Musings on anchor trip line

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eddystone

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I've never used a trip line on an anchor but thinking of uses for a pick up buoy used on a previous mooring led me to consider rigging one up. I've read some of the posts on various forums about the pros and cons but one thing I'm sceptical about is their effectiveness in aiding anchor recovery. I recently bought a Rocna Vulcan to replace the Sowester CQR I had previously (although I've not used it yet); if it buries itself "as advertised" then pulling on a line attached to the fluke end of the shank would, in my view, be less effective than pulling the rode from the opposite direction so that the shank is then exerting a rotating leverage. Seem reasonable?
 
Big subject.

Don't use a pick up buoy; someone will pick it up! A dan buoy is perhaps the best as it is less likely to get round a prop.

Or lead the tripping line back aboard.

If you were still using your CQR you could use the Eric Hiscock method of breaking out a CQR that is foul on something:

1. Haul short, till the chain is almost vertical.

2. Shackle a foot of heavy chain to itself to make a circle round the chain outboard of the fairlead and bend a strong warp to the circle of chain.

3. Drop this down the chain until the warp is slack. Belay the warp.

4. Pay out plenty of chain, sharply.

5. Haul in on the warp and up comes the anchor.

I have had 100% success with this for forty five years. Which is why I stick to CQRs.
 
Pulling from the opposite direction is what happens when the tide turns. If doing that dislodged your anchor, it wouldn't be a very good anchor.
 
I hate using a tripping line, but there are occasions, like in a place with a history of old and possibly abandoned moorings, where I will use one. Connected to the correct part of the anchor, it should, if required, be able to pull the fouled anchor out from under the obstruction.

The other situation in which I will use one, is in heavy weather, if I choose to deploy a second anchor in a Vee, then I will put a tripping line and buoy on the second anchor, so that if necessary, I can slip it, and pick it up later. The other advantage in that situation, is that it gives me an idea where it is.
 
We use a tripping line for the same reasons outlined by Norman and I think when both of us deploy a second anchor, with tripping line, the chances of anyone picking up the buoy are slim - because we anchor in isolated places. We might buoy both anchors, so that when we deploy the second we know where the first is (and buoy the second in case we need to abandon it temporarily - never happened).

Some bright spark will suggest a short tripping line, maybe only 2m, too deep to be seen and too deep to catch a prop - they conveniently forget that many of us sail in waters sufficiently cold or cloudy that the idea of diving is a bit of a non-starter. Consequently this idea works in some places - but not for the rest of us.

If you anchor with big tides then having a buoyed line will mean at low tide there is an awful lot of line and it would advantageuosly be a sinking, or sunk? line.

But like Norman - we do not like buoyed lines. Advantageously we tend to anchor in places where buoying the line is unnecessary - so for us it is simply not a big issue.

The buoyed line wants to be as low and as far back, at the rear and bottom of the fluke, as possible. Attaching to a roll bar is simply not using the geometry of the anchor to full advantage. Most anchors, Rocna, Spade, Excel etc have a hole (or bracing beam) in the rear of the fluke to which one can attach the line. In some cases the hole is too small (Spade and Rocna) for a decent line, use a short dyneema strop and then attach the tripping line.

If you anchored frequently where your anchor might be fouled I'd be suggesting an anchor with a tripping slot, antipodean (for most reading this) Supreme or SARCA. (but I would not use the slot in other seabeds).

Jonathan
 
I will assume that my description was not clear.

The loop of chain drops over the near vertical shank of the anchor and settles on the curved neck, above the hinge.

When the chain is suddenly veered, the centre of gravity of the anchor and chain moves to the hinge point.

Hauling on the warp now lifts the anchor from the point at which you would, had you used one, have attached the tripping line.
 
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Minn said:
Big subject.

Don't use a pick up buoy; someone will pick it up! A dan buoy is perhaps the best as it is less likely to get round a prop.

Or lead the tripping line back aboard.

If you were still using your CQR you could use the Eric Hiscock method of breaking out a CQR that is foul on something:

1. Haul short, till the chain is almost vertical.

2. Shackle a foot of heavy chain to itself to make a circle round the chain outboard of the fairlead and bend a strong warp to the circle of chain.

3. Drop this down the chain until the warp is slack. Belay the warp.

4. Pay out plenty of chain, sharply.

5. Haul in on the warp and up comes the anchor.

I have had 100% success with this for forty five years. Which is why I stick to CQRs.
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Sounds practical which is what you would expect from Eric Hiscock (by coincidence happen to be reading Cruising under Sail at the moment); worth a try to see if it can be adapted to other types of anchor - there was someone at SIBS selling a device which sounds suspiciously similiar but was quite expensive. Pity Hiscock didn't seem as good at IP as sailing.
 
eddystone said:
Sounds practical which is what you would expect from Eric Hiscock (by coincidence happen to be reading Cruising under Sail at the moment); worth a try to see if it can be adapted to other types of anchor - there was someone at SIBS selling a device which sounds suspiciously similiar but was quite expensive. Pity Hiscock didn't seem as good at IP as sailing.
Click to expand...

I've had success with this method but motored past the anchor after dropping the loop and then a fair bit of my anchor chain. This allowed the anchor to be pulled clear fairly easily and should work with most types, not just a CQR. I still keep a chain loop for use with my Bruce pattern anchor.

