Whales and quíck release anchor systems

[mick.j]

Hello team
I'm not sure if this has been spoken about before but I'm hoping to gather information on quick release anchor systems
i am very weary of anchoring now in whale season with the ever increasing numbers of whales advancing along our coast
but it's time to force the issue
my question is
besides simply having a knife beside the bollard
what other if any devices are we using to quickly relseas the anchor if a whales tangles on the anchor rope.
I have had a quick search but what I've come across doesn't really match the system I'm after
I need a system that will work in my local waters of SEQ coastline
options welcome please

[Noelm]

How often has a Whale surfaced under an anchored boat?

[stevej]

rarely

more likely to hit them moving

[Dignity]

Does happen more often than folks think. Had a tinnie drift fishing near me when a whale breached right beside it, he took a lot of water and had the bilge pump and 2 buckets going.

[scottar]

Happens for sure. I know two blokes who have had it happen. Pretty wild ride by all accounts. A serated type deck with a good blade length is all I would recommend. We use the Victory Knives diving knife on the tugs with the snub point . Drill the handle and secure it with a lanyard so it can't go walkabout.

[ranmar850]

I've had them brush an anchor rope few times, grabbed for the knife but they pushed past. We are right in the whale migration path at Ningaloo each year, and, due to the deep water coming close in( literally only 4 miles to 200m deep), they are thick. With my cc, I had a float clipped to the line at the bow as soon as we anchored--- the anchor rope had two turns around the bollard, then ran through a jam cleat. Originally set up for a panic release when an unexpectedly large pelagic grabbed a bait and headed for the horizon, it worked well as a quick release in any circumstances. No knots meant you yanked it out of the jam cleat, flicked it off the bollard, and just let the end go.

[shakey55]

Interesting topic and yes would very very scary.

Don’t know of anything that you are talking about, but if it was me and a whale breached under my boat I don’t think I would have time to cut rope or find release and release it.

If whale is under boat - even if you do cut or activate release, whale is still under boat, so hang on.

If it was a case of quick release and get out of the way you could consider having a float attached to your rope way up the line and if need just grab all rope and throw overboard and come back later to retrieve.

Then if you had electric winch a bigger headache.

Will be watching this with interest.


Sent from my iPhone using Ausfish forums

[Volvo]

A VERY VERY SHARP Knife would be fastest course of action in my mind , if you can get to it in time that is !!??..

[Dignity]

We were drifting off Bribie when we spotted a whale heading straight for us like a huge submarine on the surface about a km away. It didn't stop, just kept plowing on. We pulled in the chute and found another spot to fish. It kept going that way for at least another km, sometimes you just can't predict what they'll do.

[Cape Crusader]

There was an incident a few years ago here in SA where 2 guys fishing saw a whale a long way off, next thing, their anchored boat took off at quite a rate of knots. Getting to the bow and cutting the rope took some time but they got it done. Exciting stuff
Cheers
Rod

[BigE]

I have always had an anchor rope that has less strength than the reserve buoyancy of the boat. bit of a hang over from the days when i would ball the anchor up but i still apply the same principle now that i use a winch.
I figure if a whale gets wrapped in the rope it will fail before we go down , Don't think a knife will work in the situation being discussed. Human nature/reaction would take over, if a whale tangled the bow would go down and someone would need to overcome the reaction to go in the opposite direction and have the presence of mind to grab a knife and cut the rope while the bow is going under and water comming in ...... i think that would be unlikely.

BigE

[Crunchy]

Given how often they tangle in shark nets they are not that smart at avoiding stuff in their way....

[scottar]

I have always had an anchor rope that has less strength than the reserve buoyancy of the boat. bit of a hang over from the days when i would ball the anchor up but i still apply the same principle now that i use a winch.
I figure if a whale gets wrapped in the rope it will fail before we go down , Don't think a knife will work in the situation being discussed. Human nature/reaction would take over, if a whale tangled the bow would go down and someone would need to overcome the reaction to go in the opposite direction and have the presence of mind to grab a knife and cut the rope while the bow is going under and water comming in ...... i think that would be unlikely.

BigE

Both blokes I know that had it happen cut their anchors away.

[Red October]

Last week I had a large humpback surface under my boat while fishing off Yamba. Fortunately it just had a rest for about 30 seconds a metre or so below us and then moved off slowly with my line wrapped around its tail. Bloody scary. This is happening to boats all the time here from reports I get from other fisho's so being prepared for a hookup is a good idea.
I really need heavier line and drag! It spooled me pretty quick. This is a fairly regular occurence down here at this time of year so I have ditched using an anchor altogether in whale season and just use the Motorguide on anchor mode. This solves the problem for me.

