Do you love anchor buoys?

[sailaboutvic]

No, it wouldn't work in the first situation (above). Releasing more scope would allow the rope attached to the tripping system to give a backwards pull if long and strong enough.

Yes I understand that , but there times when an anchor as to be tow by the crown forward to release it self , in which case that devise wouldn't work

In a normal circumstance we're as in the video the anchor is trap under a chain as in the video , it would work fine but then so would a tripping line without the cost .
We had a anchor trap on a very large spider anchor once , the loop went around one arm while the fluke caught under the body , no way could you trip that in the normal way , we had to slacken as much chain as we could , take the tripping line to the stern and drive forward to pull the loop out before we could trip the anchor .

 

[Poey50]

Yes I understand that , but there times when an anchor as to be tow by the crown forward to release it self , in which case that devise wouldn't work

In a normal circumstance we're as in the video the anchor is trap under a chain as in the video , it would work fine but then so would a tripping line without the cost .
We had a anchor trap on a very large spider anchor once , the loop went around one arm while the fluke caught under the body , no way could you trip that in the normal way , we had to slacken as much chain as we could , take the tripping line to the stern and drive forward to pull the loop out before we could trip the anchor .

Once the cable ties are broken the line (if strong enough) will be used as an ordinary tripping line so will do whatever yours does if attached to the same point on the anchor. The scope becomes lazy until the anchor is free.

If the snag is hard against the shank then a loop of chain won't reach far enough to trip the anchor.

Assuming there is no perfect solution, this is, IMHO, as close to a fit-and-forget method as possible. There is no trip line and buoy to float and get in the way of other boats, or line to sink with the possibility of getting wrapped round the scope or the keel at turn of tide. I've no plan to sell the boat so don't mind some long term investment.

And no connection to the company.

 

[SimonFa]

I do. It lets me see where my anchor lies and lets everyone else see it too so here in the med it avoids a lot of crossed anchor chains. This year, however, I've been shouted at twice for using the buoy - once by an irate 'fisherman' in a small sportboat who threatened to cut the buoy free if I didn't remove it (Kastos) and once in Zakinthos where a crewman from a local tripper boat pointed out that the next boat to arrive was going to run over it. In the latter case I removed it in the former I left it until the harbour was full and then removed it too - no point in fighting battles you can't win and, anyway, by then it had done it's job.

So what does the team think about anchor buoys..?

At the point I drop my anchor I also set the anchor watch in iSailor. When it comes time to leave I just zoom in and can judge where the anchor is. I didn’t even leave the the cockpit on a Tuesday night as I have a control for the electric windlass. Alternatively you can just drop a waypoint f you don’t ant to use the anchor watch and then use the lat/Lon in to another anchor watch app.

 

[ctva]

From the 1944 edition of "The Yacht Master's Guide" by F.G.G.Carr

"Q: What is meant by "skowing" an anchor?

A: Bending the cable with a clove hitch round the crown, as a buoy-rope is bent, and taking the standing part to the ring, to which it is stopped with spunyarn. In the event of the anchor getting foul of some obstruction, if a great vertical strain be put upon the warp, the stopping will part, and the anchor can then be lifted up by the crown."

Every day is a skool day. Thanks.

 

[ctva]

So let see , you turn up in an anchorage it's blowing 25 30 kts and you just realise the ground may be foul , so while your partner or you are motoring round other yacht which are swinging wildly and the winds is blowing an old boots you or your partner are at the bow tieing on cable ties ,
well I rather just clip on the tripping line and be done with .
But if it works for you , that's great .

You really need to read posts before going off on one, “One idea I've to try is to use whipping twine or thin cable ties”. Not, I do or have done or any other permutation. I’m open to ideas and don’t claim to be an anchor know it all who spends every other day at anchor. I sail and anchor on the west coast, I don’t know where you do, but I’m always open to listen and learn and take on board different ideas, some will work, others will be resigned to the ‘well, that was interesting!’ pile.

 

[sailaboutvic]

You really need to read posts before going off on one, “One idea I've to try is to use whipping twine or thin cable ties”. Not, I do or have done or any other permutation. I’m open to ideas and don’t claim to be an anchor know it all who spends every other day at anchor. I sail and anchor on the west coast, I don’t know where you do, but I’m always open to listen and learn and take on board different ideas, some will work, others will be resigned to the ‘well, that was interesting!’ pile.

