FIRE UP
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Hey Gang,
I appreciate the nice comments on my system for ropes and anchors. There are basics for anchoring, types and sizes of anchors, and rope lengths etc. I've looked at the charts and examples of how things should be laid out and all that. I really never paid much attention to all that. I just do what works for me and our boat, in varying situations. Now, I've been asked for pics of my rope bag and system. And maybe a video of how it all works. Well, I got pics but, no video at this time. I'll work on that. But, if you look at the pics I'm linking, you'll pretty much understand how it all works.
I actually have THREE anchors on board. The two I spoke of earlier and, a *Slide anchor* that's used for various purposes. Mostly that slide anchor is used when we're in the river, above Lake Havasu. There's a sand bar up stream a few miles from the mouth of the river where it enters our lake. The river gets progressively shallower and shallower as you near that sand bar. I normally don't run in anything less than about 2' deep. That slide anchor is about 40" long or so. When we find the spot I want to have the boat hold in, she takes the helm and I hop off the front and immediately slide hammer that anchor into the sand, below the water line.
The rope in that little bag is for attaching that slide anchor to the boat. The current in that river is not all that strong that, a slide anchor hammered into the sand about a foot, at a 30 to 45 degree angle facing away from the boat, holds that 26' tri-toon just fine.
Now, using any anchor I have, with the bags and rope, I was asked how it works. It's simple. You see the spliced eye emanating from the bottom of the bag. It gets sent through and around the appropriate cleat. Then, I grab the anchor and, with a ho-heave, I toss it as far out as I can. As the anchor is flying through the air and hits the water, then starts to sink, the line is paying out of the bag, un-obstructed and un-knotted and un-tangled. I have that rope sliding through my hand and paying out of the bag, as long as it takes. Once I can tell the anchor is on the bottom and the line is no longer paying out, I grab a couple extra feet from the bag and, tie it off on a cleat, DONE. As stated earlier, the remaining rope that is not used, stays in the bag, as it sits on the deck of the boat, next to the cleat.
Now, as for retrieving the rope and re-stuffing it in the bag, yep, it's a bit of a tedious task. I pull on the anchor to un-seat it and pull it up. The rope and the anchor is in a pile on the deck. I then feed the rope back into the bag, little by little, until it's all in and the anchor attachment point is at the entrance to the bag. When we return home, the rope is then laid along side the boat to dry out. When dry, it's stuffed back into the bag, ready for the next use. I hope this helps in describing how my system is used. In previous boats, I used to just sloppily coil the rope in a compartment and toss the anchor on top of it. The next time I'd go to use the anchor, it was inevitable that the rope would get tangled as I tossed the anchor. So, hence, the use of the bag and that method.
Scott
I appreciate the nice comments on my system for ropes and anchors. There are basics for anchoring, types and sizes of anchors, and rope lengths etc. I've looked at the charts and examples of how things should be laid out and all that. I really never paid much attention to all that. I just do what works for me and our boat, in varying situations. Now, I've been asked for pics of my rope bag and system. And maybe a video of how it all works. Well, I got pics but, no video at this time. I'll work on that. But, if you look at the pics I'm linking, you'll pretty much understand how it all works.
I actually have THREE anchors on board. The two I spoke of earlier and, a *Slide anchor* that's used for various purposes. Mostly that slide anchor is used when we're in the river, above Lake Havasu. There's a sand bar up stream a few miles from the mouth of the river where it enters our lake. The river gets progressively shallower and shallower as you near that sand bar. I normally don't run in anything less than about 2' deep. That slide anchor is about 40" long or so. When we find the spot I want to have the boat hold in, she takes the helm and I hop off the front and immediately slide hammer that anchor into the sand, below the water line.
The rope in that little bag is for attaching that slide anchor to the boat. The current in that river is not all that strong that, a slide anchor hammered into the sand about a foot, at a 30 to 45 degree angle facing away from the boat, holds that 26' tri-toon just fine.
Now, using any anchor I have, with the bags and rope, I was asked how it works. It's simple. You see the spliced eye emanating from the bottom of the bag. It gets sent through and around the appropriate cleat. Then, I grab the anchor and, with a ho-heave, I toss it as far out as I can. As the anchor is flying through the air and hits the water, then starts to sink, the line is paying out of the bag, un-obstructed and un-knotted and un-tangled. I have that rope sliding through my hand and paying out of the bag, as long as it takes. Once I can tell the anchor is on the bottom and the line is no longer paying out, I grab a couple extra feet from the bag and, tie it off on a cleat, DONE. As stated earlier, the remaining rope that is not used, stays in the bag, as it sits on the deck of the boat, next to the cleat.
Now, as for retrieving the rope and re-stuffing it in the bag, yep, it's a bit of a tedious task. I pull on the anchor to un-seat it and pull it up. The rope and the anchor is in a pile on the deck. I then feed the rope back into the bag, little by little, until it's all in and the anchor attachment point is at the entrance to the bag. When we return home, the rope is then laid along side the boat to dry out. When dry, it's stuffed back into the bag, ready for the next use. I hope this helps in describing how my system is used. In previous boats, I used to just sloppily coil the rope in a compartment and toss the anchor on top of it. The next time I'd go to use the anchor, it was inevitable that the rope would get tangled as I tossed the anchor. So, hence, the use of the bag and that method.
Scott
