Anchor Tripping Line

[Stemar]

Ever since losing a CQR and 20m of chain to a mooring trot (I blame Mr Volvo!), I've been meaning to set up a tripping line.

I've now got a load of 6mm line, which I reckon should be strong enough for a 20lb anchor, so I want to set it up. I'd quite like to keep the end on board, so I figure that attaching one end to the pulpit and clipping the other to the anchor before I let go, then pulling in most of the slack once the anchor's set should work.

This brings me to storage. If I'm going to use it, it needs to be covenient. I was thinking of fixing a bag to the pulpit, as suggested in a recent thread, but then got a bit paranoid about the idea of having 50m of line attached to the bow in case it gets loose and heads for the prop, which is most likely to happen in bad weather, when I most need the donk /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Does the team think my paranoia is justified, or would a tie shut bag with a tie down flap hold the line safe?

 

[DeeGee]

Ummmm, do I read this right? You are proposing to drop the anchor, set it and then wind in the slack on your tripping line? Ummmm, are you sure? I take it this is a deserted island, you are anchoring off?

 

[cliff]

6mm does not seem enough to me - it is not to lift the anchor but to pull it free (backwards?) from what ever has fouled it. Imagine you set your anchor under a mooring ground chain so when you try to lift it on the rode you are lifting the ground chain? so you let go and theanchor is well and truely stuck. Enter the tripping line and you pull on that but you are trying to drag the anchor out of the mud and lift a chunk of ground chain - 6mm line - snap!

I use an old 16mm sheet on a float - about 17m if it. I will go some to break that even with the windlass.

A nice adaptation of the above is to fit a single sheave block below the float and if say maximium depth of water will be 10m then feed the line through the sheave to about say 12m and tie the rest of the line in a coil and attach a small 1~2kg weight to the coil. drop the anchor and float and tripping line - the tripping line will float above the position of the anchor, rising and falling with the tide and if the tripping line is needed lift it onboard with a boathook, undo the coil and away you go trip the anchor by hand or by using the anchor windlass (assuming you have a drum).
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“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo

 

[cliff]

Re: Anchor Lost to Mooring Trot

Why did you lose it? No tripping line? - no problem - read on......

Here is a little "trick" I learned a few years ago regarding how to recover an anchor trapped below a ground chain without a tripping line.

First prepare your spare anchor (you do have one don't you?) with a substantial tripping line. Next winch in the main anchor to lift the chain / trot off the bottom. Next lower your spare anchor (fitted with tripping line) and jiggle it about until you catch the ground chain / trot. Keep the tension on the rode for the spare anchor and release the main anchor. The chain / trot should now be held clear of the bottom by the spare anchor, if not give a few more turns on the windlass / winch. You will know when you have enough as the bows of the boat get lower and lower. Now motor ahead a few feet and jiggle the main anchor free then fall back and using the tripping line (having released the tension in the rode) motor forward a little and trip the spare anchor. Voilà - both anchors recovered - no hassle.

The above method DOES work - personal experience.
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“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo

 

[DeeGee]

[ QUOTE ]
...fit a single sheave block below the float and if say maximium depth of water will be 10m then feed the line through the sheave to about say 12m and tie the rest of the line in a coil and attach a small 1~2kg weight to the coil. drop the anchor and float and tripping line - the tripping line will float above the position of the anchor, rising and falling with the tide and if the tripping line is needed lift it onboard with a boathook, undo the coil and away you go trip the anchor by hand or by using the anchor windlass (assuming you have a drum).
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...that's the way to do it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Stemar]

[ QUOTE ]
Ummmm, do I read this right? You are proposing to drop the anchor, set it and then wind in the slack on your tripping line? Ummmm, are you sure? I take it this is a deserted island, you are anchoring off?

[/ QUOTE ]Actually, just the slack OF the tripping line. I like plenty of scope out and the anchor well dug in, but a few ounces of tension on the tripping line would mean it won't trip anyone else!

