Those anchors which are just bags of rocks...

[Greenheart]

...at least they can't be accused of exaggerated holding power. It can't have been an easy design to patent...

View attachment 31744

...it's just a tough bag, to be filled with sand or rocks, allowing short-term anchoring of dinghies on a very short warp.

I'm quite tempted. A couple of minutes gathering rocks, then leave the boat twenty feet off the beach on a line that's barely longer than the water is deep...

...no weighty ironmongery in the dinghy, no long tangled warp, no need even for 3:1 scope...

Anybody used one? Or something similar?

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I've often tied the inflatabubble to a suitable rock using a barrel hitch.

 

[Romeo]

someone is surely taking the mickey here.

 

[Greenheart]

...taking the mickey...

I believe not...have a look: http://www.aquaglide.net/products/anchor-bag-set.cfm

 

[Dipper]

Anybody used one? Or something similar?

In my youth, I was on holiday in the early 70s with two friends on the Isle of Eigg. We hired a open clinker built rowing boat to go fishing and were advised by the owner to row to the other side of Castle Island (just off the SE of Eigg), drop the anchor and try our luck there. The anchor was a rock on the end of a rope!

It was only when the island became smaller and smaller that we realised we were drifting out to sea and that the wind had picked up. We frantically tried to row directly into the wind to get back only to rip the rollocks out of the boat. Luckily there was a second set fitted further back. We changed tactics and rowed parallel to the shore to get a bit more shelter from the land and eventually made it back. It fills me with horror now thinking about it. We had no safety equipment whatsoever.

 

[prv]

Aren't you planning to sail in Chichester harbour, though? The one that's made of mud, not boulders?

Pete

 

[maxcampbell]

Mudweights on the Broads. It all works if the water doesn't move very fast, and when it doesn't matter much if you do fetch up against the bank.

 

[Greenheart]

It fills me with horror now thinking about it. We had no safety equipment whatsoever.

That IS a scary tale!

Aren't you planning to sail in Chichester harbour, though? The one that's made of mud, not boulders?

Ah. Hmm. Well, I could...import some rocks...and, umm...yeah, it's not a good plan.

 

[fishermantwo]

This item must be for people who don't carry a plastic bucket. Plastic bucket full of sand does the same job and is handy for other stuff.

 

[Greenheart]

And I have a bucket, and I keep it on the boat! Thanks, that's saved me $49.95. Can you believe they're asking that much for a sack on a rope?

 

[oldbilbo]

Ideal that is for a quick getaway.... Used 'zackly that at the start of a Scottish Islands Peaks Race some years ago. This required the boats to be at anchor in Oban Bay off the beach. The team of 2 runners finished running around the town and were taken off by dinghy, whence their boat would depart for Mull and the next stage.

The problem was that the bay bottom was encumbered with aeons of jettisoned fishing gear, and boats regularly stayed hooked-up while others made their escapes. Deciding to avoid that fate, I scrounged a couple of square metres of redundant heavy fish netting, made it into a pouch with a length of doubled rope, and filled it with local boulders. Came the day, came close in to the beach in our little danish trimaran.... Lowered our 'anchor' to the bottom and waited.... The runners were ferried aboard, sails hoisted, and the 'anchor' slipped.... We were away before any of the others had their anchors on deck.

Sneaky b'r stewards....

 

[Seatrout]

.

...it's just a tough bag, to be filled with sand or rocks, allowing short-term anchoring of dinghies on a very short warp.

Marginally better than a wooden anchor.

 

[Fantasie 19]

Aren't you planning to sail in Chichester harbour, though? The one that's made of mud, not boulders?

Pete

...brill....

Bucket idea ok but make sure it has a decent handle - what about one of those recyclable supermarket bags you can buy these days - the cloth ones as opposed to the plastic things.... fill it with stuff and loop a line through the handles....??

 

[oldbilbo]

what about one of those recyclable supermarket bags you can buy these days - the cloth ones as opposed to the plastic things.... fill it with stuff and loop a line through the handles....??

You're on the right track there.... but get a couple with the 6 internal divisions. Just perfect for hanging over the side and keeping the wine cool....

 

[Fantasie 19]

You're on the right track there.... but get a couple with the 6 internal divisions. Just perfect for hanging over the side and keeping the wine cool....

Dual purpose....!!

 

[bbg]

The bag in the link looks pretty big. It might have a volume of 10 or even 20 litres.

Just fill it with water. 20 l of water = 20 kg. A 20 kg anchor is more than enough for a boat like yours, I would have thought.

Just note that the link says it is designed "for short-term anchoring of aquapark platforms" i.e. inflatable mattresses. Almost no mass, and the only force that will act on it is some windage. Absolutely no comparison with a boat.

Old Bilbo - you should have been disqualified for failing to retrieve your anchor. That's a no-no under the RRS.