Couple of anchory type questions, sorry.

[Mike k]

so, I'm quite happy hauling manually for now, one less thing to go wrong, too

Hi Murv

my experience of hand hauling is not good- not sure where Searush would haul in from, but on my motorboat I have to go on the front bow with a hand held remote control for the windlass- the reason for this is that I have 50m of 8mm and there really isn't enough room (depth) in the locker to use the control at the helm because it would jam as it piles up under the windlass, so I just swipe it to the side on retrieval. However on one occasion my windlass broke and I was forced to try a manual haul-the bow was heaving up and down and the tide was about 8KN and I can tell you trying to balance on the bow end with both feet in the locker to get purchase and the sheer strength needed to keep hold when the bow rose was knackering.Of course someone was at the helm moving the boat forward to ease the pressure but that's a fine art and during wind and rain comms are not the best from outside on the front to the helmsman who also cannot appreciate if his move forward is doing anything and while you are gesticulating with one hand trying to move forward or cut back whilst holding the chain in a swell is not for me anymore.

Perhaps my techniques were flawed but it certainly put me off.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Mike

 

[Murv]

Thanks very much all, it looks fairly straightforward. But, what happens if your anchor is fouled? do you get much warning or just tear off the cleat?

Thanks Mike, appreciate your comments about hand hauling, but I don't have a great deal of choice! it's only a small boat anyway, and an electric windlass is just too expensive. If I really can't pull the thing in then I'll have to reconsider but I've pulled in lots of anchors in over 100' of water before on small boats (not in the UK) and it's been fine so far.

Edit: The rope is nylon, 50m so I'll have a scope of 70m total, which should be enough for the shallow water I'll be operating in.
I can't remember what size it is, think it was 14mm, it certainly should be hefty enough I would have thought.

 

[MapisM]

I can't remember what size it is, think it was 14mm, it certainly should be hefty enough I would have thought.

It is. The typical breaking load of 14mm rope and 8mm chain is just about the same, around 3T.
Which is way above what your boat size/weight might ever require.

 

[maverickofpoole]

Thanks very much all, it looks fairly straightforward. But, what happens if your anchor is fouled? do you get much warning or just tear off the cleat?
.

That's why you should take things slowly 6-8 knots will work. With the stretch in the rode you will know when the anchor is stuck well before any problems arise. You should also trip your anchor by making fast at the bottom of the anchor running your chain along the anchor shank then using a cable tie to make fast the top of the anchor. You may have to drill a hole at the bottom of some types of anchor to allow tripping. If your anchor becomes stuck when it's tripped the cable tie should snap you are then retrieving your anchor backwards allowing retrieval from most obstructions.

 

[Murv]

Superb, thank you

 

[Scubadoo]

On my 24ft boat 3 tons (ish), I upgraded my anchor to 10metres 7mm chain and 50metres of 12mm rope and that works very well. As I don't have a winch, I felt the weight of 10metres 7mm chain was about right. Anything more I think would become too heavy to recover. Also FYI I used certified shackles instead of the standard ones for extra piece of mind.

 

[Searush]

That's why you should take things slowly 6-8 knots will work. With the stretch in the rode you will know when the anchor is stuck well before any problems arise. You should also trip your anchor by making fast at the bottom of the anchor running your chain along the anchor shank then using a cable tie to make fast the top of the anchor. You may have to drill a hole at the bottom of some types of anchor to allow tripping. If your anchor becomes stuck when it's tripped the cable tie should snap you are then retrieving your anchor backwards allowing retrieval from most obstructions.

That technique of breaking a cable tie to trip the anchor is suitable for wreck fishing where there is a risk of serious snagging, or temporary anchoring on a rocky sea bed. BUT it is NOT a good idea when sleeping overnight & the wind picks up as the cable tie can break too easily & off you go to wake up wherever you find yourself down wind. Horses for courses, and if you spend every night in the marina it will do fine for lunch stops & fishing, just don't expect it to save your boat if the engines fail in a strong onshore breeze.

 

[maverickofpoole]

That technique of breaking a cable tie to trip the anchor is suitable for wreck fishing where there is a risk of serious snagging, or temporary anchoring on a rocky sea bed. BUT it is NOT a good idea when sleeping overnight & the wind picks up as the cable tie can break too easily & off you go to wake up wherever you find yourself down wind. Horses for courses, and if you spend every night in the marina it will do fine for lunch stops & fishing, just don't expect it to save your boat if the engines fail in a strong onshore breeze.

Agree with that statement 100% and you are right to point out the fact that setting an anchor to trip would not be the thing to do if overnighting on the hook however, as a angler thinking like fish we look for snaggy bits or features so for us tripping is our standard set up

Martin

 

[Murv]

That makes perfect sense, I had wondered how you'd sort out the right number of cable ties to only break under very heavy load.
Common sense really that you'd only do it for day stops, but not everything is obvious when you're new to this!
I'll get a ring welded to the bottom for trip use then, but connect it conventionally for overnight stops. Thanks all,

 

[Searush]

That makes perfect sense, I had wondered how you'd sort out the right number of cable ties to only break under very heavy load.
Common sense really that you'd only do it for day stops, but not everything is obvious when you're new to this!
I'll get a ring welded to the bottom for trip use then, but connect it conventionally for overnight stops. Thanks all,

Just to add another option, you can use a light line to a small float from the tripping point when anchoring over night in a place with possible old moorings that may foul it. Then if it does snag, you can motor to the float & trip it. But do be aware that some eedjits could try to pick up a trip float thinking it may be a mooring - DUH!

 

[Murv]

Great idea! thank you