River anchoring for a catamaran

I’m an anchoring novice, but looking for help learning to anchor in small anchorages in the Mississippi River.

I have a good bridle and FX37 and running 25’ of stainless chain. Keep in mind this is mostly river anchoring. Eventually, I am going to be at sea. I still have to modify the way I hook the bridle to the hull. I was using a soft shackle, but fearing losing it.

River anchoring has a challenge of current vs wind.

My question is simple. What would be the recommendation for stern anchoring to keep from swinging in a small space? What types of anchor(s) at the stern?

More technically, let’s say a good breeze is blowing from the south, current from other direction. What would be the recommended strategy?

tia

 

I've never anchored in the Mississippi, but we anchor in the summer in large meandering muddy waters as well as lagoons that push tides that routinely move several knots.

Have never stern anchored, we zig zag a fair bit when the wind and current go opposite directions. Usually it's not deep anchoring, and a lot of scope isn't needed to get a fairly aggressive anchor ratio.

Solution that has arisen is heavier than average (at least one size up) anchors with a section of heavy chain for a few feet to work as a bit of a shock/clump weight followed by chain and then cable or line. Everything is upsized a bit as setting in a decent current can often present more of a shock to the system.

My thoughts are aside from a slight up sizing of the rode/chain and anchor it's the technique that matters most. Everything is going to be under much more tension, we will often set anchor in gear against the current to minimize the intensity of the anchor setting. It's also good practice learning to run up on the anchor rode while retrieving. Pivoting on the rode is a part of the deal, it's the boat finding lowest resistance in changing atmospheric conditions. Downside is the wear that can occur at the pivot point. My old boat we had some space age type stainless cable and it ate through the bronze bow roller. Boat before that had a sheathed dynema rode as does my current boat. We have a spiral cut rubber hose that's about 18 inches long that works as a chafe guard at the roller. It's affixed to one of the bow cleats with a segment of twine that positions it centered in the roller and the spiral cut allows it to be quickly slid down on the rode.

 

Most of the time I think you will be affected by current and not wind or tide until you get closer to the mouth of the Mississippi . When you get to an anchorage look around the bank to see if any ropes are hanging from or around a tree , but I wouldn't tie up to someones barge rope along the river . I don't think I've ever been blown up river , but I've never been on the Mississippi so who knows .

 

Would it be possible to use a Bahamian moor with two anchors, both secured at the bow?
How to set a Bahamian moor https://www.sailingtoday.co.uk/practical/set-bahamian-moor/

 

Your boat is a catamaran power boat, correct? The Bahamian moor looks like a great system for strong reversing currents. I can't see that as necessary for the Mississippi. It least, down on the bend of the Crescent City, the current is very strong and only in one direction. Ol' Miss is probably like that most of the way North. Most of the time you will be in mud and nice sand. Use a prusik knot or a rolling hitch to attach your bridle. Otherwise, I can't see you needing anything other than a decent anchor, plow or Danforth style anchor and the standard 7:1 scope. Rivers tend to be protected waters from intense elemental change and the currents are generally pretty steady unless you are near a large lock. Sudden shocks are not likely a problem on a river like the Mississippi.

However, most of the water should be fairly shallow, so not as much rode out, which means wakes will have greater shock against a shorter rode. With 25' of chain, you will effectively be on all chain up to about ten feet of water. The catenary effect should absorb most of that shock at a 5:1 scope until then. If you're worried about that, consider a 10lb to 15lb kellet or simply let more scope out.

Why stern anchoring? It isn't usually as stable as bow anchoring.

-Will

 

I’ve been in the river and the wind was winning, so the only reason for two stern anchors was to eliminate the wind shifting directions at night. My boat has a shallow draft, so I can even beach, but then a risk of being boarded. Lotsa times the anchorages are out of the current, so, you’d drop the main anchor say 50 feet offshore and back to hold and then if you do nothing, the boat can swing around to shore. The stern anchors prevent that. The risk is massive tangled glob of 2-3 anchorlines.

I’m just trying to understand if dropping a couple say 20 pound stern anchors off my gangways makes sense and if so, what kind?

 

I’m turning east at Cairo, Illinois and heading to Mobile, Alabama via the Tenn-Tom, so not going to mouth..

 

For example, this is a section of the river, current indicated by blue arrow..say I want to anchor on orange color.

Absent some stern tie, think I’ll end up with starboard hull on the beach.

 

For that kind of river you can easy find places with good mooring on the banks or islands. Forget the anchor.You can easy loose one there. Depend on water level , you need to be careful with the shallows and read the water. You can use anchor winch sometimes to free boat from the shallows.

 

I wish to use some power-pole anchor in my next river jon boat.

 

fallguy, you should consider joining sailboatowners.com. I know your boat isn't a sailboat, but there are a lot of members who have traveled that route and would be happy to help you. Even just browsing their forums, you should be able to find useful information. Maybe, though, don't overly stress the point that you are aboard a "stinkpot," instead of a sailboat.
Has anyone cruised the Mississippi River https://forums.sailboatowners.com/threads/has-anyone-cruised-the-mississippi-river.121268/

-Will

 

My idea for river anchor is ball or water drop shape , appropriate weight.

 

Pusher (boat) - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pusher_(boat)
different kind of river I meant ...
"A typical River tow might be 35 to 42 barges "
Yes you need a anchor .

 

Right. This is the reason we avoid anchoring main channel.