Anchoring

[ellicat]

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to the boating scene. I have a little 4.1m runabout/windscreen/bimminy etc and a Sand (Danforth) anchor.

Sometimes I have trouble getting the anchor to anchor.
I'd appreciate any tips from the experienced. :)

Thanks

[Dr DRIFT]

How much chain do you have on your anchor? Most times if you extend the chain length it will anchor alot better.

[Blackened]

G'day

Any idea on the size/weight of the anchor?

How long and thick is the chain?

How much rope do you have, what size and what type and how much do you put out?

What ground are you trying to anchor over? sand, mud, rock, gravel or reef?

Alot of questions i know but without understanding the situation, correct advice cannot be given.

Dave

[Marlin_Mike]

even a pic of it would help with some advice

MIke

[Angla]

Just to give you a visual of what I have for a 5.75 metre fibreglass half cabin + 140 metres of rope.

Chris

[ellicat]

Thanks for the questions -

The anchor itself - the stick part is 35cm long, the fins are 25cm long and the width across is 35cm. It hangs off 60cm of fairly heavy chain (the links are 4cm long x 2.5cm wide). The rope is 12mm braided style rope (not the cord style).
I'm having trouble in the sand. As far as how much rope - I vary the length.
On the weekend I was in only 1.5/2 m of water and must have had a good 15m or more of rope out (I started with about 3m) before it held. Even then we drifted slowly for a bit before it grabbed.

[Blackened]

G'day
Ok, chain needs to be MUCH longer.... about the length of your boat is a good rule of thumb. This acts as a shock absorber.

The rope thickness is right, should be "silver rope" .

A rule of thumb when anchoring in calm conditions is 3M of rope out for every 1M of water, this will increase to 5:1 and 7:1 in rougher conditions.

As for the anchor size i cannot help uyou there, but the dimentions do sound in the ballpark

Dave

[charleville]

Thanks for the questions -

The anchor itself - the stick part is 35cm long, the fins are 25cm long and the width across is 35cm. It hangs off 60cm of fairly heavy chain (the links are 4cm long x 2.5cm wide). The rope is 12mm braided style rope (not the cord style).
I'm having trouble in the sand. As far as how much rope - I vary the length.
On the weekend I was in only 1.5/2 m of water and must have had a good 15m or more of rope out (I started with about 3m) before it held. Even then we drifted slowly for a bit before it grabbed.

Mate, as everyone else is saying, not enough chain is your answer. I agree with all of Blackened's comments although I suspect that 3 m of chain would probably do the job for you. Galvanised chain is pretty expensive but that is the answer. Any chandlery will have what you need. His rule of thumb about matching the boat's length is a good one but it sure gets heavy to pull up and I can get away 99% of the time with 3 m on my 4.75m boat. Get a good solid chain.

The braided rope is OK - the silver rope is better for longevity (the rope's longevity not your's ;D ) but the size that you have would make lifting the anchor pretty easy on the hands so that is a good thing.

[seatime]

the combination of 12mm braided rope and 2m of chain might be your problem.
that rope could be floating and helping break the anchor, also will create a bit of drag with the tidal flow.

good advise from the other guys, get some smaller (8-10mm silverline) anchor rope and at least 3m of chain.
lower the anchor to the bottom, ensuring the chain is laid out behind the anchor, and let the boat fall back with the current, or if you have to, use the engine and reverse back a bit to stretch it all out on the seabed.

regards

[ellicat]

Thanks very much for your help guys....looks like I might have to risk having the last remaining moth escape from the wallet....I guess that's "welcome to boating".:'( :)

[bootyinblue]

Yep... welcome to the bottomless bucket called a boat.

Its all been pretty well summed up here, I have a 4.2 runabout with about 2.5mt of reasonable chain and 10mm silver rope. You just have to visualise how an anchor works in order to get the right amount of rope out. At rest the anchor is on the seabed with all the chain also on th bottom. As the swell or wind pulls the boat against the anchor, the chain raises up from the seabed but hopefully not too much and thus keeping the pull of the anchor as horizontal to the seabed as possibly. If you put your anchor on the garage floor and lift up the centre shaft. See where it stops? Thats the maximum angle before the anchor starts to give way.... so thats the angle you want to achieve to hold fast.... hope it helps

[Barnacle Billy]

I have similar issues to Ellicat and have been told to buy the Class 2 SARCA anchor ($175) for my 5.3m Haines.

Must I outlay this amount of money to stop my boat from drifting?

[Chimo]

Hi Ellicat

If I may throw a little more into the pot, I agree with the comments about chain length and the impact that this is having and probably the 12 mm rope could be adding some lift due to its size but that size and type of rope would also be nice on the hands and easy to work with.

So how about you consider dealing with your problem in stages and for the time being keep the rope and go get some more heavier chain and either "replace or add it to what you have with a "dee" shackle.. Chain length about the same as the boat length is a good rule of thumb depending on the weight of the chain.

Why not check out the second hand places for a suitable length of chain, it doesn't have to be new and expensive.

As Booty said tho, BOAT equals "Bring Out Another Thousand", once you (and those around you like wife and girlfriend) understand that, life is so much easier cause you all know the facts of life then have your priorities in correct order!

Enjoy,

Cheers

Chimo

[seatime]

Billy

Guess it depends on where you're planning to anchor.
I have one of those anchors on a 5.9m Stabi and they hold very well, also have about 5.5m of chain. It's all cumbersome to handle and so I keep it in a crate in the cockpit when anchoring in deep water or where there is a strong current.
For general shallow water and protected areas, I use a standard Danforth sand anchor. Probably should get a larger one, and more chain. Wish I had the Sarca at Moreton the other day, it was NNW 15 kts and took a couple of goes to get the Danforth to hold.