[Watto79]

Yep, I have a mate also that had this happen of all places in Moreton bay a few years back!

He actually somehow amongst the kaos managed to get some video of it as well and it is insane to watch...

He was in his 6m victory fishing solo as well and had to scamper to the front and cut the rope whilst being towed at a rate of knots...

So yep it does happen unfortunately..

[mick.j]

Thanks guys Ill keep thinking of how these quick release option can work. Ps anyone who thinks this Doesn't happen, isn't on the water enough in whale season No offence. Being prepared can save you life. I fish off Mooloolaba and see them every time and close every trip, they are thick thick thick. It's to the point now, I call it close when I can smell there breath :):)

[NAGG]

Minn Kota with spot lock works a treat ;)

I fish locations in NSW where the migrating whales use certain places for reference points ( Tollgate Islands , Fish Rock , Broughton Island ) ……. so it's not uncommon to see 20-30 whales in close proximity during a session - so anchoring would be fraught with danger .

How quickly could you get to the rope to cut it ?

Chris

[scottar]

You could attempt to incorporate some sort of "weak link" in your anchoring set up using an anchoring clip but it will have the same short fall that anything but a knife will - you would have to make damn sure that there was no chance of the line tangling and fouling as it departs the vessel. Anchor line zipping over the front of a boat under considerable load is not something you want to have ANY chance of coming in contact with - if it throws a loop around a body part - it's gone or your gone - via the small gap under your bow rail if you have one - would not be pretty. At least with a knife you aren't trying to undo anything and once the line is cut you aren't worrying about line exiting under load. The Minn Kota option is a great one albeit expensive but it also presents other benefits.

[gazza2006au]

Guys flame me for whatever reason some of you like to do but what about the whales? Me and my mates dont anchor at all in open ocean and especially if we are going to entangle a whale u may cut the boat free but that whale is likely still draging the anchor with its incrustations tangled in the rope on its tail

I love animals in general if its thay t big a consirn dont anchor

A while shouldnt breach under your boat lifting it up and out of the water like in cartoons they are a inquisitive harmless animal

[Bremic]

A while shouldnt breach under your boat lifting it up and out of the water like in cartoons they are a inquisitive harmless animal

Probably 10 years ago now, was anchored on the Barwon banks, happened to look over at a boat a few hundred metres away and saw this whale bob up, as if it was vertical in the water, appeared to be just a couple of metres from the boat. Looked like it was having a good look in the boat. Then it sank down and bobbed up again. I was glad to be a few hundred metres away, but would have been good to see close up.

[gazza2006au]

Probably 10 years ago now, was anchored on the Barwon banks, happened to look over at a boat a few hundred metres away and saw this whale bob up, as if it was vertical in the water, appeared to be just a couple of metres from the boat. Looked like it was having a good look in the boat. Then it sank down and bobbed up again. I was glad to be a few hundred metres away, but would have been good to see close up.

That is awesome Bremic i would love to see something like that whales are very friendly around humans and we are in there territory and migration route we often keep a keen eye out for whales not so worried about us or the boat but hitting one and hurting it would do a bit of damage to the whale

for us they haven't came that close we often see them jumping and just swimming which is a unreal sight to see

[banshee]

Have to say I've never been overly concerned about whales.Common practice around here is to slap the side of your boat when you see them.The only quick release for an anchor is a knife.......period.I've been on a boat in 'violent' situation and as been said before,short of a MOB or on board emergency,cutting the anchor can be the last thing on your mind.

[disorderly]

………………………….

[disorderly]

119806

Yeah they get pretty thick up here at times..a bit of a worry when fishing the inshore bait grounds as they seem to follow the same path as the mackeral…..we also get the dwarf Minkies which are incredibly curious and sociable critters...we mainly see them out wider around the reef....on one of my fave rocks about 55km's out for 2 years in a row on an overnighter during late July I had several Minkies spend 2-3 hours playing around and under the boat during the evening and night..the last time with a baby ...amazing critters ..we just continued fishing and they never even brushed the lines or anchor rope...…I think they wanted us to jump in with them....

Humpbacks though are scary big and not so manoeuvrable...…..My little staffy sure does love a day out whalewatching ….

[Dignity]

And the buggers do sleep, often on top of the water, many times what looks like s lazy swell has been a sleeping whale. One morning we probably saw 20 over a few kms, I guess they needed their sleep after they kept us up all night. It's quite scary at times to go out on the duckbosrd around midnight after the call of nature to have one of them stick their nose up and have s look at you only a couple of metres away.