I am not going off on one at all ,and I apologise if it sound that I am ,
As I said if it works for you good , but it sound by what you say you not tried it and unless you do how do you how it works , which I sure it can work if you want to spend time which some cases you won't have messing around with cable ties .
Same way as cable ties work as a marked on the chain for a while until the windlass snaps them off .
And just for the record I have tried it and too much hassle plus ties even the smalles ones won't break with a upwards pull they need to be pulled sidewards and then it take some doing , only thing we found works is thread , and that brake on it's own if left in the water for any time .
there is a easier way that's worked very well it's quick and easy and don't involved sitting on the bow messing around .

 

[sailaboutvic]

Once the cable ties are broken the line (if strong enough) will be used as an ordinary tripping line so will do whatever yours does if attached to the same point on the anchor. The scope becomes lazy until the anchor is free.

If the snag is hard against the shank then a loop of chain won't reach far enough to trip the anchor.

Assuming there is no perfect solution, this is, IMHO, as close to a fit-and-forget method as possible. There is no trip line and buoy to float and get in the way of other boats, or line to sink with the possibility of getting wrapped round the scope or the keel at turn of tide. I've no plan to sell the boat so don't mind some long term investment.

And no connection to the company.

I agree with every thing you say , this is why I said " in the case of that video you could just slide a chain down the chain "

As for the way we use a tripping line in the few times we do each year , by bring back to the boat no one can get it caught , or use it as a mooring buoy , we never have had a problem with it getting caught on our keel , but yes there been time when it got wrapped around the chain but it easy to unwrap once you start to take in the chain .
There lots of stuff we can all spend money on , but I try these days only to buy stuff we really need , each winter when we stop for a three month in a Marina there always boat stuff for sale , a lot of it only been used once or twice , good idea at the time of buying it but in a very sort time people realise it's not as good or it too much of a problem to use .
Please try it out and let the rest of use know how you get on .

 

[KellysEye]

We only used one when were anchored in an area with rocks and used it to pull the anchor up, the only way to do it.

 

[Poey50]

There lots of stuff we can all spend money on , but I try these days only to buy stuff we really need , each winter when we stop for a three month in a Marina there always boat stuff for sale , a lot of it only been used once or twice , good idea at the time of buying it but in a very sort time people realise it's not as good or it too much of a problem to use .
Please try it out and let the rest of use know how you get on .

If I use it once when otherwise I would lose the Spade then it has paid for itself. But it is part of my set of safety gear which I see as offering value in two ways 1. when (or if) actually used and 2. as contributing to peace of mind. The second of these values applies every trip.

Will certainly report back when or if I use it.

 

[noelex]

If anchoring in foul ground, the best chance of freeing a stuck anchor is usually to pull it out backwards or in other words the reverse of the direction in which it set.

This can usually be done with a trip line that is attached to an anchor buoy. Using a trip line that is fed along the chain, or one of the commercial devices that achieves the same aim can sometimes work, but the chance of success is lower.

This does not mean that techniques such as cable tying a trip line to the chain are worthless, but when using these techniques it is important to understand that they are not as effective as a conventional trip line attached to a float.

This was the last stuck anchor that I saw. I think a conventional trip line attached to float would have worked well. It is hard to say for certain, but I doubt if a trip line led back along the chain or one of the many commercial devices would have freed the anchor. I don't think the trip line could have been pulled back to the crown, it would have at least taken trial and error and some luck to free the trip line enough that it could pull the anchor out backwards.

This is not unusual, in fact it applies to most of the stuck anchors I have seen. If there is no choice but to anchor in a substrate with old abandoned moorings or boulders, a conventional trip line and anchor float is your best defence, despite the drawbacks.

 

[Poey50]

... Using a trip line that is fed along the chain, or one of the commercial devices that achieves the same aim can sometimes work, but the chance of success is lower...

Sailaboutvic correctly pointed out that the collar lowered down the chain has to be able to engage with the device and if prevented (in his example by the rode being caught in a narrow crevice) it can't work. But once engaged and the cable ties broken the Anchor Rescue device becomes the same as any other trip line and can be pulled any way you want as long as the rode is lazy.

I can see that on your photo if the connecting chain had fallen down the left side of the shank there could be a problem in ripping out the final ties - but accepting that there is no perfect solution I'lll accept that drawback for ease of use.

