The perfect anchor, a gift.

[Mark-1]

We had a non-sailing visitor this weekend.

Wonderful company and she came bearing gifts among which was this:



I assured her Grapnels are highly regarded in the sailing world and 1.5kg is the perfect weight for my 21 footer. In fact, I explained, it's the perfect anchor.

I think we can all agree I was 100% right?

(This really is a true story. I broke into a massive, sincere grin.)

 

[KevinV]

In fact, I explained, it's the perfect anchor.

Quite right, it's so lovely you should keep it pristine and unused, as it is

 

[mjcoon]

I had a folding grapnel anchor in my (14ft) Enterprise dinghy back in the 1970s, though I don't remember the weight. I don't remember the flukes looking quite so much like segments of a bomb, either...

 

[Mark-1]

It's just occurred to me, I often use my 2kg Bruce lunch hook as an angel. I suppose I could tape the flukes folded and use it as a more convenient angel.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

It’s perfectly good for your flubber.

 

[Mark-1]

It’s perfectly good for your flubber.

If I ever need a small anchor I use the 2kg Bruce - no moving parts to catch little fingers. I'm gonna keep it though, and I'm gonna smile every time I see it.

 

[ashtead]

We only carry 2 anchors and one of them is just as per your photo .

 

[bikedaft]

Bizarrely we used one to anchor at Rockall.

https://flic.kr/p/2oJw8Cc

 

[greeny]

If fishing over rocky ground they work OK, just don't expect you get them back without a trip line or other such method like tywraps.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

If fishing over rocky ground they work OK, just don't expect you get them back without a trip line or other such method like tywraps.

We have one for our tender, it’s only ever used on a beach, where we bury it manually, and recover likewise. We carry it because, when folded, theres nothing nasty to catch yourself on. Useless things for 99% of yacht anchoring, but there is the odd niche job they are good for.

 

[Wansworth]

Good for scaling walls

 

[Poignard]

Handy to use as a grapnel for temporarily attaching a stern line to the horizontal hoop found on the end of catways in many French marinas, that often don't have a cleat there. That's all I ever used mine for.

See that excellent practical book 'Stress-free Sailing' by Duncan Wells

 

[greeny]

Handy to use as a grapnel for temporarily attaching a stern line to the horizontal hoop found on the end of catways in many French marinas, that often don't have a cleat there. That's all I ever used mine for.

See that excellent practical book 'Stress-free Sailing' by Duncan Wells

Hope no ones stood on the pontoon when you throw it.

 

[johnalison]

Hope no ones stood on the pontoon when you throw it.

It would hardly matter much. They’d only be Frenchmen.

 

[Wansworth]

It would hardly matter much. They’d only be Frenchmen.

Might stir up ancestral thoughts of abordache in the battle of atrafagar

 

[bergie]

We have one for our tender, it’s only ever used on a beach, where we bury it manually, and recover likewise. We carry it because, when folded, theres nothing nasty to catch yourself on. Useless things for 99% of yacht anchoring, but there is the odd niche job they are good for.

We also use one for the dinghy, and it is better than nothing. But only barely. We already once forgot that we had it deployed, and carried the dinghy all the way into the water before noticing we were dragging it behind...

 

[bergie]

Handy to use as a grapnel for temporarily attaching a stern line to the horizontal hoop found on the end of catways in many French marinas, that often don't have a cleat there. That's all I ever used mine for.

Buoy catching hooks, common in the Baltic, are really handy for this.

Our model is in the end of a telescopic boat hook. You hook the buoy or the finger pier hoop with that, pull, and the metal hook locks onto it with a rope attached.

 

[Poignard]

Hope no ones stood on the pontoon when you throw it.

You don't throw it. You lower it through the hoop..

 

[Poignard]

Buoy catching hooks, common in the Baltic, are really handy for this.
View attachment 185066
Our model is in the end of a telescopic boat hook. You hook the buoy or the finger pier hoop with that, pull, and the metal hook locks onto it with a rope attached.

Fine, provided it opens up sufficiently to encircle the plastic covered steel tubing from which the hoop is made.

 

[mjcoon]

We also use one for the dinghy, and it is better than nothing. But only barely. We already once forgot that we had it deployed, and carried the dinghy all the way into the water before noticing we were dragging it behind...
View attachment 185065

IIRC If well dug in, you can unfold just two flukes so there are not two sticking up in the air to catch people or hulls out...