Kedge launching/ stowage

I haven't seen the article, but on the basis of the description I have my doubts.

Kedge anchors need to be laid out as far away from the boat as possible, usually either by dinghy or someone walking if the boat is aground etc.

There is the theory that some anchors, the alloy Fortress I think, can 'glide and deploy', haven't tried it but I'm deeply sceptical, as anchors need to be heavy to do their job, and I rather doubt the glide ratio would get the thing far enough away from the boat.

As for a launch system from the pushpit, what stops the thing plummeting rather than gliding, ending up with the chain or warp piled on top in a useless heap ?!

Some landing ships have ginormous kedge anchors which are fired from the stern by rocket motors, I'd love to see that; from a suitable distance !
 
Twister_Ken said:
Not always, often dropped on approach to a quay for bow-to or stern-to mooring, or in a tidal river where you want to anchor fore-and-aft so that you don't swing.
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Twister Ken,

granted, but the boat is moving away from the anchor in that situation so it still ends up at a useful horizontal distance from the boat, not piled directly under the transom.

There is of course the art of 'drudging' where an anchor is used as a sort of drogue on the seabed, not allowed to dig in but dragging and helping steering at close quarters; more of a big ship thing, but can be handy on yachts.
 
Seajet said:
Kedge anchors need to be laid out as far away from the boat as possible, usually either by dinghy or someone walking if the boat is aground etc.
Click to expand...

By far the main reason for people to deploy a stern anchor regularly is because they're mooring bows-to in a Mediterranean harbour or Scandinavian inlet. I'm sure this is what the article had in mind.

Of course, on a bigger boat, even for setting the kedge from the tender you might want some kind of gear to help get the anchor from its stowage position into the dinghy.

Pete
 
puddock said:
I recall an article in PBO where someone designed a nifty little stowage device for his kedge
Click to expand...

Seajet said:
Twister Ken,
granted, but the boat is moving away from the anchor in that situation so it still ends up at a useful horizontal distance from the boat, not piled directly under the transom.
Click to expand...

Yep - so some sort of stowage for easy deployment from the pushpit as you approach makes sense.
 
I recall an article in PBO where someone designed a nifty little stowage device for his kedge (pu**** mount) which was designed to allow easy launching of said Kedge.
Click to expand...

Seajet said:
I haven't seen the article, but on the basis of the description I have my doubts.

Kedge anchors need to be laid out as far away from the boat as possible, usually either by dinghy or someone walking if the boat is aground etc.
Click to expand...

Seajet said:
Twister Ken,
granted, but the boat is moving away from the anchor in that situation so it still ends up at a useful horizontal distance from the boat, not piled directly under the transom.
Click to expand...

Yep - so some sort of stowage for easy deployment from the pushpit as you approach makes sense.
 
I have not seen the PBO sketch either, but I'll attach a couple of pictures of how the Spade anchor is stowed on the stern rail of my boat. The fitting is in s/s and was knocked up by a welder many years ago, originally for a folding fisherman's anchor, later modified for the Spade. The fitting connects to the upper and lower rails by means of a "half pipe" and is held in place by hose clamps, four in total.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16930&stc=1&d=1332497034
http://www.ybw.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16931&stc=1&d=1332497034
 
I remember there was / is a webbing anchor warp on a reel - ( Ankorline ? ) one could set up at the pushpit so as to deploy easily; may not be a good idea to leave it permanently out in the sun to get knobbled by UV though.

As you well know when rowing a kedge out to deploy, it's a problem with the drag of the warp let alone chain, one has to carry it flaked down in the dinghy unless there's someone in the cockpit to hand it out.

Berthing bows - to with a kedge from the stern is popular in the Med', but around the UK I'd think kedges are mostly used as Plan B when things go awry, or if setting 2 anchors either to minimise swinging room taken up or for extra holding in strong conditions, or using the kedge as an 'angel' on the bower warp as I do.
 
puddock said:
I recall an article in PBO where someone designed a nifty little stowage device for his kedge (pu**** mount) which was designed to allow easy launching of said Kedge.
Anyone remember anything about it as I can't find it for love nor money :confused:


EDIT : **** = s h p i t
Click to expand...

I don't read PBO so I can't help you find that article but there is a subscriber to this forum ('chrisedwards') who sails a junk-rigged boat on which he has, if I remember rightly, small kedge anchors forward and aft which he can quickly deploy when needed. They are stowed in lengths of plastic drainpipe attached to the pushpit and pulpit, ready for instant use. Seems like a good idea to me. (Which means that most of the forum will think it's a rubbish idea :D)

Anyway, you will either have to trawl through all his posts to find his description or hope he reads this and responds.
 
Having any anchor ready to deploy quickly sounds good to me.