[Dirtyfuzz]

Out the gneerings last winter I was anchored up and there were a few whales passing by, as I was leaning over bringing the sinker and leader into the boat I see the white of a whale pass underneath, to put it lightly I bloody shit myself and never felt so small in a 20ft boat


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mick.j]

Thanks for the input team. I've put together some info for what I came up with and from some on this thread.
Materials used.
anchor & chain as usual, anchor bouy , 8 ml nylon cut away length, 2 to 4 meters , zippy ties to suit 2 nd anchor line float.
procedure.
Anchor down, once held fast, create a loop near to bow in anchor line , be shore to deploy anchor ball, from here create loop , attach light 8 ml nylon length , run through bow roller and secure through to hard top or somewhere with easy access in the cockpit, (i attached to hard top frame)attack knife close to cut away line, roll up the rest of your anchor line tie with zippy ties and attach 2 nd float and throw over board.in case of emergcey simply slice cutaway line, all will clear the boat quickly without fowling. Hopefully the anchor line will free and the bouy will come back to the surface along with anchor 🤞🤞
ps I hope I never have to slice the rope😂😂😂

[scottar]

You will want to make sure your hard top is up to the job :o

[banshee]

Thanks for the input team. I've put together some info for what I came up with and from some on this thread.
Materials used.
anchor & chain as usual, anchor bouy , 8 ml nylon cut away length, 2 to 4 meters , zippy ties to suit 2 nd anchor line float.
procedure.
Anchor down, once held fast, create a loop near to bow in anchor line , be shore to deploy anchor ball, from here create loop , attach light 8 ml nylon length , run through bow roller and secure through to hard top or somewhere with easy access in the cockpit, (i attached to hard top frame)attack knife close to cut away line, roll up the rest of your anchor line tie with zippy ties and attach 2 nd float and throw over board.in case of emergcey simply slice cutaway line, all will clear the boat quickly without fowling. Hopefully the anchor line will free and the bouy will come back to the surface along with anchor 爛爛
ps I hope I never have to slice the rope

Mate......I hope your not compromising your well being for the price of an anchor and some rope?You have overthought this to the max,you need a knife very close to where the anchor is tied off and nothing else.

[gazza2006au]

Just use a few breakaway cable ties to a ball float tied to your anchor if the whale picks u up and drags u the cable ties will break away and the ball float will locate your anchor if its not draging on the whales tail

[ranmar850]

We lost a sailfish to a whale in July, fast running sail and sudden appearance of a whale between us and the fish. Snapped it off at the leader, but above the hook, must have dragged the sail into the whale before it broke. Another boat lost two complete sets of bottom rigs in one day to whales passing underneath while lines were down. I have great video, posting shortly, of a full grown humpback which came in a for a look at us out in 300m. Seemed very careful, came right up to us, boat length away, slowly submerged his body so you can see it all outlined down in the water, then turned 90 degrees and surfaced again alongside us.

[mick.j]

Mate totally disagree with you, there is no such thing as over thinking a whale hitting your anchor rope? Clambering to the front of a cabin boat to go up the the anchor hatch when the boat is lurching forward at a rate of knots in near impossible and any one that has had this happen to them will say the. Pause sorry not going any further with comments it's a waiste of time

[Vromme]

Whales and quick release anchor systems

=

Knife

[Glen Morgan]

Hey Mick. Your thread got my interest and somewhere in it I saw the post from my old mate Watto referencing when I got hooked up to a solid blubber in the bay and went for a very scary ride in a 6 meter Victory, while by myself. You are right in thinking it is good to have a breakaway system and mine saved my ass. what happens to you is entirely dependant on what the whale does. without a breakaway if it dives deep and gently you are screwed..buy buy, in a small boat without much buoyancy you are probably screwed anyway, there are a whole lot of reasons why, but just think about rope tension and angle when you are hanging on the pick. You are even more screwed if it does a body role and your rope does a wrap around it, your rope just got about 10 meters shorter in under 1 second, now think about your rope angle now, how close you are to it, and what will happen if it dives. so all this is happening in a couple of seconds extremely jerky, extremely stressful. now what if it does an aerial like mine did. well you might be forming a mind picture. very brown underpants stuff! Sure have a knife up front but my guess is you won't get to use it unless it is a gentle surface pull. In fact if it is anything like my experience you will be lucky to stay standing up, dare I say it have the composure to steer your boat (essential), and make your way to the front to cut a rope.

