Reply With QuoteHow often has a Whale surfaced under an anchored boat?
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
How often has a Whale surfaced under an anchored boat?
rarely
more likely to hit them moving
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.
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.
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.
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
A VERY VERY SHARP Knife would be fastest course of action in my mind , if you can get to it in time that is !!??..
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.
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
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
Given how often they tangle in shark nets they are not that smart at avoiding stuff in their way....
Both blokes I know that had it happen cut their anchors away.Originally Posted by BigE
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.
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..
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