Anchor chain and rope for Thames

I don't buy into the requirement for an anchor on a narrow boat on the non tidal Thames but if you want one then get a Danforth, add something like 20ft of chain on and another 20ft of rope.

That would sort it.

On the tidal River it's more important but if you are navigating the non tidal part during normal conditions it's highly unlikely you would ever need and anchor unless something very silly happened.

For example at the moment up near Abingdon the River is going at about 0.3 mph.

To be fair this is after the driest May ever (!) but usually it doesn't move much.

You would have to be doing something very silly to actually need an anchor for saving your life and or boat.

They have signs saying "the anchor is your lifeline" but I always kept my fingers crossed if I end up in the water that nobody would throw an anchor to me..

In most places on the Thames you will encounter a sand or mud river bed.

For short periods at anchor a ratio of 3:1 (line vs depth) is fine.


Suggested weight of anchor and chain - as heavy as you can manage, assuming you do not have a winch. If you struggle to move it then it probably isn't worth having (on the basis you probably won't use it).

A folding anchor type is good for a narrowboat since you will have it stowed for the majority of the time. However the arguments as to which is best are endless. According to the chart below the grapnel would seem to win since it would probably stow nicely in the gas locker. The fluke (Danforth) anchor will have your fingers sooner rather than later. I hate the bastard things.




ETA I use a Bruce anchor. Works fine.

That is what we have.

Don't ask if it works ... wouldn't have a clue I'm afraid, but I was told it was enough.

As I rarely venture onto rivers unless unavoidable, I hope I never have to find out.

Rog

Thanks all. I have some chain and line already that I could make 'spare' - will measure/guess weight tomorrow and see if you think this is ok.

If you are going to all the bother, have some kind of system where it is ready to deploy for the times that you might actually need it. Scrabbling about in a locker in a hurry is probably a waste of effort. So maybe some kind of tub that can live in the fore-deck when you are on a river. Incidentally, in an emergency, if you chuck the anchor in then this is likely to have the effect of swinging the boat around (assuming it was moving in a bow-first course to begin with). This may prove interesting in itself so practising using it in a hurry is probably worth it. 

We bought an anchor from eBay last Summer, for the Soar and Thames, and then someone gave us another, so we have two. Bought lengths of chain and rope. Unlikely to use them, but I thought they might come in handy for parking up in the middle of the Thames if the bushes on the banks were too unruly (that's OK, as boating is not allowed at night = no risk of being crashed into).

My plan for emergency, getting sucked into a weir, was to stand up and swing the anchor round and round and at helicopter speed let go and get it slung round a stout tree. I'd also remove the chimney first.