 

[Poignard]

Every day is a skool day. Thanks.

That's OK Kris. Merry Kristmas to you

 

[capnsensible]

Some time ago, one of our charter yachts, running out of Haslar Marina, was anchored off Yarmouth, IOW. The crew set an anchor bouy. Unfortunately, as they hauled, they managed to get the bouy line wrapped tight around the prop shaft in a strong tide. Totally disabled, they were towed into Yarmouth and lifted at (?) Hales Boatyard. Shaft bent, p bracket damage.

They lost their deposit and had a lot of hassle. We lost out quite a bit despite the insurers being very good. Bill was well over 2k, all those years ago.

So no, I do not love anchor bouys and in zillions of anchorings since, personally, have never set one.

 

[hisw]

An anchor bouy is great in a busy anchorage, no need to fire up the windless, just pick it up and then make sure you leave before the other yacht wants to leave.

 

[sailaboutvic]

If anchoring in foul ground, the best chance of freeing a stuck anchor is usually to pull it out backwards or in other words the reverse of the direction in which it set.

This can usually be done with a trip line that is attached to an anchor buoy. Using a trip line that is fed along the chain, or one of the commercial devices that achieves the same aim can sometimes work, but the chance of success is lower.

This does not mean that techniques such as cable tying a trip line to the chain are worthless, but when using these techniques it is important to understand that they are not as effective as a conventional trip line attached to a float.

This was the last stuck anchor that I saw. I think a conventional trip line attached to float would have worked well. It is hard to say for certain, but I doubt if a trip line led back along the chain or one of the many commercial devices would have freed the anchor. I don't think the trip line could have been pulled back to the crown, it would have at least taken trial and error and some luck to free the trip line enough that it could pull the anchor out backwards.

This is not unusual, in fact it applies to most of the stuck anchors I have seen. If there is no choice but to anchor in a substrate with old abandoned moorings or boulders, a conventional trip line and anchor float is your best defence, despite the drawbacks.

Noelex if that anchor had a hoop , I would had said that was our anchor last year , in that case the only way to release it was to get the diving gear out , it was one of Then time we hadden set a line but even if we did it wouldn't had help .

 

[Bodach na mara]

I have never used an anchor buoy since I saw a Bavaria 37 get its tripping line caught round the spade rudder and saildrive in Loch Aline as the boat turned in the tide.

 

[NormanS]

Each year I leave my boat for a period of up to four weeks, anchored in a "Bahamian Moor", usually somewhere out of the way in the Outer Hebrides. I put a tripping line and buoy on each anchor. It gives me the reassurance of knowing precisely where the two anchors are, when laying them. In the fairly unlikely event of another yacht coming to anchor in the same place, the two buoys might help to show that my boat is not just lying to one anchor, and will not swing in the usual manner.

Generally, for normal anchoring, I hate using a tripping line, but if I know or suspect that there is abandoned gear, I rig one. If I lay out a second anchor in a Vee, I buoy it. It means that I can see where it is, and should I wish to slip it, it's quicker and easier.

 

[dgadee]

I have never used an anchor buoy since I saw a Bavaria 37 get its tripping line caught round the spade rudder and saildrive in Loch Aline as the boat turned in the tide.

And I'll never use one again after I got the tripping line round my own prop this summer (telling the helm to avoid a swimmer she hadn't seen, I forgot to haul in the line). Third time in my sailing career, but first time due to my own rope. Luckily a club launch heard my VHF call and got me before I beached. Near disaster.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I have never used an anchor buoy since I saw a Bavaria 37 get its tripping line caught round the spade rudder and saildrive in Loch Aline as the boat turned in the tide.

I can't remember when I last used it, but my tripping line is sinking rope with a 2m length of light chain and a standard pickup buoy with "ANCHOR" on it. My pious hope is that the chain will keep it out of the way of anyone who doesn't actually hit the buoy.

 

[jbweston]

I don't often use an anchor buoy but when i do I run the line up from the anchor crown to the buoy and then through an eye, with a weight (a bunch of heavy shacckles usually) so that the weight pulls any slack through and the buoy rests pretty much over the anchor whatever the depth of the water (or state of the tide if in tidal waters).

I'd be wary about using a buoy anywhere where other people might anchor close by. Happily in Sweden, if there's another boat anchored within half a mile we think it's crowded.