Musings on anchor trip line

If and when we use a tripping line and we do of we think there and chance it going to get fouled , we tend to not use a buoy but to bring it back to the bow , in which case , no one can mistaken it for an mooring buoy or end up with it trapped under another boat propellor.
As for the chain loop trick , I have tried it quite a few times , helping out others who's anchor been caught up , and not ones have we managed to release the anchor that way , that's not to say it don't work , more lightly in a very mild fouling case , , when an anchor is jammed under rocks in some cases the chain it self as trapped it self . you be very luck to release it that way .
 
Minn said:
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...
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That's what I do. The line is also used to lash the CQR in its chocks on deck.
 
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sailaboutvic said:
If and when we use a tripping line and we do of we think there and chance it going to get fouled , we tend to not use a buoy but to bring it back to the bow , in which case , no one can mistaken it for an mooring buoy or end up with it trapped under another boat propellor.
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True but this is best done with a weighted line, light chain, or at the very least a reliably sinking line.

Otherwise it gets a bit more complicated: (a) one needs to be 100% sure that the tripping line is longer than the anchor chain but 'not too much longer' and (b) one needs to weight the tripping line in the middle somewhere to ensure that it does not get wrapped around the keel/rudder following a wind/tide change. The 'not too much longer' bit stems from the requirement that no spare line should ever be floating around beside either the boat, or the main anchor chain.
 
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My father used a fender as a buoy for the trip line. Buoy had a block attached at one end; the trip line came up through the block then down to a weight. So the buoy always sat directly above the anchor (subject to currents) and he marked it clearly as the anchor buoy for the boat. Never had anyone pick it up.
 
dom said:
True but this is best done with a weighted line, light chain, or at the very least a reliably sinking line.

Otherwise it gets a bit more complicated: (a) one needs to be 100% sure that the tripping line is longer than the anchor chain but 'not too much longer' and (b) one needs to weight the tripping line in the middle somewhere to ensure that it does not get wrapped around the keel/rudder following a wind/tide change. The 'not too much longer' bit stems from the requirement that no spare line should ever be floating around beside either the boat, or the main anchor chain.
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Thanks for explaining it to the group , I wasn't going to go into details , one would think most you said is common sense.
But hey , it anchoring we talking about here , :)
 
>What about a generally foul bottom? Chains, wrecks, old engine blocks, train wheels, concrete blocks etc?

Having anchored 500+ plus times I never came across any of them, there is a chain on the bottom in English Harbour, Antigua which everyone knows about. The only thing we picked after a hurricame was a sheet of corrugated iron from a roof in St George's Harbour, Grenada but it hadn't affected the anchor - a CQR it got caught as we pulled the anchor up.
 
KellysEye said:
>What about a generally foul bottom? Chains, wrecks, old engine blocks, train wheels, concrete blocks etc?

Having anchored 500+ plus times I never came across any of them, there is a chain on the bottom in English Harbour, Antigua which everyone knows about. The only thing we picked after a hurricame was a sheet of corrugated iron from a roof in St George's Harbour, Grenada but it hadn't affected the anchor - a CQR it got caught as we pulled the anchor up.
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Crikey .... I've come across all of those I mentioned apart from train wheels. In the Caribbean and Bahamas I used to snorkel down and look at the engine blocks littering the seabed. I guess they were used for anchoring mooring buoys. I even found an octopus living in one of the cylinders in Admiralty Bay but I couldn't entice him out.

I must say that your post is the first time I have ever read that the only thing which can jam an anchor is a rock.

Richard
 
charles_reed said:
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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That's correct - it is a Sowester "looks a bit like a CQR" to be more accurate; could also be referred to as the "no sleep" anchor, hence now residing in my side passage at home where, to be fair, it hasn't dragged once.
 
H anyone tried permanently attaching a tripping line to the chain? Thought about it often, some 5mm dyneema to the back of the anchor then cable tied or whipping twine or something to the chain which would snap off should the need arise. Might foul on the windlass gypsy though - anyone tried it?
 
>Crikey .... I've come across all of those I mentioned apart from train wheels. In the Caribbean and Bahamas I used to snorkel down and look at the engine blocks littering the seabed. I guess they were used for anchoring mooring buoys. I even found an octopus living in one of the cylinders in Admiralty Bay but I couldn't entice him out.

I also used to snorkel around anchorages in the Caribbean and Bahamas to see how many yachts hadn't set their anchor, it was over 50% many were American charterers. I didn't see any of the things you mentioned including engines.
 