Think about load and breaking strain caus that is what will save you, a small length of light sacrificial rope between your main line and your chain. the smaller your boat the lighter the sacrificial line needs to be. these big critters exert a tremendous amount of force and pressure and the buoyancy and weight of your boat does also. It needs to be such that the sacrificial will break before you get pulled under, or if shock loaded. under normal anchoring conditions this poses no problem with anchor pulling, (even with a ball).

So, my 2 cents on this is: big heavy and buoyant boat = small length sacrificial rope. small light boat = make the whole rope, anchor setup sacrificial with a point of fail at the bow that will fail, (EG a riveted cleat) use a separate firm solid cleat at the stern for pulling your anchor. you should never pull from the front anyway. I don't recommend loops of zip tied rope caus there is a good chance you may get tangled in it and end up somewhere between the whale and your boat...NASTY!

This is all just my opinion, Oh and take a spare pair of jocks. G'Day Watty, been a long time mate!

[scottar]

use a separate firm solid cleat at the stern for pulling your anchor. you should never pull from the front anyway.

At the end of the day it's your boat, do things your way but I do recommend doing some research on pulling anchors from a stern cleat. I've had an anchor not come away. Being tied off to the bow it caused us to spin around which was scary enough. Had it of been tied to the stern we would have had a big elastic band trying to pull us down and nowhere else for the energy stored in the rope to relieve.

[Glen Morgan]

yeah you are right mate, it totally depends on type of boat and the technique used to pull, pulling from rear use anchor ball and circle, the trawler pull down from the rear is a real issue if you just drive straight off with a stuck pick and a stern cleat. good pick up!

[Dignity]

It's a bit of concern, I can hit the freefall button on my anchor winch but....
Would I have time to hit it if I'm down the back fishing or up front asleep.
It takes about 2 seconds for the freefall to take effect, probably taking water by then.
Once freefall is activated how do I cut a rapidly unravelling rode.

[Dignity]

It's a bit of concern, I can hit the freefall button

Oops duplicate post

[gazza2006au]

How much boyancy is in a 5-5.5m boat i would guess 2 tons with under the floor foam and air pockets under the gunnels and bow would hold some air too do u really think a whale can sink a boat realistically?

Off botany bay where the whales are its 125 meters deep i think maybe foot? If your anchor can touch the sea bed how on earth is a whale going to sink your boat what that same amount of rope?

Im imagining the rope would just slide to the anchor as anchor ropes are bloody slippery

Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91595)

[Dignity]

Humpbacks can weigh as much as 40 tonnes. I think you might want to recalculate now. Also reread previous posts on this issue, most are eye witness accounts, I can tell you that a big humpy having a look at you from the back of a big cat is bloody huge, you don't want to ever hit one or have one catch on your anchor rope.

[scottar]

How much boyancy is in a 5-5.5m boat

Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91595)

Not enough.:P

[gazza2006au]

This thread is the first time i've ever heard of whales tangling in anchor rope so its quiet new to me

Wouldnt the rope just slide off the whales tale? The only thing i can see stopping this from happening is barnicles on the tail gripping the rope but even than wouldnt they just tear off? Trying to remove barnicle from my boat took a little effort but a whales tale is soft flesh

Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91595)

[gazza2006au]

Found the video below, but if u think about it a whole boat to the gunnels is bouyancy in volume of air 5m boat has to have around 7 cubic meters of boyancy

https://youtu.be/flC5eztQo2M

Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91595)

[scottar]

They have a nodule on their pectoral close to their body that will catch the rope and anchor as the rope slides through - assuming the anchor isn't stuck which could create a whole new drama. While a boat may have plenty of buoyancy all up, most of it isn't in the bow and a 30 - 40 tonne fish isn't going to struggle to pull the bow under should the wrong circumstances occur

[Dignity]

Not to mention all of those barnacles that will catch hold, as most of these are embedded in flesh and not a hard surface they don't fall off that easily.

[Watto79]

Hey Morga, PM me your mobile number!

I have text you but I have about 4 different ones in my phone so good chance it went to the wrong one! haha

Can you posy ur vid of your whale experience, will silence any critics! hahahaha

[Dignity]

Hey Morga, PM me your mobile number!

I have text you but I have about 4 different ones in my phone so good chance it went to the wrong one! haha

Can you posy ur vid of your whale experience, will silence any critics! hahahaha

I'd like to see that.

Come close to hitting s few but still wondering whether those guys in the tinnie changed their shorts before they headed back in when the whale breached beside them right on sunset. It's gotten to the stage that sometimes you wonder if it's worth going out when there are so many around. May not be such a problem with the shutdown of snapper and pearl perch in mid July and August next year.

