like ambrosia to the starving crew.

Next morning we set off up the Stainforth and Keadby Canal at about 9:45 and made our way eventually onto the The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation. Passing through the various swing bridges, lift bridges and locks until we arrived in Doncaster in the late afternoon. We have moored Rosie here for a few days recreation before continuing into Sheffield.

Crew report....

Tracy shows a real flair for crewing a boat - Both in the galley and as deck crew Tracy is very good at handling locks, swing, lift bridges as well as a proficent navigator.

John as in all his school reports (when he could be bothered to attend) could do better. In the main due to his shortage in physical stature. (think Golum) Next time we will do role reversals.

Like the England match, 1 - nil to the girls.

Well done Tracy.

Distance Today 49 miles, 5 locks and 8 swing bridges.
Running Total    59 miles, 5 locks and 8 swing bridges.

Later....

Angling for more cash.

The topic today was inspired by a Fossdyke canal angler.

But first a word about a new development by British Waterways. Fishing along the cut is about to get even more widespread than it has in the past.  BW on their drive to raise cash, are about to lease out more stretches of the canals to fishing clubs. I know for some people, fishing is a leisure activity that helps them to wind down from the day-to-day stresses of life. Each to their own, but however fishing is not for me.  I had a friend who owned a fishing tackle shop many years ago. He said the best bait he ever discovered was to use different bright coloured paint on as many different types of float as possible. He said he could catch more anglers with the floats than the anglers would ever catch fish using them.

Today's typical angler stands, draped in more camouflage and equipment than a front-line Soldier. Trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb whilst getting licked in the process. It's true, anglers and fish are alike. They both get into trouble when they open their mouths. Today whilst having another tootle along the Fossdyke I came across a lone angler on the bank. Poppy the dog was on the back with me and when I spotted him we slowed down a bit. However, as he was almost hidden in the bank side vegetation Poppy started to growl when she spotted him. One word from me and she shuts up and just carries on looking at the angler. Then the world's first brain transplant donor passes on a few words of wisdom "Oi! That dog should be on a lead!"  I replied "Sounds to me like you could do with a muzzle for that mouth."  I think it's to do with the maggots, one or two must have gotten into his head. Yes, I am convinced its true -  There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore looking like a complete idiot.

"There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with a fisherman" -Woody Allen.

I have just been and purchased a small hand-held radio for use on the marine VHF frequencies. Long ago, in a previous working life I was a radio officer in the merchant navy. Not only that, but I have also held an amateur radio licence for the last quarter of a century. So I suppose I know a bit more than most how to conform to the terms and conditions of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, operate radio equipment et al.  So today I rang up the old Radio Communications Agency which has now been subsumed into OFCOM to enquire about obtaining a marine licence. I asked if there was any exemption for anyone holding professional radio communications qualifications to which the answer was no! So, I shall do the same as most of the others do along the canals and pirate on the marine frequencies.