Kedge Warp / Webbing Drum

Tim Good

Tim Good

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Excuse my ignorance but having seen these on various largish boats I'm wondering how they are in practice. I mean is it really necessary and is the webbing intended mostly for lines ashore or as an actual kedge anchor warp? Are they a waste of time or are the really the bees knees?
 
I've got one, lives in the cockpit locker with the kedge anchor - a Fortress as it turns out. Never had to use it but if I did, the combo is very light & manageable, particularly if I had to lay a kedge from the dinghy.
 
Bit of a gimmick imo.Cant see UV doing the webbing much good. Like various others I have a coil of nylon ready to go in a cockpit locker for the kedge.
 
Many boats which sail in Sweden (and the Baltic, generally) have them. The normal off-piste mooring method is to drop a stern anchor in the bay, and then motor gently towards the rocky shore and tie up to a tree or rock on the edge. Then you can take up the slack on the stern anchor to lie comfortably in that deserted sheltered bay in the Swedish islands.

We are off to Sweden, we hope, this summer and are looking for a sensible way to do the same with a kedge anchor and a coil of warp, which will be a good deal more untidy!
 
Very common in the Med for taking lines ashore and bows-to berthing. The tape makes a lot of noise, thrumming, in fresh winds. They save a lot of space though, our stern lines in bags occupy useful locker space.
 
We fitted one last year for use in Sweden. You can get different sizes of webbing, we had one whose breaking strain is easily adequate for a 40 footer. As with all these sort of things, there is a bit of initial learning curve to get the best out of it. Don't use it as a winch, but just as a line storage device! We found it very neat and tidy and will keep it in place even for use in the Med.
 
As said they originated in Sweden and reflect the type of anchoring there. also useful in the Med where using a kedge is more common, or for tying to the shore to stop swinging. Not the only way to deal with the problem, but is neat and effective.

If you do not boat in these types of environment then they have little value - which is why you don't see them often in the UK.
 
Malo37 said:
Same here. As an observation the cross sectional area (and therefore the strength) of the webbing is quite small, maybe equivalent to a 1/2" dia rope. A bit flimsy for an anchor line in my opinion.
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I don't think they're meant to be deployed in extremis. Just to keep the bow from bumping the shore when you moor Baltic-style.
 
We only started to use our 'Ankarolina' when we got to the Med, where it has come into its own as a shore line: light and easy to deploy, quick to swim or dinghy ashore, and simple to make fast to trees, rocks etc. I wouldn't choose it for a kedge anchor rode myself, not so much because of its strength - but it has virtually no stretch (and as Vv Cox says, they can't half vibrate when taut). Also it isn't easy to handle if you had to haul on it to retrieve a kedge.
 
A timely post since I am thinking about buying one of these thingies.

I can understand why this looks like a nonsensical idea in the alongside mooring world of the UK but I can see real benefits for the Med where very long stern lines to shore are sometimes necessary. (Reasons - 1. Everyone else is moored this way so you can't swing and 2. Steep shelving shorelines. 3. On a smaller boat, there isn't much locker space to store long shore lines.)

Anyway, I will be singlehanding a little 30 footer around Greece and have been scratching my head about how best to moor with a shoreline without my two teenage boys around to swim ashore with chain between their teeth. The obvious problem is that I need to minimise the time I am off the boat, taking the line ashore.
Also, as I am outboarding ashore, I need something that will pay out the line without snags and will be light enough to not drag the dinghy backwards if engine failure / shallows make it necessary to row. The spooled webbing seems to fit the bill.

The one thing that I worry about is the fact that the webbing is on a drum and not a cleat. So, if I get ashore and there is nobody on the boat to cleat off the line, I can't expect the drum/pushpit to take the the weight of the boat if it starts to drift sideways. (I wonder if it would make more sense to cleat the end of the webbing to the boat and have the webbing drum paying out from the tender.)

It is one of the many things that is keeping me awake at night, so I would appreciate any advice from those who have experience of these things - especially for single handed shore mooring.

