A couple of days ago I wrote about the frost on the roof of Waiouru and how it had remained longer than the adjacent boats. I optimistically thought this might be due to Waiouru’s improved insulation. Today, Bill stopped for a brief conversation and explained why the frost had taken longer to melt. Amongst his many other talents; Bill paints boats. He explained the frost will linger longer on new paint due to the viscosity of the painted surface. Essentially; dew clings more easily to new paint, hence the frost!
Drat; nothing like having your optimism crushed! 
Now for the latest project. Using a jigsaw I’ve cut four 700mm x 50mm lengths of 5mm steel strips from the old cratch deck which Dennis removed from Waiouru last December. These have now been drilled with 22mm holes and primed.
Have you worked out how they will be used?
This next photo may assist.
Yes, there is now a mooring pin in the photo.
Well if you haven’t worked it out, I will explain. We’ve noticed from previous canal holidays, there are locations on the network where the banks are very soft and mooring pins can easily get pulled out through the effect of passing boats.
I decided to make some ground anchors. The end hole will take a shackle for the mooring rope and the other holes enable multiple mooring pins to be used. The holes in the ground anchors are larger than the diameter of the pins. This enables the pins to be driven into the ground on an angle. Alternate pins in the opposite direction. The end result is a more secure mooring point. The anchors can also be used in combination as in the following photo.
A strip on the right and a ‘V’ on the left. Other options include a triangle or a ‘Y’.
This is still only a theory and it will be interesting to see if it actually works in practice.
6 comments :
I like the idea of the ground anchor looks a winner to me
Norwyn
NB. Shell Bell
wwww.shell-bell.co.uk
Hi Norwyn,
I couldn't work out why your blog link wasn't working.... Then I realised there was one additional 'w' in the address :-)
As they say... "The proof of the pudding will be in the eating!" I'm hoping the ground anchor theory is a success.
The good news is that that style of Ground Anchoring has been used in the past by the British Army, and the requisite ironwork can be bought from Army Surplus stores, often at inflated prices because it is "ex-MOD".
They used it to create a winch anchor point when recovering vehicles.
I've never had to use it myself, but my instinct says keep the pins as widely separated as possible.
The other advantage the Army had was 'many' squaddies to carry the ironwork, do the hammering, etc. Not forgetting the recovery!
:-)
Hi T & J- Really pleased to see continued progress. Enjoying your blog lots.
Loving the anchoring system. I initially thought they were for storing pins in the back cabin, like a vertical wine rack sort of thingy. If you carry on like this you will become an expert in boaty ideas. May be a silver lining to the dark cloud? Best wishes Kev & Donna
Hi Kevin,
Well you're right about the military link. My idea of the plates is based on the military OPH. I'm doing the last of the spray foam today (I hope :-) and then a start can be made on the lining.
Regards
Tom
Anchoring system looks good. One added advantage is the rope will effectively be fixed the part of the mooring pin near the ground. I have a theory that pins only pull out when the rope is tied to the top of the mooring pin (where some pins have a little loop for the purpose) thus giving the rope huge leverage to pull the pin out! I await their trial with intersst!
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