[scottar]

I'd like to see that.

Come close to hitting s few but still wondering whether those guys in the tinnie changed their shorts before they headed back in when the whale breached beside them right on sunset. It's gotten to the stage that sometimes you wonder if it's worth going out when there are so many around. May not be such a problem with the shutdown of snapper and pearl perch in mid July and August next year.

Closest I've been to hitting one was coming back into Mooloolaba in the dark right in close - just a bit north of the entrance. Couldn't judge the distance but was close enough to block out the background lights with it's silhouette as it surfaced then sounded otherwise I wouldn't have even known it was there. Shat myself at 20 knots. We have had a pair of them come from under the boat at deep tempest and collect all four lines - you just look at the rods bent over with line screaming off and go faaaarrrrrrk. Had we been anchored that day it might have got messy.

[gazza2006au]

I tried googling it a whale tangling in a anchor and sinking a boat nothing came up just links about whales tangled in nets

So i donno it could be a possibility anything can happen in life but im not finding any results that it has happend as of yet

Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91595)

[Glen Morgan]

::) Gazza, just think the weight of a couple of sinking school busses tied to the front of your 5.5 meter tinny, what might happen? Now add a big ass tail to give speed and then smash around exerting forces on your boat that it was never designed to take. You are very lucky indeed if the rope breaks, if not, one of two things is going to happen. 1- you are pulled down and sink, 2 - the thing tears the front of your boat clean off...Oh and you sink!

I imagine it is extremely rare and I am not too fussed on theorising about barnacles or how else they hook your rope etc, fact is whales are inquisitive, they do tangle up, they do wrap the rope around their bodies, they don't always swim straight, they do breach and dive, and they do try very hard to get what has wrapped around them off. All the theory that it cant happen quickly disappears when it happens to you. I wish I still had the video of when I experienced this but it was on a phone which ironically now also sleeps with the fishes.

[Dignity]

Reliance on Google is not necessarily going to get you all the facts. There are enough disappearances of boats and crews that do not have the circumstances surrounding them ever documented. I've been in the position several times where certain action has had to be taken to avoid disaster with them so I'll lean on the side of extreme caution when they are around.

[Watto79]

Bugger Morga, that was some of the best footage for an edge of your seat moment I had and still have ever seen!

I also had another mate who hit one at about 50km an hour off yellow patch top of Moreton quite a few years back in his 6 odd metre Mustang..

Split the hull straight up the middle and he was lucky not to be killed, very badly bruised and battered and with quick thinking and a 250hp Suzi on the bum managed to get his boat to shore somehow!

Yep, I have been quite fortunate to have not been on board during either of these instances but have experienced plenty of close encounters over many years..

They are a monster of an animal and as Morga said very inquisitive and will scare you on numerous occasions if you fish offshore regularly enough esp during whale season!

Given what appears to be an increase in numbers the last few years, think we will hear about more similar to above in the not too distant future..

Good thread with a message to all, always expect the unexpected when out in your boat!!

[Tracker]

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/volunteer-boat-hits-whale-off-stradbroke-island-20110620-1gaij.html

[banshee]

I don't see the correlation between anchor systems and hitting one.

[Watto79]

I don't see the correlation between anchor systems and hitting one.

I do, they both end with the same predicament........misery!

[Dignity]

It's all relative. You hitting them or them hitting you, watched one approach from 1km away heading for us on top of the water, never seen that behaviour before. It was like a submarine heading directly where we were drifting with a parachute over the side. Now the pundits tell me he would have dived before he got to us but possibly the shute would have gotten caught up and over we'd go. Better discretion was to pull in the shute, drive off about 20m and watch him plough on right through where we'd been.

[gazza2006au]

I don't see the correlation between anchor systems and hitting one.From what i have read whales have poor vision probably why they like us humans.. maybe they cant sense or see anchor ropes that is my conclusion

Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91595)

[Ashtom]

This year in August we were off Cape Moreton. Had 3 lines scream off at 2 different times and almost spool them in less than 20 seconds. We were bottom bashing and concluded it must have been whales. On both occasions we didn't see the whale but saw the telltale water disturbance from their tail on the surface. Saw heaps of whales that day. I was using my minn Kota and felt very relieved we weren't anchored. They certainly scare me and I am very cautious around them. The speed they pulled out lines made me think just how much damage they could potentially do if caught in an anchor rope. They certainly gold my respect and I won't be anchoring when they are around. I don't intend to hypothesize on what they can out can't do, just avoid the danger as the captain of the boat

Sent from my Moto Z3 Play using Ausfish mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91595)