Anchoring your boat when on a houseboat vacation

[dgfreeze]

I've booked a houseboat for a weekend this summer, first time houseboater. I'm trying to figure out what the best way will be to anchor my boat either to or near the houseboat for nighttime and when we aren't using it. It appears a pretty popular way is to use an anchor buddy bungee line, toss anchor away from houseboat, and then back toward the houseboat, at which point you can tie your boat off with however much "gap" you want between the houseboat and your boat to protect it from scratching, and the anchor buddy allows you to pull your boat back in for retrieval. I've also seen some people will tie off to the mooring line of the houseboat, but I don't think I like that idea as much. Any other methods? Trying to google it doesn't bring many results...

 

[JBehrens]

I tie off directly to the side of the houseboat, as far back as possible. You can also tie off to the far outside anchor lines depending on distance to shore and where the anchor points are on the houseboat. See the photos for different ideas.

 

[dgfreeze]

Ok, wasn't sure whether there'd be room for that with my boat, and saw a couple people write about how their boats got scratched from a storm, or wakes from other boats banging their boat into the house boat. Just a little gun shy about it, I guess.

 

[JBehrens]

Completely understandable. Anything tied to the side of a houseboat is likely going to get scratched at some point, from kayaks to jet skis to boats, they all have battle scars. Honestly, unless you have a really soft beach near the houseboat and can do shore anchors, there isn't really a best way to tie to a houseboat. We just started using ties on the anchor lines and so far so good, seems like less wear on the boat compared to being directly on the side of the houseboat but plan to add pool noodles or rope chafe guards on the line to prevent scratching on the gel coat.

 

[dgfreeze]

Right on. I think I'll get a few items, like the anchor buddy bungee line and go with the mentality that I'll try a few different things, and see which I feel suits me best. It's an older boat, and she's got her share of battle scars, but I'm trying to fix her up, and plan to make a lot of repairs on the gelcoat scratches, so I guess a lot of it depends whether or not I get around to making the repairs before or after the trip.

 

[jsg73]

We rented houseboats a few times. We always tied the boat to the side of the house boat on the side not facing the main lake/creek. Never had any issues and I used a lot of fenders.
You should consider tying the house boat up in a sheltered cove on day one anyway. Much more comfortable on the houseboat when it is sheltered from all the traffic.

 

[dgfreeze]

Yeah, I’ll be searching for the most secluded spot available for anchoring the houseboat.

 

[Liveto99]

These work great to hold the boat from scratching
The bungees work great for holding boats and don’t shock them like braided rope.
i used a mix of them here with 30 to 40 mph winds for 2 days and nights.
i did use regular rope for backup it was blowing hard.

 

[dgfreeze]

Yeah, looks like the wind is fairly strong in your pic. Hopefully we don’t have to deal with adverse weather during our trip, but if we do, I want to be prepared. Still fairly new to boat ownership, and learning various methods and techniques.

 

[jsg73]

One other note... you know how deep Cumberland is right? You need a lot of anchor rope unless you are in a small cove or head of a creek.

 

[haknslash]

Buy some exile or wet sound balls. The wetsound babz balls can inflate to 24"!

I have the exiles and they work GREAT for keeping your boat at a safe distance away from docks and other things you tie up to. Best part is when you're done using them you can simply deflate and not lose your storage.

 

[Liveto99]

Buy some exile or wet sound balls. The wetsound babz balls can inflate to 24"!

I have the exiles and they work GREAT for keeping your boat at a safe distance away from docks and other things you tie up to. Best part is when you're done using them you can simply deflate and not lose your storage.

View attachment 110463

Nice boat!

 

[haknslash]

Nice boat!

Thank you! I'm so ready for winter to be done with. Ugh

 

[dgfreeze]

One other note... you know how deep Cumberland is right? You need a lot of anchor rope unless you are in a small cove or head of a creek.

Good to know. I doubt we will be anchoring our in the main channel, but I know I’ve got at least 50’ of lead on my anchor. I presume that will be enough for what we will be doing?

 

[dgfreeze]

Buy some exile or wet sound balls. The wetsound babz balls can inflate to 24"!

I have the exiles and they work GREAT for keeping your boat at a safe distance away from docks and other things you tie up to. Best part is when you're done using them you can simply deflate and not lose your storage.

View attachment 110463

That is pretty cool, what kind of pump do u use to inflate them? Or maybe I should ask what PSI you inflate them to? My inflator only goes to 2 PSI, if I recall correctly.

And YEAH!! I’m sick of winter also. We just had a cold front move in. Last week it got up to about 60, today it’s 16.

 

[haknslash]

I use a small 12v pump but not sure the amount of psi it puts out. It came with my HO Sports tube. It blows one up in less than 30 seconds. You could use a hand pump as well. Definitely love having them as opposed to the traditional cylinder type fenders I previously used. If I was going to tie up to a houseboat I'd use as many fenders as possible just to be extra safe. I don't think I'd feel comfortable tying off on an anchor line as that just seems like an easy way to dislodge an anchor if it got to rocking.

Pump I use...

 

[drewkaree]

Buy some exile or wet sound balls. The wetsound babz balls can inflate to 24"!

I have the exiles and they work GREAT for keeping your boat at a safe distance away from docks and other things you tie up to. Best part is when you're done using them you can simply deflate and not lose your storage.

View attachment 110463

How are those with any amount of wake? We've got a bar we like to stop at, with a similar "parking spot" as you're showing in your pic, but during the week, the river is wide open and the waves cause every single person to avoid that area like the plague, which sometimes means we can't stop for dinner there. If those held up well, I'd have front-row parking no matter when we went!

 

[haknslash]

They've worked fine. I use them in high traffic areas on the lake without issue. As long as the dock condition is good (no nail heads sticking out) these are great. We used them during our weekend condo stay and where our condo and dock were positioned it stayed rocking with waves. No issues. The larger your diameter the more protection (space) you have from whatever you're tied up to so these sure beat the typical 8" or 10" diameter fenders IMHO.

 

[Ratket]

They've worked fine. I use them in high traffic areas on the lake without issue. As long as the dock condition is good (no nail heads sticking out) these are great. We used them during our weekend condo stay and where our condo and dock were positioned it stayed rocking with waves. No issues. The larger your diameter the more protection (space) you have from whatever you're tied up to so these sure beat the typical 8" or 10" diameter fenders IMHO.

Can’t find them available anywhere..... Dammit! Lol

 

[Liveto99]