Anchoring your boat when on a houseboat vacation

[dgfreeze]

I’m kinda liking the inflatable buoy balls more and more. Might have to snag a couple for this coming season.

 

[jsg73]

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?

Most of the western end of the lake is deeper than that unless in a small cove or near the head of a creek. It is 65’ under my slip in Caney Creek. Don’t drop your keys overboard

 

[dgfreeze]

Most of the western end of the lake is deeper than that unless in a small cove or near the head of a creek. It is 65’ under my slip in Caney Creek. Don’t drop your keys overboard

We will be more toward the eastern side. Renting from Conley Bottom, so I really don’t expect to be getting too far west. That said, I need to check my anchor rope length. Don’t want to run any risks with that. Thanks for the heads up

 

[Liveto99]

I use this it has worked well

 

[dgfreeze]

lol, holy smokes, I don't think my anchor locker will fit that much rope! But, seems like a good deal. I figure if my anchor line is shorter than 100', I'll probably look to purchase something.

 

[JBehrens]

Always buy more than you need and use the 3 to 1 rule, if the anchor sits at 75ft, you will want 225ft of rope.

 

[dgfreeze]

Yep, familiar with the 3 to 1, but I just got this boat in September, so still figuring out how the PO has it set up. One other thing I plan to do is add a length of chain to the anchor. No chain at all currently. Might even spring for a new anchor, but haven’t decided on that yet.

 

[zipper]

Yep, familiar with the 3 to 1, but I just got this boat in September, so still figuring out how the PO has it set up. One other thing I plan to do is add a length of chain to the anchor. No chain at all currently. Might even spring for a new anchor, but haven’t decided on that yet.

If you are anchoring the boat overnight you might want to increase the scope, depending on the weather.

Anchoring Your Boat: All About Scope

When it comes to scope, there's no two ways about it: more is almost always better. More scope means less vertical strain on the boat anchor thereby decreasing the chances of unsetting the boat anchor. We generally recommend a scope ratio of 5:1 minimum, but ideally 7:1 or even more (especially...

www.anchoring.com

 

[Liveto99]

That fit in the FSH anchor locker no problem with room.
we use 6 to 1 in the ocean.

 

[dgfreeze]

I've seen a lot of people swearing by the box anchor, is it much better than a decent fluke anchor? Currently have a navy anchor, and I'd like to move it to the rear, and get a better one for up front.

 

[haknslash]

I've seen a lot of people swearing by the box anchor, is it much better than a decent fluke anchor? Currently have a navy anchor, and I'd like to move it to the rear, and get a better one for up front.

It depends on the bottom. I have switched to box anchor exclusively and it holds in our mud, silt or rocky shoal bottoms. Might be different in the lakes you boat in. When I had the Yamaha I had both the danforth style and box and would use both depending on how I wanted the boat to sit. The nice thing about the box is they don't require chain rode and they don't take up much room when collapsed.

 

[dgfreeze]

Yeah, seems like the two nicest things (for me) about the box anchor is that they don’t require a chain, and they are supposed to operate with just a 2 to 1 scope. My anchor locker has saddles built in for a fluke anchor storage, but maybe I’d be happier with a box anchor.

 

[tdonoughue]

I kept my original fluke anchor when I got my box. Completely happy with the box, but there are bottoms on which it is better and ones that I understand it is not. I boat in silt and mud and it is wonderful. But if I go to sand or rocks, I want to be prepared... Plus, if you lose an anchor, always good to have a backup. Why not make it a backup of another type and over yourself both directions?

 

[dgfreeze]

Agreed. Since my boat came with a poly coated navy anchor, and a useless mushroom anchor, I’m trying to decide between a fluke anchor and a box anchor, and make the navy anchor my backup/rear anchor. Long goal is exactly what you’ve got, a fluke and box anchor, but I’ve been spending a crapload on the boat this winter, and need to settle down a little.

 

[sysinu]

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.

This is how we do ours until there's a heavy wind event. We have had a few situations where the anchor lines get so tight that part of the boat tries to go under the anchor line.

If your houseboat has been equipped with Winlass Anchoring, then you just pull your boat up right to the side of the houseboat and use the houseboat cleats with some fenders just like you would moore to a dock. Most houseboats don't have that, though.

I typically drop a heavy anchor in the bay that all of my float toys hook to with a large round fender/buoy above it and then I float a line to another buoy that I use for attaching to the bow eye of my boat and back up to the houseboat with a retrieval line... making sure that the boat under power can't make it to the houseboat.

This said... especially on lakes like Lake Powell (where JBehrens pictures were from) you can get afternoon wind events that are 50+ MPH and any form of close proximity mooring can be an issue (except with the winlass anchor option, that works pretty well).

Be VERY careful of your tower if you're mooring to the houseboat... all it takes is a ballast filled wake boat going too fast to cause your tower to wreck the houseboat slide.


For reference, I manage (and hold the title for) a shared owner houseboat slipped in Wahweap Marina in Page, AZ and run into this sort of question with half of all of my owners. There are TONS of tips and tricks when it comes to being up lake on a houseboat that you'd never think about (like using the shop vac to pump up your inflatables).

 

[Matt Phillips]

When house boating up on Lake Shasta, I always tried to put the houseboat on the leeward side of the houseboat. The first year I'd set the anchor away from the boat and then tied a 30' line to it. In the first pic below, you can see we used a float toy to shuttle between the boats (and it also added to the leisurely pace when swimming back there).

After the first year, I used an anchor buddy on a small mushroom anchor and would use that to pull the Yamaha away from the houseboat and I put a small fender on it so I could retrieve it as needed. This seemed to work pretty well overall. In the second picture, you can see the yellow ball fender marking the anchor buddy. I'd basically pull up to it, have someone clip it to the tow hook, and then back up to the houseboat. That seemed to work pretty well...as I just needed something to keep the Yamaha away from the Houseboat.

 

[dgfreeze]

I am trying to keep my options open, and not dial in too much on one single idea of how I want to do it, but so far, I do like the idea of tying off to the side as far back as possible. I'll likely have to tie the houseboat off using the second cleat from the rear to give me enough space on the side for my boat. Crapload of fenders, about 5' of line on the front and rear cleat, and an anchor buddy on the other side center, pulling the boat away from the houseboat. If there's a storm, I'll probably reassess, but in my head, it's probably going to be option number one for calm waters.

 

[blake2dablizzo]

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.

Agree. I tie off to the anchor line coming off the stern of the houseboat. Use a Prusik knot. it will slide on the houseboat anchor line so you can adjust it but when pressure is applied it will bite and wont move. use a prusik knot on a bow cleat and a prusik knot on a stern cleat.

 

[JBehrens]

Agree. I tie off to the anchor line coming off the stern of the houseboat. Use a Prusik knot. it will slide on the houseboat anchor line so you can adjust it but when pressure is applied it will bite and wont move. use a prusik knot on a bow cleat and a prusik knot on a stern cleat.

Hey I recognize that boat! TwilightShadows was the first houseboat our group bought into

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

When my friends and I stayed at Lake Powell a couple of years ago I used a Med tie set up. Meaning, main anchor a ways out from shore and the bow tied off to it, and then two small anchors, one on each stern cleat, then on the shore at a 45* angle to each side. I tied three fenders together then used a monkey fist know to tie the anchor rode to the fenders and tossed all of the rode into the water. When would take off for the day I’d just toss the two stern anchor roses onto the shore, and put the main anchor rode overboard, the fenders were holding the main anchor rode. Then use my hook stick to grab the main rode and tie it off to the bow cleat than back down towards the shore and re tie the stern anchors. This set up held the boat fast in 70 mph gusts.