At my club we are all hoisted in or out over 3 days, masts down; I suggested it ought to be put in the many instructions / rules to have the bower anchor ready to deploy quickly, as there's a strong tide straight onto nasty concrete obstacles, the potential for lines in the water, engines can be temperamental especially at the start of season and we don't have the option of sail power.

This was all agreed with privately, but not implemented as I'm 'not a local on the committee'...:rolleyes:
 
There are many different ways of storing a kedge anchor on the stern and deploying it. Walk down any village quay in the Greek and Turkish islands and you will see. The simplest, used by many charter boats (particularly the smaller, under 35ft) is a bucket strapped to the pushpit holding a Danforth type with 5M chain and 50M rope. The bucket can be either stainless sheet fabrication or just a plastic builders bucket. Used as suggested when going bows to a quay. You can also see fabricated brackets so the anchor hangs on the pushpit and the rode is kept either in a bucket or a sack. I have a similar arrangement for my small everyday kedge, although don't hang the anchor on the pushpit.

Many French and Scandinavian boats have an anchor roller built into the stern, and some also have a dedicated chain locker and even a windlass in the stern. It is quite possible to add such an arrangement to many other boats - I think the one referred to in the PBO article is on Richard Hares Golden Hind 31.

If you are thinking of doing something similar the design will depend on your specific boat. Anchor rollers can be bought in all shapes and sizes, or they can be easily fabricated. Clearly needs to be strongly mounted and in a position where there is freefall to the water without fouling bits of the boat. If you want the rode stowage permanently under decks then you need space both to mount the hawse pipe and store the chain below.

If your main use for a kedge is to row out in a dinghy, then such permanent arrangements are a bit of a waste - the self contained bag that I (and many others) use is much more versatile as it can be dropped in the dinghy, end of rode attached to the boat and paid out as you row away. If your main use is for anchoring bows to a quay or tree then a more permanent arrangement is worth having.
 
I remember the article, it was about stowing and deploying the FOB kedge on Keppel. His system included a locker for the anchor and warp within the cockpit, plus a demountable trough to act as an open hawse pipe so as not to chew the capping rail when veering the rode.

It went on to show pictures of various pushpit and transom mounted arrangements for stowing the kedge, including a half barrel to dump it all in.

Rob.

P.S. Any planned use of an anchor involves allowing the boat to fall back after dropping - it's only the unplanned use of the kedge which requires a dinghy! Been there, done that...
 
Seajet said:
I remember there was / is a webbing anchor warp on a reel - ( Ankorline ? ) one could set up at the pushpit so as to deploy easily; may not be a good idea to leave it permanently out in the sun to get knobbled by UV though.

As you well know when rowing a kedge out to deploy, it's a problem with the drag of the warp let alone chain, one has to carry it flaked down in the dinghy unless there's someone in the cockpit to hand it out.

Berthing bows - to with a kedge from the stern is popular in the Med', but around the UK I'd think kedges are mostly used as Plan B when things go awry, or if setting 2 anchors either to minimise swinging room taken up or for extra holding in strong conditions, or using the kedge as an 'angel' on the bower warp as I do.
Click to expand...

The reel device is an Ankarolina. I have just bought one for our boat in the Baltic prior to a summer in Sweden. It's mostly used for hooking on to a stern buoy because the helmsman can run it out under control as the boat goes forward and the foredeck gang sort out the mooring arrangements at the front. The webbing has a pretty high breaking strain and good shock absorbing properties, but it would a mistake to rely on the reel fitting to take any serious mooring stress.
 
NOA anchor deployment kit

Go here: http://www.seateach.com and search for NOA as a manufacturer. They do a range of pushpit bits to deploy kedges. I had a demo in Greece last year from a Scandinavian boat, the owner was happy with it (it does a kind of somersault to place the anchor for stowage) except he thought it was a bit flimsy, built from ali and plastic. In the end we just bought a bow roller and trough and attached it to our pushpit angled downwards just enough to make launching the anchor a fingertip operation and all lined up with the sheet winch should a bit of power be required to get the thing in again. Works well for us.
 
rob2 said:
I remember the article, it was about stowing and deploying the FOB kedge on Keppel. His system included a locker for the anchor and warp within the cockpit, plus a demountable trough to act as an open hawse pipe so as not to chew the capping rail when veering the rode.

It went on to show pictures of various pushpit and transom mounted arrangements for stowing the kedge, including a half barrel to dump it all in.

Rob.

P.S. Any planned use of an anchor involves allowing the boat to fall back after dropping - it's only the unplanned use of the kedge which requires a dinghy! Been there, done that...
Click to expand...

Keppel, that was the one ;)
Cheers
 
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