Cliff, I think you have a valid point. I was hoping not to have to lift the anchor plus whatever it's hooked on, but rather slip the hook out from under. Oh well, back to the drawing board /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Back to my original question, whatever I come up with, and I do like Cliff's idea, do you think it's safe to store everything in a bag on the pulpit?

The fact that I'm a confirmed coward sailing a 24ft Snapdragon means I'm fairly unlikely to be out in any conditions where waves will be comiing over the bow.

 

[cliff]

Yep, Keeps everything neat and saves getting your tripping line round someone's prop - do remember to mark the float "Do not anchor" & "tripping line marker" or words to that effect also your boat's name.
[ QUOTE ]
Black Sugar - the sweetest of all

[/ QUOTE ] Aye, totally agree - you can't beat a bit of black.
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“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo

 

[Talbot]

I used to always rig a tripping line. Initially I used a buoy, but stopped that when it was picked up twice by mobos as a mooring. I then went to the line attached to the pulpit. fine until the tide turns then a good chance of wrapping it around the cable and making it very difficult to trip the anchor.

These days I just make sure that there are no other moorings about, and just chuck the anchor over without a tripping line.

 

[cliff]

[ QUOTE ]
Back to my original question, whatever I come up with, and I do like Cliff's idea, do you think it's safe to store everything in a bag on the pulpit?

[/ QUOTE ]Can you not store it in the chain locker? along with your black ball(s) and cone. Failing that a couple of bags fastened to the pulpit would probably work so long as you are not racing.
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“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo

 

[Stemar]

Can't use the chain locker cos I've no access to it from the foredeck and SWMBO won't appreciate me dragging yards of soggy, muddly line across our bed...

Racing? in a Snapdragon 24? With the handicap I'd get, I reckon that if I finish the RTI before the 2200 cut-off, I've won!

Thanks for all the suggestions - Keep 'em coming!

 

[bilbobaggins]

I think it was I who suggested the use of a bag, 'cos I'd made that up on a friend's boat on the Scottish West Coast a few years back. We were short-handed, and while the anchor got stowed for deep-water passages, much of the time inshore it was mounted 'ready for use' on the bow roller. The tripping line was made up from some remaindered commercial line with a Kevlar core - relatively thin - but certainly and necessarily strong enough to cope with a solid pull on a well-fouled hook ...e.g. half-a-ton of kelp or some old trawl gear...

The bag held all the line tidily together in a cockpit locker, and was taken forward and attached, handy, to the pulpit when preparing to enter an inlet or area where the anchor might be needed quickly.

The line sank, so prop entanglement was not a problem, and the end-float was a grapefruit-size discarded plastic fisherman's net float.

The effective length of line can easily be made self-adjusting, thanks to an idea shown in an *old* copy of PBO, where the line comes up through an eye in the pickup buoy ( or float ) then down to an old, weighty shackle which is clipped around the 'riser' line. The weight of the shackle pulls down the spare line, rising and falling with the tide, so the buoy/float stays just about above your anchor with no spare line on the surface to hazard props.

As for ignorant Mobo pillocks picking up one's tripping buoy for a mooring, there are lots of 'dumkopf' raggy-racer types who do that, too. Especially in Tobermory, during West Highland Week.

'Blow, ye winds of morning. Blow, ye winds, hi-oh....'

 

[Guest]

A line and old plastic container ..... if you use a nice chandler buoy - of course some prat will mistake it for a nice convenient morring marker. But a 5 litre white / clear detergent container etc. will be similar to a pot marker and left alone.
To be really individual and no-one would ever moor to this .... why not a very small Dan-buoy style marker .... it only has to be big enough for YOU to find it .... and to hold up the rope ...

A good non-mooring style marker is a small cheap fender .... even use one of your fenders that are kept for going alongside ...

I personally am against tripping lines being led back on-board as I'm sure with my luck - I would end up up with such a snarled up mess .....