Incidentally, a previous forum thread on a similar theme suggested having two 25m warps on board to make a second 50m shore line to pair up with the drum. Sounds smart to me.
 
We don't have a tape drum for long lining ashore, we looked at them but thought them too expensive. We use two retired climbing ropes for the job, each about 60 metres long. They live in bags, so they pay out easily without tangles. Our original technique was to chose our spot, reverse into it, dropping the anchor on the way, stop the anchor chain, keeping a slow reverse on the motor and use the dinghy to go ashore. The free end of one line is made fast to the cleat, the line bag goes into the dinghy. Row/motor ashore and make the line fast to a tree or rock. Repeat with second line. Adjust tension if required by a combination of taking in the anchor or using the sheet winches on the aft lines. Always a little frantic but it can be done single handed with a remote control for the anchor winch.
What we now do is to go ashore with the line before anchoring, bring it back towards the boat, drop it into the water with a small grapnel and a buoy before returning to the boat to bring her back in to the buoy. Life becomes less frantic and much easier to manage especially in a cross wind. However, it does really take two, although if your sons are ok at keeping the boat circling safely whilst you go ashore, then it'd work ok for you.
 
In my experience on charter in Greece and Turkey we have taken lines ashore several times and it is good fun and appropriate but I am struggling to see how you can do it single handed unless it is shallow far enough out and you have space to anchor properly first. (Or you come in alongside another boat with lines to them temporarily which would require pretty good negotiating skills in a few languages). Good fun means quite tricky with the skill levels of my family, climbing onto rocks past the sea urchins while keeping the boat in position...... Duncan's method takes out the stress but you still need 2. (Ravi, I'd start a separate thread if you haven't already.....good luck, sounds an adventure)
 
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Ravi.

We had one on our little 30 footer, also in Greece, and used it a lot.

You'll only try to tow a shoreline through the water once. In the same way as any shoreline, cleat it to the boat and put the rest into the dinghy so that it can run freely. This means that you only have to overcome the friction between the line and the dinghy as it pays out. Pulling a line through the water is very hard work.
 
Thanks Dave and Duncan for the advice.
Yes, I realise that this could be tricky in less than ideal conditions. I will take up your idea of starting a new thread about the technique for singlhanding.

On the subject of the spooling drums......
It has occurred to me to try and make my own bit of kit to save money.
The seatbelt grade webbing seems pretty cheap when bought separately (50m for £24 at http://www.attwoollsmanufacturing.co.uk/webbing/polyester-webbing/25mm-polyester-webbing/)
If a suitable 50m drum cannot be obtained from the webbing manufacturers, then it should not be beyond the wit of man to make something up.
I am sure that the ankarolina is a quality bit of kit but I struggle with the 200 price tag.
 
boguing said:
Ravi. Pulling a line through the water is very hard work.
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After one floundering attempt, myself, I decided that this was the sort of character building stuff that I should leave to my two lads. Which is why they have broad shoulders and a less relaxed attitude to shore mooring than me. No galley slaves on this trip, though, so I am resorting to technology.

It sounds like you keep the ankorolina drum on your dinghy, rather than spooling out from the pushpit. I like that idea. I wondered about making some sort of bracket for the dinghy thwart.
 
Ravi said:
Thanks Dave and Duncan for the advice.
Yes, I realise that this could be tricky in less than ideal conditions. I will take up your idea of starting a new thread about the technique for singlhanding.

On the subject of the spooling drums......
It has occurred to me to try and make my own bit of kit to save money.
The seatbelt grade webbing seems pretty cheap when bought separately (50m for £24 at http://www.attwoollsmanufacturing.co.uk/webbing/polyester-webbing/25mm-polyester-webbing/)
If a suitable 50m drum cannot be obtained from the webbing manufacturers, then it should not be beyond the wit of man to make something up.
I am sure that the ankarolina is a quality bit of kit but I struggle with the 200 price tag.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, you can have mine for a good bit less than that! :)
 
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