New Ideas Needed . . . River Shore Anchoring

Need some ideas on how to keep my tinny floating all night on a river that fluctuates its water depth.
Would like to prevent mornings being high and dry but still need water to be only ankle deep evenings as well.

Anchor it with a good anchor (long enough line for high water level) for the low water level. Have another rope that goes to a shore anchor or tree, etc.. If you want to use the boat at high water level, you just use the shore anchor to pull it to shore.

Tim

The issue is pulling up to the shore at high water, stepping on shore . . . then having the water level drop in the middle of the night and being left high and dry in the morning. Kinda the opposite scenario from having the water level rise.

I'd like to know too. Local river is subject to up to 8 feet of fluctuation in a matter of about 30 minutes time. I rented a cabin and watched a guy tie his boat off to a tree limb during high water conditions. Next morning at daylight I went out to do some fishing and his boat was in the mud; and it wasn't a small boat so 2 of us couldn't manually move it back into the water. I kept mine on the trailer overnight just for that reason. Next night he parked it on the mud and got up in the morning, high water, and he couldn't get to the boat as it was about 10 feet out away from shore.

PATRIOT said:

The issue is pulling up to the shore at high water, stepping on shore . . . then having the water level drop in the middle of the night and being left high and dry in the morning. Kinda the opposite scenario from having the water level rise.

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I don't see why what I wrote will not work for you. Anchor it far enough off shore for the low water level and run a line to shore to pull the boat in.

Tim

You might look up the Anchor Buddy System. It looks like it may work for your situation.
https://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=33367

Word of caution!do not rely on anchorbuddy as they frequently part ways.It is recommended that it be used in tandem with your anchor line(rode) or make sure line to shore is good and well secured.Another solution is anchoring in deep water a mooring buoy-has a steel ring on top through which a line is passed and and both ends tied to bow.Pay out line as you go to shore then retrieve to return boat to moorage then secure belly of line to a tree or anchor.This method only works if current is in one direction as line may foul if boat swings around 180 deg.Seen a duck hunter who at low tide used a trailor winch attached to the bow of his jonboat threw a small anchor and winched to deep water-it was a muddy operation but it worked.

Earl is referring to a stern anchor. Toss it out well behind the boat and pay out just enough line to reach shore, make sure the anchor is holding, pull up to shore at high tide and tie off with the anchor line tight, give plenty of slack line in the shoreline tie off. The boat will drift out away from shore. When you retreave the boat just pull it into shore. The tight anchor line will keep the boat away from shore. I do this all the time as I live in an area with tides, also works for docks too, incoming tide can put your boat under the dock and sink it.

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All good ideas . . . but . . . I was looking for something a little simpler and I failed to mention that I am sleeping onboard while all this is going on.
How about just driving a rod in the riverbed after running it thru one of my rear stern handles and letting the boat ride it? (after I'm positioned off-shore for the night)

Is there any current in the area that you would be anchored? Could be an issue.

Wondered. In my case, the water where we were renting a cabin at was maybe 3 feet deep all the way across. At low water. High water, about 11 feet. And it changes in about 30-35 minutes' time, and so does the current. In low water, you're barely moving if any at all. High water, current is moving along at around 8.5 mph. Everything I've thought of would be almost useless in conditions like that.

The locals build floating docks that the boat is tied to. Problem solved. The dock is tied (cabled) to shore anchors both upstream of the dock and as the water level changes the dock floats. It's hinged at the shoreline. Some of them are really simple; like an old modified pontoon boat (no motor obviously) with a wooden walkway.

When I was younger, we used to camp on the boat on the Missouri River between Iowa and Nebraska. When we were staying the night, we'd pull up on a sandbar. Water level would rise or fall a little. Or sometimes a lot if a barge came through. Long as it was tied and/or anchored it was fine. That was a 27' Carver, so not a small tin boat at all. But the waves from the barges were enough to wash over the stern on occasion. Remember them well. You didn't need to be on the river in a small boat when barge traffic was heavy.

If your sleeping on it, why not just anchor at the low tide spot?

What is simpler than an anchor or two??