Rope ?? Where ?? What ??

[Black_Rat]

Hi all,

Just picked up the Formosa 5.2 [smiley=laola.gif] [smiley=blush.gif] [smiley=blush.gif]. Pics to follow.

Anchor Rope ?????

Looking at purchasing an anchor & Rope ??

Looking at a 12mm rope dia about 50m to do shallow reef work. What size do (ldia / type is reliable).??

Any comments on rope type & DIA. ???

Black_Rat ?????? Happy Days.

[Smithy]

We only use 8-10 mm Silver Rope. No point going 12mm or greater as it just adds extra water drag and will make you hang off your spot a lot further. Lighter rope with a big heavy anchor and heaps of big heavy chain will let you sit closer to your anchor.

[Black_Rat]

Cheers Smithy

Good point, will look at 10mm. I'm thinking at least 1 meter of heavy chain should do ? More ? 1.5 Meters ???

[blue_rogue]

Rule of Thumb, If you are reef fishing and anchoring, you should have as much chain as the length of your boat. (probably a little to much in shallow reefs), but you certainly want more then 1 metre. Otherwise your anchor will have trouble holding in rough weather..

It took me a long time to work this out

All the best

[Jeremy]

You definitely want more than 1 m of chain. I'd be going for 4 metres. Helps hold on a gravelly bottom, and also protects the rope from the reef. 50 m won't go far either. You generally need a minimum 1.5 times the depth you will be fishing (it is reccommended that you use 3x the depth or more to anchor overnight if you don't want to move). I'd be considering 100 m to allow you to get out to the 50-60 m line.

I have found buying rope by the meter from Glascraft in Fort Valley to be as cheap or cheaper than buying it in packs. You will need to buy some eyelets for each end and splice a loop around them, also galvanised shackles for the chain and anchor. Don't skimp on your anchor for reef fishing - if it is too heavy for you too pull manually, get one of the clip-on anchor retrieval buoy systems. There is plenty of info on this in other posts here if you look - drive away anchor retrieval.

Cheers,

Jeremy

[basserman]

i buy my roap in bulk from BLA 300m of 8mm silver only cost $60 and as for on the boat
on my 530 southwind i have 3M of 8mm chain and 150m of 10mm silver and a good qulity pick ;D

[Morlers]

I went to buy 100m of 10mm silver rope, but the dealer was out of it so sold me 12mm for same price. Boat is Haines Hunter Breeze 510. Will the 12mm be a problem?

??? ???

Morlers

[Cheech]

Hey Rat.. Got to agree about the chain. I initially thought I had enough with about 2 metres, but then after a couple of unintential drifts in about 7 - 10 metres of water, I realised I had a problem.

I bought 3 metres of chain and never had a problem since.

Also, there is normal link size and short link. Buy the short link because what it does is give you the same weight in say 3 metres as you would get out of 4 metres of normal link.

Cheech

[straddie]

Length of your boat in chain and 3 times the depth you intend anchoring in makes for a much more restfull sleep if you are doing an overnighter.

I am guessing the guys recommending 8 and 10 mm usually have a decky pulling up the anchor for them ;D
My hands thank me every time I hook up on the bottom for getting 12mm, it's a good choice Morlers.

[Smithy]

Anchor retrieval floats are the only way to go. Even use them in 10m of water. I use about 6m of heavy chain, home made reef picks with 8-10 tines of 10mm welded into 50mm pipe which is then lead filled. We have this attached to the tine end of the anchor and tripped at the other end with cable ties or twisted insulated wire. Ezy lift clips are better on the floats than all the ring type setups. Even with this setup we don't get good hookups in some gravelly country. This is bloody frustrating when you get yourself on the mark then you drift away. We have just started experimenting with a tripped plow but lost if on its first drop to a shark.

[Black_Rat]

Thanks for the replies guys. Will look at 150m of 10mm rope as the deckies can do all the work ;D. More chain than what I would have thought but saves ya drifting around. Will definately have to invest in one of those anchor retrievers for the deep reef work [smiley=2thumbsup.gif].

Black_Rat.

[agnes_jack]

Black_rat
Another tip for anchoring- We bend our reef picks about 200mm down from the end and wrap a few turns of wire around where it goes back to straight again. That in combination with a good length of heavy chain holds way better than bending them down lower. Since we have been doing that we have found it a very rare event to drag anchor. Definately get yourself an anchor lifter buoy, so much easier and quicker,good when you see another boat motoring towards you to try and get your secret mark, you can be up and out of there quick smart! ;D ;D ;D

Regards, Tony ;)