[tigermullet]

Depends where you do most of your anchoring, I guess, Barnacle. Generally I find that a heavy sand anchor (Danforth) is the best for the Jumpinpin area. Never had one drag on me even in the worst conditions but have had the odd disappointment with plough anchors.

An adequate length of chain seems to be the answer and, in most cases, 2 to 2.5 metres of 10mm chain will hold very well. We use all chain and can lay back on about thirty metres of it if necessary before having to rely on even more rope.

The best deal for chain, shackles, swivels, wire rope etc., that I have found is from Atlas Chains at Bulimba.

Ellicat might like to sit in the area to the south of Short Island or in Tiger Mullet to observe the technique used by tourists in houseboats. Some are good but then you run across this:-

Hire houseboat steams down Tiger Mullet channel and selects a place to anchor - cuts throttle - mate up front immediately drops anchor whilst boat still has lots of forward motion - boat eventually stops - reverse gear engaged and back they charge even though the tide is running very strongly - they keep going until they realise that the anchor hasn't set - try again - use same technique and get same result.

By the time I started counting a few attempts had already been made. After one dozen more attempts the anchor, by some fluke, catches onto something on the bottom.

The fishing commences and all is well for a few hours. But then it gets dark and the wind and weather come up. By the time that they realise they are on the move they have hit the high bank on the southern side of the channel. Cannoning off that and retrieving the anchor they manage to get the engine started. By now they are broadside to me and approaching at a good rate of knots, not under power, it's just the wind and tide moving them.

Seeing what is about to happen I race forward and yell out for them to apply full power. No answer and they obviously cannot see me because every cabin light is on. Not content with being blinded by all of this light they whip out a spotlight.

Too late. Impact. Good hit too - my gaff on the aft deck leaps out of its holder. Power applied and they steam off with a shattered engine cowl.

Peace returns as they depart the channel.

I love the Pin - you never know what is going to happen and even these incidents provide excitement and fond memories.

[quigley595]

Just to give you a visual of what I have for a 5.75 metre fibreglass half cabin + 140 metres of rope.

Chris

Hi Chris.
Apologies for jumping in like this, but I noticed in your pic that you have an anchor float with a clip on it.
Could you pls tell me how you use that? Does it run free on the anchor rope and does the chain slip into it? Or is it clipped fast to the rope at a certain position?

Maybe a pic would be good too, if thats not too much trouble.

regards
Mike

[mhdbl]

ellicat
This may help when you do anchor
I use a length of rope about 2m long at one end is a back splice, this is fashened onto the bow cleat, about 50cm in I have put a large rubber washer (from the plumbing section of a hardware shop) this acts as a shock absorber, the other end is a clip from the boat shop (not sure of the name but they come in various sizes for the size of your anchor rope). When you have anchored up I clip the shock rope onto the anchor rope. this stops the slapping and jerking of the boat. Be sure to tie the remaider anchor rope as sometimes the clip will slide through if the swell is up.
I also use this shock rope when launching and retrieving my boat.
You can buy similar from the shop but the ones I have seen are not really long enough for me.

Just a idea

Mark

[Cheech]

Can I add my 2 cent worth as well??

Keep the 12mm rope.

I agree it may be lifting the anchor a bit, but if you have ever tried to pull in an anchor, even in a tinnie with 10mm,,,,,

Definately need more chain. I agree with Charlie, 3m should be enough.

As for the amount it lifts, keep in mind that when it is engaged in the sand, the prongs are at an angle down and the shaft is flat with the sea floor. Thus any lift will contribute in dislodging it. The key is having enough chain and rope out to stop any lift.

The amount of rope,,,, I find that in shallow weater I need more rope to depth than I do in deep water. But it sounds like you did the right thing in trying extra after you started slipping. I tend to set it a bit differently. Rather than trying to get it to grab as you are letting the line out, I drop anchor and let the amount of rope out that I think I need for the depth, and then I set it. That way you have everything in place, including the right angle of rope before you try to grab. The more it drags, the better the chance you have of clogging up the prong with crap.

Barnicle Bill, on my 5.5m glass boat I use a reef anchor in all anchoring situations and do not slip. Even out the front of tangalooma where the curent roars through. If the prongs are at the right angle, you will find that the anchor will bury itself. Test it in shallow water (no in the boat) and you will see what I mean. The trick is to have some very heavy chain at the anchour end. I have about 1.5m of really heavy chain at the anchour, and then about 5 - 6m of medium chain connected to that, and then the rope. This combination works great because the heavy chain is balanced against the lightness of the reef anchour, so doesn't kill you to retrieve. I suppose you could use a standard sand anchour if you wanted to. The section of heavy chain it the key to it in my opinion. (I also use 14mm rope).

Cheech

[ellicat]

Well it took me a month to get back on the water but the chain and length advice has worked well. Thanks for all the good advice.;D

Tigermullet - that wasn't you so considerately playing your techno pump pump music loud enough for everyone to "enjoy" whilst swimming and splashing with your dog across from the channel at 5pm yesterday was it :P lol

[tigermullet]

LoL Ellicat - That was me - Good speakers, hey? I turned them right up just in case I needed to drown out the sound of you screaming in frustation on dragging anchor yet again;D ;D

I'll drown that effing dog one day - it bit me again when I was drying off its little paws.