Why Do We Need Rhond Anchors?

[thingamybob]

Perhaps I could be accused of being a devil's advocate (yes I am!) but why are Broads boats supplied with rhond anchors?

Having been on the Broads on and off both in hire boats and now on my own boat I am of the opinion that they are the most useless piece of equipment on any boat except if the boat is moored in rhond which to the uninitiated is reeds. In most places you cannot get to the soft reedy bank to use it and it is against the byelaws to tie up to the banks on Barton and Hickling Broads.

My old dad, when he hired a boat used to take his own mooring stakes and a club hammer and I have always used mooring stakes on my own boat. Everywhere else on the canal system, the Thames and wherever the boatyards supply mooring stakes and a club hammer.

Even if a club hammer is supplied with the rhond anchors the curve in the business end defeats the force applied. Why cannot the boatyards supply mooring stakes which are surely cheaper to buy and replace if lost?

 

 

[Poppy]

By 'mooring stakes' ,do you mean pins as used on the canals? 

Rhond hooks are perfect for the job, as on the softer ground found on the banks of Broadland rivers their curved form means that when placed correctly any force applied by the mooring lines will tend to pull them into the ground.  Mooring pins will, on the other hand pull out.

[thingamybob]

11 minutes ago, Poppy said:

By 'mooring stakes' ,do you mean pins as used on the canals? 

Rhond hooks are perfect for the job, as on the softer ground found on the banks of Broadland rivers their curved form means that when placed correctly any force applied by the mooring lines will tend to pull them into the ground.  Mooring pins will, on the other hand pull out.

In my experience there is not much difference in the firmness if the ground in any place you can moor on the Broads or anywhere else in the UK. There are many places that are soft but you cannot moor there. I have never had a mooring pin pulled out, even when some idiot has passed too close and too fast. Mooring pins go in much deeper anyway.

[NeilB]

We had mooring pins on a Richos hire boat a couple of years ago so some yards do use them.  We used them at Acle and they worked fine.

Not sure I'd be so keen if the bank was very soft though.  Most canal and Thames moorings are pretty solid.

[JennyMorgan]

Having used both, especially on tidal waters, I know which I would and wouldn't trust! As for hammers, why? Place the point down on the ground, palm of one hand on the 'corner' so to speak, place the other hand by the ring that you tie the string to. Push down with your palm whilst waggling the end with the ring from one side to the other with the other hand. Rhond anchor goes in a like a red hot needle into chocolate! Hammers or mallets are just so lubberish!

 

[Timbo]

One of the first things my Dad taught me was the use of a rhond anchor. AS JM says like a hot needle through chocolate to put in, holds fast and slips out quickly and easily when needed to and...here's the important bit...without damage to the bank.

One of our fishing syndicate waters is right by the Chesterfield Canal by a favourite 'wild' (as it ever gets on the cut) mooring of canal boaters. On a regular basis pins are hammered into the banks, even though adequate mooring posts are available. These pins vary in length from purpose made to home made lengths of rebar hammered in with a variety of implements from lump hammers to sledgehammers. Then the boater that hammered in the stakes can't get them out again and decides to 'free' them with further side to side blows from the hammer. When all else fails I've seen them use the boat and engine to provide leverage. Then of course there's the twonk that just motors away having forgotten a pin.

The result? The bank starts to collapse and 'cave in' and on one occasion threatened a breach. In the last five years the bank has had to undergo extensive repairs on three occasions. The last time the syndicate worked with CRT to pour a huge slab of jute reinforced concrete with some woven material to stop pins being placed into the bank. So far it's worked. Now they just tie up to our fencing and pull that out or try to stick pins under the edge of the concrete or into the campshedding! 

 

[Baitrunner]

3 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

Having used both, especially on tidal waters, I know which I would and wouldn't trust! As for hammers, why? Place the point down on the ground, palm of one hand on the 'corner' so to speak, place the other hand by the ring that you tie the string to. Push down with your palm whilst waggling the end with the ring from one side to the other with the other hand. Rhond anchor goes in a like a red hot needle into chocolate! Hammers or mallets are just so lubberish!

 

Have to say I disagree. In most instances your right, but I have had to help someone bash a rhond in because the ground was like concrete. In soft stuff, sure they work and I would probably prefer them myself. 

But try it after a good hot summer in baked mud. 

the only reason I use pins is because I couldnt get Rhonds. Now I use them if need be and can't say I have collapsed a bank ever. Never pulled out either even when holding 2 boats when we got hit!!!!

Whatever people use, we all know some idiot will abuse it or make a mess. That's life. 

[BroadAmbition]

I have yet to struggle putting a rhond anchor into hard ground, there is a specific technique into getting a rhond anchor into the putty no matter how hard it is (Up to a point of course).  If you are struggling - then your technique is incorrect.  I would choose a rhond anchor over a pin any day of the week, no need for hammers either

Griff

 

 

[Viking23]

You can't have enough ways of securing a boat to the bank. 