You have a Snap 24 and you mention the RTI ... so I would assume Solent based and therefore your anchoring is not in great depths .... so simple measures are adequate ...

 

[fireball]

We used a tripping line with an old fender as a float - it was approached 3 times by the same boat before they decided to anchor somewhere else ...

 

[bbg]

A slight adaptation on Cliff's idea, that we used for years:

Use a small fender as a float. If you get the weight right, the fender will stand upright in the water (and directly above the anchor, subject to currents). Add a small loop of light line through the top of the fender to make it easier to pick up with a boat hook.

You should also mark your boat's name clearly on the float / fender, and indicate that it is an anchor marker. We also added some reflective tape around the top of the fender, to make it easier to see at night.

We kept ours in an anchor locker, but if that is not an option I suppose a bag near the pulpit would work. Personally I would not like the look of a bag hanging from the pulpit and would try to find another solution, but functionally I am sure it would be fine if properly secured.

 

[Blueboatman]

When all else fails ..and er I forgot to set the trip line ,and the anchor is well and truly stuck on sommat down there.. clipping a 1 mtre loop of light chain or wire around the anchor chain ,with a stout length of rope attached,and then rowing off upstream in the ol dinghy until the loop is dragged down the chain and along the shank of whatever your chosen supadupa anchor device is..has got me out of trouble a couple of times.
Its a lot more fun if you have a nice big outboard motor jobby on the dinghy .

 

[peteandthira]

I have been attaching my trip line to the chain itself, making sure that it is long enough to be able to get at the near end by winching in the chain. I think it is important to keep the trip line longer than the portion of chain that it is attached to, otherwise the trip line would tension first and trip the anchor. I think this would also be true for a trip line attached to the pulpit - ie it mustn't tension up before the chain does. Is there a view out there on my method?

Pops

 

[Talbot]

have a go at tripping the anchor one day. will probably work well until change of tide, then you will probably have a problem.

 

[Guest]

Adapt a fishermans method ...

On of the items that affects breaking an anchor out - is the direction of force applied to the anchor.

When a fisherman gets a hook caught there is an old trick that often helps frre it ... passing a buoyant object down the line till it hits water ... and then apply force ....... the buoyant object does not want to submerge and the line of force is altered and more vertical ... if the source of the force should move position then the tortal direction changes and the vertical still comes in again ... giving an advantage ....

so a nice big fender slid down the chain .... even pulled along the chain by person in dinghy ..... gives a more vertical force etc.

But of course if you use a CQR / Plough - then you normally have a ring on the back of the plough that gives you a 'backing-out' pull on the anchor ....

I would NEVER fix a tripping line to the shank or chain so that pull is still in 'digging-in' direction of any anchor .... I would always try to get the tripping line fixed to the opposite part of the anchor in some way.

 

[Mirelle]

Agree no tripping line - here is another method, which works with CQRs

Get the chain taut, then shackle a loop of chain round it arrached to a tripping line. Drop the loop down the chain, then quickly slacken the chain, dumping a few fathoms over, and haul on the tripping line.

With luck the loop of chain will have passed over the shank of the anchor and reached the hinge; hauling the tripping line brings the anchor up.

This idea. which I got from Hiscock, also works, from personal experience. It should work just as well on a Delta or a Bruce.

On the other hand I know no way of freeing a Danforth type from a ground chain as the chain wedges itself in between the flukes and the stock and gets very firmly gripped. Er, don't ask me how I know that...

 

[bbg]

Sorry, Pops - I have to disagree with you on this. Rigging a tripping line to the chain will serve no purpose whatsoever. The tripping line needs to be attached to the back of the anchor so it can be pulled out in a different direction.

As for the length of line, it should be much shorter than the length of anchor line/chain that is out. You really only need a tripping line that is a little bit longer than water depth at HW, whereas you need to lay out 3x, 4x, 5x or more scope, depending on conditions.

The float on its own will not trip the anchor, and should not be large enough to reduce the anchor's effectiveness even if it is fully submerged.