New anchoring gizmo. Do I need one?

PEJ

PEJ

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I don't anchor often but when I do I always would like to know exactly where my anchor is. I'm not sure if I really need to know though, is it that important?

Thanks to Neale's excellent free magazine I came across this

https://company.metstrade.com/Image/Download?docid=28195

It sits above your anchor on what must be a spring loaded reel. Is this a must have gizmo or just a gimmick?
 
PEJ said:
I don't anchor often but when I do I always would like to know exactly where my anchor is. I'm not sure if I really need to know though, is it that important?

Thanks to Neale's excellent free magazine I came across this

https://company.metstrade.com/Image/Download?docid=28195

It sits above your anchor on what must be a spring loaded reel. Is this a must have gizmo or just a gimmick?
Click to expand...

I know some people like to buoy their anchor which is fine in an uncluttered anchorage, but in somewhere such as the Cove in Scilly, those buoys can be a bit of a nuisance when manoeuvring around and between the anchored vessels. Also when using your dinghy at night, they can be difficult to spot. So they're not for me.
 
We just love filling our boats with absolute rubbish in terms of necessity ! If you must leave out a marker don't be surprised when some idot thinks its a visitor mooring and ties up to it.

Why think having a marker, that unless it points to your boat with a large pointer and label, will make a damn of difference for some idiot dropping his hook over your own cable.

In the same way that when the tide swings and you drift around onto 'Johnny came later', he will then expect you to move, as he complains about YOUR poor seamanship. Thank goodness for Panoramic camera facility on the iPhone, its most useful APP, which should be the first thing you reach for once the anchor is set.
 
I think at best it's a solution to a problem we don't have, and at worst a sodding nuisance eg to tenders at night. I have no intention of buying one!

I'm firmly of the view you should keep it simple when anchoring and have zero delay-causers and zero tangling opportunities, in case you want to leave in a hurry. For example when a howling wind arrives and you want to escape a lee shore or the upwind boats start dragging down onto you. So I'm no fan of twin anchors, snubbers, any marker buoys, or these things
 
There are times when it is important for me to know where my anchor is e.g. to ensure enough swing space in a small anchorage, or when I am concerned about it holding. All I do is drop a marker on the zoomed-in chart, then I can monitor my swing arcs easily and nobody can moor up to it.
 
One came with our boat when we bought it and once I had worked out what it was for , its been great. Apart from the time recently when some **** dropped his anchor right over the top of ours and his dinghy got caught up on our marker buoy. Dont know if its psychological or not but its good to know where your anchor is for some reason ??
 
Yes, far more trouble than they are worth. jfm makes a good point about the KISS approach to anchoring. If you are dragging for example and need to re-anchor quickly, you don't need markers, snubbers, kedges or anything else to complicate the situation. Unanounced mood swings in the Med weather can sometimes require prompt reaction.
 
Or go for the cheap option and buy one of these and a small buoy... ;)

image_import_1415267966.jpg
 
You don't need it. Just something else to get tangled in anothers props or worse still your own..

The main purpose of a buoyed anchor is to enable you to recover it in the event of it becoming hooked up in something on the sea bed. IMHO if you know you are anchoring on foul ground, eg English Harbor Antigua or Chagaramous Trinidad, then run a line from the tripping point back up the chain tieing it to the chain with wool then cable ties for the last two.

I anchor out about 350 days a year.
 
longjohnsilver said:
I know some people like to buoy their anchor which is fine in an uncluttered anchorage, but in somewhere such as the Cove in Scilly, those buoys can be a bit of a nuisance when manoeuvring around and between the anchored vessels. Also when using your dinghy at night, they can be difficult to spot. So they're not for me.
Click to expand...

What you need is one of these......

naval-mine_zps57b1b350.jpg
 
And if on the rare occasion you do decide to buoy your anchor, you don't need a specially made twee little anchor buoy. Anything that floats will do (I have a small dinghy-sized fender) and most of the time a couple of metres extra line for tidal range is not a problem, versus cunning self-winding mechanisms. If you are anchoring in shallow water over a spring tide in the Bristol channel, then pass the line through the eye on the float and add a weight to the end.

Pete
 
We saw it at Dusseldorf and I thought it was an anchor trip.
Then I looked at the rope and saw it wasn't strong enough.

We have one of those extending anchir trip buoys - same kind of idea.
Although we have never used it in anger, we have set it in rocky anchorages.
Last summer, I didn't set it in Ibiza and wished I had - the anchor had gone down a hole.
We immediatly re-anchored succesfully but that ocasion I would probably have left it until we moved - knowing that a trip would have helped.

So, IMO, the concept is correct but something like this just to mark the anchor is a bit of a waste of time/money
 
We had one of the self levelling buoys which by the sound of Hurricanes description was the same model.

It worked ok and was easy to deploy once you had attached the strop to the anchor.

BUT you had to have a person on the bow to throw the buoy over the side as the anchor is released.

The main PIA came on retrieval when you had to retract the anchor chain and steer for the marker buoy and then either use a boat hook to lift the buoy out before the anchor or lift the anchor and wait until the anchor was retrieved and then pull in the buoy.

Because the mechanism on the buoy adjusted for depth of water if you grasped the strop at the retrieved anchor you then had to pull the strop on board whilst the strop kept running out to maximum length until you reached the end and the buoy was brought on board.

Hurricane like MedMilo are the 'tight wads":D of the forum and must be amongst the most experienced at anchoring and will be willing to anchor in situations that most of us would decline. Very rarely do experienced skippers such as them use such devices.

As has been said already they are a PIA in tight or crowded anchorages and on several occasions I have been forced to ignore them and run over them and rely on the rope cutters to do their job.

Fortunately they have missed the props so far.

For us another problem is that the bow is nearly 3 metres above the water so reaching down with a boat hook is problematical at its best.

My advice is forget these gimmicks and keep it simple.
 
I saw this thing as well, H. At first I thought what a good idea but then I thought what for, because speaking personally, I've only ever experienced an anchor entanglement issue once and that was with some idiot charterers and I'm quite sure an anchor buoy wouldn't have prevented it. I suppose that the kind of boater who will notice the buoy in the water and recognise it for what it is wouldn't be the kind of boater who's going to drop his anchor chain over yours
 
And now, anchors with attached lobster pot bouys!

Gimmick, gimmick, gimmick!

What does a marker bouy deliver that a snorkel and mask doesn't except perhaps the ability to find the hook if it comes off the chain?

A well stuck anchor that can't be recovered normally is unlikely to be tripped by the lightweight line this toy uses.

Wonder how long the coil spring will last all cooped up in salt water.

:)
 
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