Mud Weight

[ExSurveyor]

A bit of advice please, 

What is the smallest mud weight I can use for a Broom scorpio 15 to anchor on a broard for a couple of hours. 

I don't want to go too big as pulling up from the front will be tricky.  

Thanks

Mark 

[JennyMorgan]

Mark, I don't know the boat well enough to recommend a minimum weight but if, for example, you have a fifteen kg weight and it sticks to the bottom then tie the rope as short as you can and then drive the boat backwards, if there's room, and break the suction that is holding the weight to the bottom. Hopefully it will then be a doddle to haul aboard. As a rough guide I'd go for a pound a foot as a starting point. That said we do carry a 50 lb weight on a 26 footer, just in case. If the front is difficult for pulling up the weight from then why not lift it from the stern, no rules saying that you can't.

[Vaughan]

Mooring for a couple of hours implies that you are going to be around and will notice if you are "dragging".

Ships anchored offshore always have an anchor watch and take bearings from the shore to make certain they are secure. (or nowadays by GPS of course).

I suppose what I mean is, if the forecast says the weather is going to turn bad overnight, then don't moor on a mudweight.

[ExSurveyor]

Hi,  the Broom is a small speedboad/day boat.  The trouble with the stern is a sliding roof and outboard.  I have added a photo.  Its only really to stop a couple of hours to chill,  drink or fish. 

[stumpy]

Don't take this as gospel but our 27' with much more wind resistance than your lovely craft sits nicely to a 15kg weight in anything but a real hoolie. Maybe 7 - 10 would be plenty.

[Vaughan]

I agree - you won't need much weight for that.

A very nice boat by the way. Rather a classic, I believe?

[Wildfuzz]

You are going to have to fork out for a stainless mud weight to compliment that little beauty, no Hammerite or rust allowed on show.....

[Guest]

13 hours ago, psychicsurveyor said:

A bit of advice please, 

What is the smallest mud weight I can use for a Broom scorpio 15 to anchor on a broard for a couple of hours. 

I don't want to go too big as pulling up from the front will be tricky.  

Thanks

Mark 

As you've correctly anticipated, your long foredeck might be tricky to balance on to retrieve any size of mudweight.

So the solution is to find a way that the mudweight is fastened to the bows when deployed, and yet can be retrieved from the cockpit, halfway along the length of the boat.

You could make use of a standard kayak anchoring solution, using an "anchor trolley".

It's just a simple continuous loop of rope running between two fixed pulleys, with a snap-lock karabiner on it.

You pass the mudweight warp through the karabiner and then deploy or retrieve it while it's next to the cockpit, then pull the anchor trolley rope loop to move the karabiner eye to the bows, so that the drag from the mudweight pulls on the boat from there, minimising the wind or current drag.

It's also great for dinghy fishing, because it can be infinitely adjusted to allow the boat to lay at whatever angle to the wind or current that you want

At the moment your foredeck cleat is rather a long way from the bow, and without having it passing through a fairlead, you might get a lot of swing and extra drag in any strength of wind or current.

[JennyMorgan]

I suspect that you will need, if you haven't already got, some form of stemhead fairlead or roller. Strow has suggested a sensible solution but I would go even simpler, just a rope with a loop in it that the mudweight rope passes through. I would lift and lower the mudweight from over the side. When lowering just let the boat swing until the weight is on the bow fairlead. When lifting just pull on the rope with the loop that the anchor rope passes through until the anchor rope comes to hand then simply hoik the weight in over the side. Strow's drawing gives you the basics but I wouldn't bother with the continuous rope myself. Either way, one slightly complicating the issue I think, you have a perfectly viable solution. 

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

but I would go even simpler, just a rope with a loop in it that the mudweight rope passes through. I would lift and lower the mudweight from over the side. When lowering just let the boat swing until the weight is on the bow fairlead. When lifting just pull on the rope with the loop that the anchor rope passes through until the anchor rope comes to hand then simply hoik the weight in over the side.

Yes, good idea Peter, simpler to rig, with no modifications to the boat at all.

 

[JennyMorgan]

Nice one, Strow, spot on.

Many years ago my father & I used to go fishing off Lowestoft in a boat with a long foredeck using just such a set-up. If the tide was running we just nudged the engine ahead to take the strain off the anchor line thus making it easier to bring it back to the cockpit.

If there is no bow fairlead I suppose the mudweight line could be attached to the towing eye on the stem, if one exists.

[ExSurveyor]

What can I say,  thanks Strowager and Peter for your help.  The forum at its best. 

As for a stainless steel mud weight,  I think not,  I will keep a cheap one on the mother ship unless I intend to use it.  I wouldn't want to clutter up her pretty lines 

I have to say she ( soon to become Little Annie after my newest granddaughter  ) does have a very classic look. 

[JennyMorgan]

59 minutes ago, psychicsurveyor said:

What can I say,  thanks Strowager and Peter for your help.  The forum at its best. 

As for a stainless steel mud weight,  I think not,  I will keep a cheap one on the mother ship unless I intend to use it.  I wouldn't want to clutter up her pretty lines 

I have to say she ( soon to become Little Annie after my newest granddaughter  ) does have a very classic look. 

'As for a stainless steel mud weight,  I think not.'

Quite right, just so ostentatious! 

[Polly]

Now who do we know with a stainless steel mudweight? 

[JennyMorgan]

3 minutes ago, Polly said:

Now who do we know with a stainless steel mudweight? 

Really can't think right now, know he's also got a couple of stainless rhond anchors as well as a smart, dangly bow fend-off

[Broadsword]

What a nice thread...

[Baitrunner]

Used to use the "lazy line" method on a 16' cuddly boat I had on the Thames. On my own it was a bit dodgy getting to the front, hauling up 150' of rope in 4knots of tide and still having helm control. So just had a similar system. Motor up a bit taking up the slack. Break the anchor and haul it up. 

If it works in those conditions should be easy on the broads. Having a bow roller or fair lead will help though. 

Also had a large carabina on a shorter rope to clip onto the mooring bouy. Dead easy.  Don't need that on the rivers.