I have a 'last-resort' device for a fouled anchor. It is a short length of chain between two ropes spliced to it. It is used from the dinghy, motoring forward and allowing the chain to lower itself down the anchor rode, then pulling forward once it is judged to be around the shank of the anchor. It has been used twice with great success, once by somebody else who gratefully gave me a six-pack of beer afterwards. The device also doubles up as my chafe-resistant mooring line for use with rusty shackles on buoys.
 
KellysEye said:
>Crikey .... I've come across all of those I mentioned apart from train wheels. In the Caribbean and Bahamas I used to snorkel down and look at the engine blocks littering the seabed. I guess they were used for anchoring mooring buoys. I even found an octopus living in one of the cylinders in Admiralty Bay but I couldn't entice him out.

I also used to snorkel around anchorages in the Caribbean and Bahamas to see how many yachts hadn't set their anchor, it was over 50% many were American charterers. I didn't see any of the things you mentioned including engines.
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In Man-O-War Cay harbour as the tide went out we were settling on the bottom to await the turn of the tide (not deliberately .... I just mis-timed things a bit) I was conscious of old engine blocks on both sides of us and worried that we might damage the boat if we settled on one. With hindsight it doesn't really make sense as the keel was already on the bottom and the tidal range is not that great ..... however, in my defence, it was our first anchorage after leaving the charter base and the first time I had ever run aground. :o

Richard
 
Isn't one of the options to secure chain to anchor at the spade/plough/fluke end of the anchor and then cable tie the chain to the normal attachment point? Anchor stuck, cable tie breaks...
 
Gladys said:
Isn't one of the options to secure chain to anchor at the spade/plough/fluke end of the anchor and then cable tie the chain to the normal attachment point? Anchor stuck, cable tie breaks...
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That is not a failsafe solution. In fact it is the opposite. In the event of failure of the cable tie when you are anchored, the failure leads to an unsafe situation. And what you are effectively saying is that you are satisfied with being held at anchor by a cable tie. A system is only as strong as its weakest link, and the cable tie is a deliberately weak link. As soon as it breaks, you effectively have no more anchor. Would you be happy with attaching your chain to the anchor with a cable tie instead of a shackle?
 
bbg said:
That is not a failsafe solution. In fact it is the opposite. In the event of failure of the cable tie when you are anchored, the failure leads to an unsafe situation. And what you are effectively saying is that you are satisfied with being held at anchor by a cable tie. A system is only as strong as its weakest link, and the cable tie is a deliberately weak link. As soon as it breaks, you effectively have no more anchor. Would you be happy with attaching your chain to the anchor with a cable tie instead of a shackle?
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You're completely missing the point. The cable tie takes little load, it keeps the chain in line with the shank, the load gets applied when your anchor is fouled, you motor up on it, and pull when the chain is vertical.
 
vyv_cox said:
I have a 'last-resort' device for a fouled anchor. It is a short length of chain between two ropes spliced to it. It is used from the dinghy, motoring forward and allowing the chain to lower itself down the anchor rode, then pulling forward once it is judged to be around the shank of the anchor. It has been used twice with great success, once by somebody else who gratefully gave me a six-pack of beer afterwards. The device also doubles up as my chafe-resistant mooring line for use with rusty shackles on buoys.
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I like that idea.
 
bbg said:
That is not a failsafe solution. In fact it is the opposite. In the event of failure of the cable tie when you are anchored, the failure leads to an unsafe situation. And what you are effectively saying is that you are satisfied with being held at anchor by a cable tie. A system is only as strong as its weakest link, and the cable tie is a deliberately weak link. As soon as it breaks, you effectively have no more anchor. Would you be happy with attaching your chain to the anchor with a cable tie instead of a shackle?
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The "cable tie" solution has been posted on the Forum dozens of times over the years but that's the first time that I can recall the "failsafe" argument being raised.

However, as I've never tried using cable ties, I'll refrain from further comment. :confused:

Richard
 
Gladys said:
Isn't one of the options to secure chain to anchor at the spade/plough/fluke end of the anchor and then cable tie the chain to the normal attachment point? Anchor stuck, cable tie breaks...
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That's an option i've seen before. OK for lying at anchor in reasonable weather and during the day, might not be something that would promote a good nights sleep.
 
GHA said:
H anyone tried permanently attaching a tripping line to the chain? Thought about it often, some 5mm dyneema to the back of the anchor then cable tied or whipping twine or something to the chain which would snap off should the need arise. Might foul on the windlass gypsy though - anyone tried it?
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Yes, I used to do that. Had about 30 feet of 5mm line lashed by twine to the anchor chain. However it did not work well with the gypsy, perhaps a thinner dynemma line would be better nowadays. Otherwise it worked well and no problems with floats or tangled rope.
 
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