Bouying your anchor

[Mistroma]

I've used the chain loop successfully a couple of times and keep a short length handy. Last time I tried a tripping was Cascais in Portugal as pilot said the bottom was foul. A small speed boat decided it was a handy mooring less than 10 mins. after anchoring. None of the local boats used tripping lines and nobody had a fouled anchor. Wind went light and changed direction when we were ashore. Boat was stern into the wind when we returned as tripping line had caught on rudder.

I've never bothered since that time but do sometimes tie a line to the anchor lifting point and then to chain at a little more than the anchoring depth. The line sinks but can be reached when recovering the anchor. I mostly manage to anchor where the bottom is just sand or mud (bet it won't come up tomorrow now I've said that ).

 

[TQA]

If I suspect I am anchoring on foul ground eg English Harbor Antigua I use a non floating line tied to the crown of the anchor about 20 ft longer than the anchoring depth [ 2 ft tidal range so no worries there ]. I then zip tie the line to the chain. This has saved me from having to employ the ludicrously expensive 'authorised' diver on a couple of occasions .

As for anchor buoys, they are an invention of the devil designed to entangle the props of dinghy drivers heading home after an evening

 

[bbg]

Thanks very much to everyone; I think BBG's block under bouy with a weight idea sounds a very neat and simple solution if one is going to use a bouy.

FWIW ...
My father used a small fender as a buoy. Due to the weight, the fender sat upright in the water. He clearly marked it "Anchor buoy for Summer Dawn" and put reflective tape around the top to make it easier to see at night.

 

[Richard10002]

I buoyed my anchor once - the bay below Taormina in Sicily. An Italian motor boat picked it up thinking it was a mooring buoy. I didn’t do it again

 

[sailaboutvic]

I buoyed my anchor once - the bay below Taormina in Sicily. An Italian motor boat picked it up thinking it was a mooring buoy. I didn’t do it again

This is a problem not only there but in the south of France , in the days when we used a buoy I remember that happening to us a few times .
I can understand people use a buoy in case of a fouled anchor what I can't understand and I see this a few times now is where a buoy is used to mark where the anchor is , in this I mean a buoy on a small weigh is drop almost at the same time as the anchor , the first time I sew this I couldn't believe it , it nothing unusual to see someone checking his anchor swimming over it , it not my thing , but this time there was a second person in the dinghy , once the anchor was located the buoy line weighed was lower down . There some really inconsiderate people about .

 

[KellysEye]

The only time I used a buoy was anchoring where there were rocks to be sure I could get the anchor up if it jammed, if it does pull the anchor sideways using a dinghy with engine running at low revs in reverse.

 

[jdc]

I'm another who never uses an anchor buoy for all the reasons others have cited.

What I do have is a piece of floating webbing (actually an old sail tie) about 1.5m long attached to the crown of the anchor with a small loop at the free end. This way, should I get the anchor stuck, I can dive down and pass a line through, or snap-shackle it on, to the loop. In warm waters at least, if anchored in anything less than about 7m I can free dive that far (hands at 5.5m, so body at only 5m) for the instant it takes to pass a line through, and in all likely anchorages the top of the webbing is well below the surface so no hazard. I've also found it useful when snorkelling over the anchor to have the brightly coloured 'tell-tale' floating above the anchor, especially if it's buried itself or the visibility near the bottom is poor.

But all that said, I've actually never had to use the tripping line in anger.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Only times I have buoyed my anchor the line got tangled as we swung with the tide, and the final time I had to cut loose the anchor thus losing it and the "buoy".

I have used a tripping line which is better and prefer a short length the fixed back to the chain at water depth but mostly dont bother. The only thing ever I ever fouled was an underwater reef and I suspect nothing I could have done would have got that anchor free.

 

[AndrewB]

Tripping lines to floats are an utter menace in a crowded anchorage. I suspect people do it not so much to protect their anchor as to mark their territory, "Don't anchor near me!!". It always seems to be those types who believe in putting down 10x depth of chain, even in a flat calm.

If you do anchor anywhere near, what happens of course is as the yacht swings to current or breeze, inevitably it comes tap-tapping on your hull, generally at 2 a.m. Or you don't spot it and it wraps round your prop as you start to leave.

