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Boat Anchors

You are required to carry a boat anchor on your craft by most river regulatory authorities. So it makes sense to purchase one at the start of your ownership.

Inland craft will generally only need a boat anchor in an emergency. This may be in the case say of engine failure passing a weir! Loss of control in fast flowing water may be another case.

Most boat anchors work best if the drag on them is close to the horizontal. A good length of heavy duty chain will settle the anchor on the river bed which can then be connected to a strong synthetic warp attached to a fixed point on the deck.

The size of boat anchor will depend on the size and weight of your boat. We have a 14kg, galvanised Danforth boat anchor for ‘Maid Of The Mist’, a 60 foot steel narrowboat, and brought it into use on the River Nene when we lost power on our maiden voyage.

The anchor should be ready to deploy whilst cruising rivers. Ours is mounted on a lockable rack on the bow outside bulkhead. The chain and connected warp are stowed in a forward locker. Before cruising on rivers the chain should be attached by way of a heavy duty ‘D’ ring to the anchor and the warp end similarly fastened to an anchor point welded on to the deck.