NormanS
Well-Known Member
I've given a bit of thought to the various problems, and so far this is my best shot for someone who routinely risks a foul anchor, but needs a secure tripping system.
The "shuttlecock" is fabricated from stainless steel rod of suitable diameter, two rings and four straights. Only the bottom ring needs to be strong, and the top ring should be a small bush or bullseye, maybe 10mm inside diameter.
The idea is that to retrieve a fouled anchor, a wire "snare" noose (perhaps a loop of 7/19 rigging wire with a big talurit eye at one end and a smaller one at the other, and perhaps a big shackle at the bottom of the loop to weight it down) is dropped over the bleach bottle and lowered down to the shuttlecock on a strong warp. The loop's "natural" diameter should be big enough that it definitely passes around the shuttlecock, but no bigger. With the loop resting in the crook of the dropper line from the smaller float, that float is then pulled down (by retrieving the bleach bottle float) and swallowed up within the shuttlecock. The latter is pulled upwards a bit to encourage the loop to pass below it, then the warp is hauled on to tighten the loop below the "strong metal ring", snaring the chain labelled as 1/4" G70 (I would go bigger on an anchor weighing in at over 25-30kg).
The warp is now used to pull from a suitable direction to free the anchor.
I probably wouldn't personally bother with this for an anchor where more ad-hoc methods (I particularly like the "chain in the middle of a warp" suggested by vyv_cox) had proven to work well, unless there was a strong benefit in having a marker buoy showing me where the anchor was. To give one example: it might discourage others from dropping their anchor on, or close to mine. This rig, like Mistroma's lead sinker (which I do recall dreaming up years ago but never tried) does have the nice feature of self-adjusting even in an area with big tides, the line to the single buoy at the surface being kept taut. And in the case of my proposed rig, if a prop does grab the line, it will probably at least winch the small float into the shuttlecock before the line snaps. You can then grapple for the shuttlecock if the anchor is foul, and a bleach bottle is no great loss.
Another advantage of this system is that the upwards force on the anchor is minimal, somewhat less than twice the buoyancy of the SMALLER float plus the buoyancy of the line.
Thinking more about vyv_cox's idea, it would also be excellent for rusty ring-bolts on wharves, particularly massive wrought iron ones which have corroded into something resembling a stale croissant. ON EDIT: It preserves the option to slip and run, in situations which might quickly become untenable, without leaving any gear behind. In that situation I have previously cow-hitched a short webbing sling through the ringbolt, and then doubled the shoreline through the sling. This means (in an emergency) either slipping the rope and leaving the webbing for someone else (not a bad option) or in an absolute firedrill situation putting a sharp knife through the webbing (with gratifyingly rapid results if it's under significant load)
I've waited a wee while to see if anyone else would comment on this.
Ye Gods! Is this just theoretical, or have you actually experimented with all this junk? I would think that there's a fair chance of fouling your own anchor with some of the ironmongery.
As I have said previously, I hate using a tripping line with a float, but at least it's just a single line with a modest float attached. Even so, when letting go, the line does its damnedest to get caught around the anchor. What it would be like with all the multitude of lines, floats, and steel cages, I shudder to think.
Welcome to the forum, by the way.