I have been known to cut loose such floats. "Sorry, it must have gone round my prop and been chopped by the rope-cutter".

 

[capnsensible]

Completely pointless. Don't bother. You will never regret.

 

[NormanS]

Completely pointless. Don't bother. You will never regret.

That's a strange thing to say. In some circumstances, buoying your anchor makes perfect sense. I wish I had buoyed mine two or three weeks ago, when I had to get divers to extricate my anchor from under an abandoned massive chain.

 

[capnsensible]

That's a strange thing to say. In some circumstances, buoying your anchor makes perfect sense. I wish I had buoyed mine two or three weeks ago, when I had to get divers to extricate my anchor from under an abandoned massive chain.

No it's not. It never makes sense and it's an accident waiting to happen if you do. Even when you have a useless bit of string tied to it, unless you are in totally clear water you will never know exactly what's happening down there. A bonkers thing and you will still have had to get divers.

Abandoned massive chain v bit of string? Yeah, right.

 

[NormanS]

No it's not. It never makes sense and it's an accident waiting to happen if you do. Even when you have a useless bit of string tied to it, unless you are in totally clear water you will never know exactly what's happening down there. A bonkers thing and you will still have had to get divers.

Abandoned massive chain v bit of string? Yeah, right.

If and when I do it, I don't use string on my boat.

 

[capnsensible]

If and when I do it, I don't use string on my boat.

Compared to a massive anchor chain you do.......

 

[BelleSerene]

Last night. Totally unpopulated cove in Western Sweden. Shallow, muddy. Very muddy. Alone. My first Swedish moor - kedge anchor off the stern, nuzzle the bows up to a rock, walk off and tie up to a tree or two, remove clothing, swim, sleep.

Range-finding a dark rock in a wooded cove isn’t easy by starlight, but I selected my spot perhaps three boatlengths out. 2m of depth to the gunge; I draw a little less than that. At 2200, Belle Serene’s original anchor (unwieldy Brittany nonsense, has lived in the garage since we got the boat and immediately replaced it with a Rocna) loses its virginity. Followed into the murky lake by three metres of chain and the first of a 50m reel of anchoring tape. And no marker buoy, which would have been so easy as I keep one in the anchor locker - I used it in the Seine (unnecessarily as it turned out) and in the Thames (where it saved me my Rocna and my scheduled time slot under Tower Bridge).

Manhandling the bloody thing off the back in the dark and making sure I coouldn't get a foot caught in the chain that would go down with it, I missed that the boat was drifting slightly with the wind.

Stern anchor deployed, tape ready to feed out by hand, it was time to idle towards the shore and this famed Swedish lash-up.

The tree line slowly shifts in perspective. I feel a series of sharp tugs on the tape. Sh**, that’s the prop. Neutral. Think. Test tension - it’s jammed hard. A spot of reverse to unwind it? Doesn’t work. Well the good news is I’m anchored, so not going anywhere - but the bad news is it’s the propellor that’s anchored, so I’m not going anywhere tomorrow either. I’m alone and the last of the Swedes went back to work last week. There won’t be a human in this cove until next May. It’s a very convoluted pilotage route for anyone to get here by sea (that’s why I chose the spot). And this being an island, I don’t have the means to get myself anywhere.

It’s a diving job. The water will clear overnight, despite the sludge in here.

Oh yes, the jellyfish. There’s a plague of them. I do a bit of Googling. They seem to be moon jellyfish, whose sting doesn’t penetrate our skin. So that’s OK. Probably.

Time to sleep.

Morning: it has to be done. There is no alternative. I seriously dislike diving the boat - she’s quite beamy, I don’t consider myself a strong swimmer and I find it eery in the extreme to have the boat lurking between me and the air.

But it has to be done. Let’s do it before breakfast.

I will confess to throwing up. I haven’t done that in all the sea miles since Southern England, but - did I mention I really don’t like diving the boat? Plus the thought that if I'm only partly successful the only way forwards is going to be to dive her again. And again. And I understand they have quite a cold, long winter here.

Yoghurt. Soothes the stomach. Wetsuit out - helps a bit with the temperature, but a lot if I’m wrong about the breed of jellyfish. There are hundreds of them, even just in the few square metres where I’ll be swimming. Socks. Ridiculous, I know, but walking all day on jellyfish stings isn’t going to be fun. Not much I can do about the face.