I did use a tripping line once because the pilot book said that the ground was very foul in the area. A local speed boat tried to use it as a mooring almost immediately. We left it down as there was no room for any other boats to anchor nearby and the wind had died completely. After a quick shopping trip ashore we returned to find that the wind had returned from the opposite direction and pushed the bows past the anchor. The boat was now being held by the tripping line around the rudder. Easy to fix but have avoided a tripping line since then. We remained in the bay for about a week and never once saw another boat use a tripping line in this so called badly fouled area.

I still might be tempted to use a more distinctive buoy and tripping line if circumstances required it. I have thought it might be worth feeding a line through the eye in the buoy and connecting it to a lead weight. The weight should pull in any slack and make the buoy sit closer to the anchor with the line pretty much straight up. Less chance of wrapping the keel, rudder or propeller. Only a thought as I've never tried it out.
 
I have only once tried the trick with the ring of chain, when a friend couldn't get his anchor to come free in Loch Leosavay. It didn't work, but fortunately I knew some divers operating nearby, and they were able to extricate the anchor from under a huge old chain.

He was actually lucky though, because while he was away ashore, the boat had dragged, and was only saved from going onto the rocky shore, by the anchor catching on the old chain.
 
I sail in similar water to NormanS, and like him only using a tripping line if I am suspicious of the bottom.

However, I do wonder of the effectiveness. Invariably, when recovering I find the line is well tangled with the anchor and chain and I think it would be off little assistance in the purpose of pulling the anchor off an obstruction backwards.

I attach the line to the crown of the anchor, in my case a 20Kg Rocna.
 
Minn said:
Big subject.

Don't use a pick up buoy; someone will pick it up! A dan buoy is perhaps the best as it is less likely to get round a prop.

Or lead the tripping line back aboard.

If you were still using your CQR you could use the Eric Hiscock method of breaking out a CQR that is foul on something:

1. Haul short, till the chain is almost vertical.

2. Shackle a foot of heavy chain to itself to make a circle round the chain outboard of the fairlead and bend a strong warp to the circle of chain.

3. Drop this down the chain until the warp is slack. Belay the warp.

4. Pay out plenty of chain, sharply.

5. Haul in on the warp and up comes the anchor.

I have had 100% success with this for forty five years. Which is why I stick to CQRs.
Click to expand...
Reading between the lines, "Souwester CQR", leads me to believe that the OP has NOT got a CQR, but the Souwester copy.
One of those came with my boat, and until the cast shank finally broke, dragging was more frequent than setting. It was probably the most ineffective anchor across which I have ever come.
It's replacement CQR did sterling work for the next 12 years, until its joint wore so much it was unreliable.

I'd agree that a buoyed tripping line is a recipe for disaster - far better to have it back from crown of anchor to an accessible point on the anchor chain.
 
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I have used a buoyed tripping line on several occasions but agree there is always a risk that someone will pick it up. Perhaps the best idea I have come across, although only on the internet, never seen one in practice, is a magnetic 'rope' attached to the crown of the anchor that is attracted to the chain as it is deployed. It only needs to be 10 metres long, fairly easy to attach as the anchor is lowered and similarly so when recovered. Unlikely to be used every time, so not too onerous.

Just found this review http://www.sailingtoday.co.uk/gear/...hnology-magnetic-anchor-tripping-line-review/ which does not sound all that positive.
 
A little note on the venerable CQR:

The eye on the back of the curved section is not for attaching a tripping line, although you can if you want to.

It is there so that you can splice a fathom or so of rope to it. The modus operandi is that if you don't stow the anchor in the bow roller, you get the anchor to the surface, fish for the fathom of rope with the boathook, and then pick the anchor up and bring it inboard using the rope. This avoids putting your back out or trapping your fingers.

The original description by Professor Sir Geoffrey Taylor, FRS, in the January 1938 "Yachting Monthly" explains this and the explanation is repeated in Hiscock's "Cruising Under Sail" at page 191 in the first edition.

Nerd mode off...
 
vyv_cox said:
I have used a buoyed tripping line on several occasions but agree there is always a risk that someone will pick it up. Perhaps the best idea I have come across, although only on the internet, never seen one in practice, is a magnetic 'rope' attached to the crown of the anchor that is attracted to the chain as it is deployed. It only needs to be 10 metres long, fairly easy to attach as the anchor is lowered and similarly so when recovered. Unlikely to be used every time, so not too onerous.

Just found this review http://www.sailingtoday.co.uk/gear/...hnology-magnetic-anchor-tripping-line-review/ which does not sound all that positive.
Click to expand...

I have a magnetic trip line for my Rocna. I changed the shackles to larger ones at both ends to make it easier to snap onto and off the anchor and then the chain. I put the line onto a reel. I put a line through the middle of the reel and around the babystay to that the line pays itself out as the anchor drops. Its a bit of a pain when raising the anchor as one has to wind the line back onto the reel. Luckily I have a foot pedal control for the windlass, so both hands are free. If you let the line pile up on the deck, unravelling is a nightmare as the magnets all want to stick together

I deployed it a lot this summer when in the Aegean. However I never had to actually trip the anchor. The only two times I did not use it, I got caught! Once was a chain across a marina and a diver got me free. Once was on an unmarked pipe and I got free by dropping a trip under the hoop of the Rocna

Certainly easy to deploy and less of a worry that a line and a buoy

TudorSailor
 
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