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Anchors Away


john c
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Hi all

 

In the past I have seen the banter about lost anchors on the site. I was afraid I would have to cut mine loose last week out of Durlston. I did not have enough line out and the angle of the line in relation to the boat did not help. I think if I had more line the subseqeunt loop in the line would have aided the anchors release.

 

I have an Arvor 20 and a 9kg ancchor with approx. 3m chain. The anchor is the type that has two sharpish points pointing towards the chain and a piecee of bar accross the top. It will allow the flukes to swivel both ways depending on which side the anchor settles on the sea bed. I think it's a Danforth.

 

It generally grips well but a number of times its been hard to get out, especially when the tide is pulling hard.

 

Could anyone suggest a more suitable anchor for fishing. It has to be multipurpose as the seabed in our area as you know is very variable.

 

Also, has anyone tried the wire triangle widget that appeared in BFM this month. It looks a good idea to keep the anchor line from fowling the prop???

 

 

Regards

John C

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Hi John

 

Anchor types and how to use the alderney ring and amounts/sizes of ropes have been covered on this forum. Use the search button and fill in the form with your keywords there is loads of it

 

To get you started try these:

http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=1159&hl=

http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=980&hl=

http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=1238&hl=

http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=1629&hl=

 

Lastly you'll like this one http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=1763&hl=

 

There is an awful lot more but if you still have questions just ask

 

Martin

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John,

 

That is indeed a Danforth anchor. These are fine in sand but will snag easily in rocky ground ( I lost mine in Christchurch Ledge second trip out ).

 

A better anchor to use ( and which most use I believe ) is a Bruce anchor ( or a Bruce copy ). These are far easier to pull out of rocky ground if rigged to trip the anchor ( chain attached to the bottom of the anchor and tie wrapped to the top of the shaft )

 

I am sure others will elaborate further

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It depends on the size of the cable tie. For my boat one of the large cable ties is enough.

The anchor will only usually trip if it needs to i.e. when you attempt to steam your anchor out and it is held fast in the sea bed.

I would not recommend going astern to trip your anchor as you will probably only pull it harder into the fastener at best. At worse you might dip your bow if there is a lot of tide and some swell.

You are better off starting with too weak a trip and working up to a stronger one when you know how your boat reacts.

It' s very important to get anchor retrieval right as it can be very dangerous if you get it wrong on a bad day.

 

 

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Hi all

 

I have an Arvor 20 and a 9kg ancchor with approx. 3m chain.

 

Regards

John C

Hi John

 

I would recommend you increase the length of chain to match the length of your boat, ie at least 20ft.

 

I use a Bruce copy, lost my first one because I did not make it trip, that was my second trip out on the anchor quickly learned the hard way. sad.gif

 

I also carry a fishermans style anchor and use when on rocky grounds. These are easy and cheap to find in boat and car boot jumbles. smile.gif

 

I also carry a homemade grapple anchor for when I get the opertunity to go wreck anchoring! blink.gif

 

I also run a web site about boats and equipment for the fisherman Boats and Equipment and if you go to Other bits on the menu then Anchors I have listed a number of anchors and recover methods.

 

Good luck

 

Coddy

cool.gif

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I would echo the above and add that it is really important to deploy the anchor so that it works as an anchor rather than getting initially dragged along the seabed until it 'hooks' something.

 

This may seem obvious, and in a strong tide can be easier said than done, but is important. It is also a reason the additional chain length makes a difference to lost anchors as it helps the initial pull set the anchor even when the scope is still a little low when the first pull goes on. Minimum 1 x boat length preferably 1.5. This would give you 30ft / 10m which at 10kg for 8mm plus 9 for the anchor is still reasonable weight to handle.

 

Finally if using a cable tie to rig the anchor always chect it for nicks everytime you deploy it, or replace as a matter of course each use. Even a small nick will weaken it significantly and an accidentially tripped anchor will drag nicely into a wreck never to be seen again........ sad.gif

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Dan,

 

Regarding tripping the anchor, as stated in "normal" use it should not be necessary to trip the anchor at all ( Use the Alderney method to recover ).

The trip will only happen ( ie. tie wrap is broken and anchor pulled from the sea bed from the bottom ) if the anchor is stuck hard.

 

I use two "medium sized" tie wraps to connect my chain to the anchor shank but this will depend upon size of boat. Two work for me and I have also used some strands of polyprop from the old anchor rope - although these were somewhat hard to trip when I needed to.

 

Duncan's tip regarding checking the tie wraps is a good one. I have found they actually pull out the clip after a few uses and need to be replaced, so I carry a pack of them.

 

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  • 1 year later...

Hi John

 

Anchor types and how to use the alderney ring and amounts/sizes of ropes have been covered on this forum.  Use the search button and fill in the form with your keywords there is loads of it

 

To get you started try these:

http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=1159&hl=

http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=980&hl=

http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=1238&hl=

http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=1629&hl=

 

Lastly you'll like this one http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=1763&hl=

 

There is an awful lot more but if you still have questions just ask

 

Martin

 

 

Follow these links, helpfully provided by Maverick some time ago. Everything you want to know about anchoring.

 

Terry.

Edited by plaicemat
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