Waterproof torch on lanyard around left wrist. The right hand's for untying wraps. Engine key out. Gearstick to neutral so I can turn the shaft. Boarding ladder down. Slacken mooring tape on aft cleat so I can undo knots below the boat, but also to use as a security line to ease myself down and pull myself back up. Ease body into water. Spend a couple of minutes acclimatising: no point having a high heart rate to use up your lungful of oxygen.

Time to go. Oh, wait... time to go. Hang on... time to, uh, alright, here we go. It’s bloody murky. This would not work without a torch. Lungs are lasting OK. Fondle the lie of the tape around a propellor blade and around the shaft. Throw off a bight here, a bight there, tug gently to see what’s what... there seems to be progress but something's still in the way. Time to come up. Backwards.​

Take stock. That wasn’t too bad. If I’m lucky I could fix it this time. Acclimatise a bit longer. Relax a bit longer. Second go. Uh... alright, second go. More feeling and flipping. Still not free. Up for air. Couple of minutes' think and a third go. I believe that’s clear now - but to my surprise, I'm only left with the upper end of the tape and a short length a few feet long which I just unwrapped from the shaft; nothing going downwards to the anchor. The rope cutter had cut off the anchor tape, but still left the prop crippled.

If I’d just thought to buoy the kedge anchor, I’d still have it. It died losing its virginity: was that a happy or a tragic ending?

This morning leans me towards buoying more - in unconventional situations. It costs nothing, and gives you some idea of location and also the ability to retrieve the anchor if things go wrong.

Postscript: I bought an inexpensive anchor in a harbour later in the day; much better sized for the task and easier and safer to handle. And I’m another day behind schedule.​

 

[jordanbasset]

Where it is know to be foul ground I can understand buoying a anchor but recently I have noticed people using them more and more i completely uncalled for situations. A couple of days ago someone put one in Poros harbour when they were tied stern to. Lots of boats manouvering obviously and a real hazard. I do think it is for some people a way of marking their territory

 

[NormanS]

No it's not. It never makes sense and it's an accident waiting to happen if you do. Even when you have a useless bit of string tied to it, unless you are in totally clear water you will never know exactly what's happening down there. A bonkers thing and you will still have had to get divers.

Abandoned massive chain v bit of string? Yeah, right.

From what you have said, I can only assume that you are unaware of the method of anchor retrieval using a tripping line. It is nothing to do with brute force ("massive chain v bit of string").

The tripping line is made fast to what used to be called the "crown" of he anchor - you might call it the "back". When it is needed to pull an anchor out from under an obstruction, it is necessary to pull it out backwards, so that it unhooks from under the obstruction. Assuming that you know what the direction of pull was on the anchor when it fouled, it's not too difficult to work out which direction it needs to be pulled out.

I very seldom buoy my anchor, but if I know that there is a history of old moorings etc, then I do. The other time that I buoy an anchor is if laying out a second anchor, maybe for an expected storm. That way, if I have to leave in a hurry, I can just slip the second anchor, and only have the one to heave up. I can always come back for the second one later.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Where it is know to be foul ground I can understand buoying a anchor but recently I have noticed people using them more and more i completely uncalled for situations. A couple of days ago someone put one in Poros harbour when they were tied stern to. Lots of boats manouvering obviously and a real hazard. I do think it is for some people a way of marking their territory

In that situation it sound to me what they doing is marking their anchor , in which case it totally out of order.
As you know now and then I use a tripping line but not with a buoy ,
If funny but the only times I had a problem , I seen to had a tripping line connected and managed to release the anchor , other then the once in Sovta .

 

[Kukri]

I just bought a boat which came with a 60lbs CQR, stowed below, with an anchor buoy carefully attached and always used. One careful lady owner, “represented by the Secretary of State for Defence”.

“Different ships, different long splices...”

 

[jordanbasset]

In that situation it sound to me what they doing is marking their anchor , in which case it totally out of order.
As you know now and then I use a tripping line but not with a buoy ,
If funny but the only times I had a problem , I seen to had a tripping line connected and managed to release the anchor , other then the once in Sovta .

It's because Sivota knows you don't like her