With a springer line you might need 3 pins or rhond anchors, we have pins of various diameters, some are tubes with a rocket cone welded on, ideal for loose ground.

We have even crossed pinned the mooring pins to give a better hold.

Once we had 5 or 6 pins out when a force 8 was predicted.

So carry a selection if you can.

 

 

[TheQ]

I did see a day boat trying to anchor in Black Horse Broad, using a Rhond anchor!!!

As I was In a rescue boat, I bimbled over and told them what they were doing wrong. so they went and tied to a tree...

[JennyMorgan]

9 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

I have yet to struggle putting a rhond anchor into hard ground, there is a specific technique into getting a rhond anchor into the putty no matter how hard it is (Up to a point of course).  If you are struggling - then your technique is incorrect.  I would choose a rhond anchor over a pin any day of the week, no need for hammers either

Griff

 

 

Very tiddly, Griff, I'm told that you have even had your two 'at anchor' day signals/shapes made out of polished stainless!!

[ranworthbreeze]

8 hours ago, Viking23 said:

You can't have enough ways of securing a boat to the bank. 

With a springer line you might need 3 pins or rhond anchors, we have pins of various diameters, some are tubes with a rocket cone welded on, ideal for loose ground.

We have even crossed pinned the mooring pins to give a better hold.

Once we had 5 or 6 pins out when a force 8 was predicted.

So carry a selection if you can.

 

 

Hi Richard,

Like yourself I will use any form of pin or anchors if needed, I have had a number of failures of pins on the canals and prefer the mooring hooks. There are a few places on the Southern Broads where mooring hooks can be used, but not many.

 

Regards

Alan

[stumpy]

6 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

Very tiddly, Griff, I'm told that you have even had your two 'at anchor' day signals/shapes made out of polished stainless!!

JM - is there not a song about this? Even if Griff's a tiler, not an engineer. Lol

[Jim]

Our rhond anchors are fine but, when the ground is hard, they do need a bit of "mallet assistance" to fix down

 

[JennyMorgan]

1 hour ago, stumpy said:

JM - is there not a song about this? Even if Griff's a tiler, not an engineer. Lol

Regretfully not one that I am familiar with. I do know one about a man who only had one 'at anchor day signal' but as far as I'm aware Griff carries one and one in reserve.

[ExMemberBobdog]

14 hours ago, stumpy said:

JM - is there not a song about this? Even if Griff's a tiler, not an engineer. Lol

Is the engineer deceased, perchance?  And was the distaff side known to sing a well known Rolling Stones number?

[imtamping2]

Bah.... mallets are for wimps and people with tents........

[Jonathan]

OK.  I'm a wimp, but as someone who hires and has some experience (but not necessarily expertise) I like those rubber-headed mallets that are sold very cheaply in the supermarkets.  When attempting a "wild" mooring with unfavourable tide or wind it is often necessary to get a rhond in quickly and then attend to the other end of the boat, even if you go back and re-secure the rhond properly in a better location a few minutes later.  

ps. I hate tents!   

[Vaughan]

I can't find a dictionary definition but I have always taken rhond to mean an earth bank - that is to say a soft earth bank - which acts as a flood bank and is probably made up of old dredgings. The rhond anchor is designed for this, and not for hard ground! I have never seen them used on other waterways and they may be unique to the Broads.

The technique is like chopping logs : you step ashore with it held over your head, like a Viking, and swing it into the ground like an axe blow. This should get it half way in and you do the rest by stamping on it. It should end up with the shaft pointing towards the boat, of course.

Only after this, do you tie the line onto the ring!

[Vaughan]

By the way, the right knot for this job would be a round turn and two half-hitches.

[JennyMorgan]

The traditional knot being the Mungle! See The Art of Coarse Sailing.

We hired a canal barge on the Oxford Canal a few years ago & she had hooks, spikes and rhond anchors supplied and we did other folk using them.

Re speed of insertion, the twist and push technique, done efficiently is very fast, and quiet!

[Poppy]

13 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

By the way, the right knot for this job would be a round turn and two half-hitches.

It's a most useful hitch, and can always be untied.   It's also the 'correct' way to tie to a mooring post etc, since unlike a clove hitch which may jam under tension or when wet it can always be untied easily.

 

[JennyMorgan]

In defence of the humble clove hitch it is a hitch, not a knot, that can be tied in seconds and that can be useful.

[Baitrunner]

These kiddies are what you need. No pins, Rhonds, hammers or half hitches!!!!

ideal up on hickling. Wouldn't want to trust them at reedham though!!!

http://www.power-pole.com/learnmore/#lm-superior

[Broadsword]

I would not be without Rhond anchors... It is not often you find sufficient posts or rings to tie up allowing for tidal changes, wind etc.  We frequently use springs to keep the boat where we want it, especially overnight, and a rhond anchor gives all the flexibility you need, to place it wherever you need.  Also, they give the option of mooring where there are no posts or rings... Never had any trouble using them...