which anchor?

Hate cats

Love my dog (sig)

And....yesterday I tried my baby box on a soft bottom, in 15 , ph wind and it held like a SOB.... I do hate trying to get the muck oit..ti, etc ti leave that to the Mrs..
 
Hmmm.  That might be worth the cost of the box anchor right there - The much lighter weight could/would make cleaing it my wife's job!!!

Try tea-bagging a 30 lb anchor that's been set in mud/clay for a couple hours.  It takes a long time to clean off.  Jarred knows what I'm talking about.  I don't know whats all on the bottom of our lake, but it sure is sticky.
 
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We had another cat that used to piss me off big time.  It would pee and take dumps all over in the basement.  Fortunatley at the time, we had an unfinished basement and it was easy enough to clean off the concrete with bleach. But I tell you what, I wanted to strangle (and eat) that cat too.  It was a friendly cat though, so I put up with it.  But it got the last laugh.  It died in its sleep one night.  My wife woke me up to deal with it before the kids got up.  Lets just say the lesson here is make sure you pick up a dead animal ass-up, not head-up like you would normally do.  Damn thing crapped and peed all over me when I picked it up.  It got me one last time, and there was nothing I could do.  It was already dead.
 
Sad yet funny story there Dan. You could have had the last laugh though, if you already have a hole dug, and you have to go, it's not killing two birds with one stone. It's filling one hole with two craps.

Back to anchors. Our lake has an almost blanket of intertwined seaweed covering the floor. So we usually just drift around or beech at one of the islands.

So what about you tea bagging Jared Dan?
 
Funny cat story Dan!!!!!! Sorry for being off topic but..............Gotta quick one to tell............I was working a plain clothes robbery detail at a Metro station. My partner lived nearby and after about 4 or 5 hrs. he said c'mon nothing going here today let's go to my house to eat. Oh yeah free food! Noticed there were a few cats and he said they were also watching his sister in laws cat and he was mean. Didn't know this at the time but his cat went around the house "marking his territory" and peed all over the couch...........just where I sat! All over the back of my pants and shirt and it stunk! Of course a call goes out at the station, Domestic violence not a robbery, and by the time we got there uniformed officers were already on the scene and took care of it. We were all standing there waiting for transport and one of them says..... What stinks?!? My partner couldn't stop laughing! I went home..........
 
This past season was our first with our new Bennington 22-SSX. (We previously owned I/O bowrider -- which we don't miss at all now compared with our Bennington.)  Some of the boating equipment we carried forward to our new Bennington were our two Chene Anchors.  We've always had good luck with these.

These are supposed to have superior hold, no chain is required, supposed to be 100 percent retrievable, use 70 percent less anchor line, and are relatively light in weight. They are available through many different marine suppliers. Have never lost one of these -- yet.

http://www.cheneanchor.com/

We also added a cheap simple mushroom anchor that we use back in the calm, shallow, mud-bottom fishing areas of our lake, for when we just need a very light hold, and are moving more frequently from spot to spot while fishing. 

Enjoy!
 
So since my last post on this I emailed Slideanchor and told them of my issues with their large box anchor not working well with my boat on windy days. The OWNER of the company called me late that same day (2 days ago) and provided me with some very important information about anchors in general and also some info specific to his anchor (he owns the company....he designed the anchor himself).

First, he insists that my (his) anchor should indeed EASILY work for my boat even stating that it should hold mine and 4 other boats tied up to me, especially the size anchor that I have (their large one).

Second, it was found that I was using it incorrectly. With a traditional anchor you generally let as much anchor line out as possible so as to allow the anchor to dig in vs. having the boat close to being directly about it which would keep dislodging the anchor. His achor is designed to be used as a 2:1 ratio of anchor line to water depth: If you're in 30 feet of water then you want to use 60 feet of anchor line....not all 100 like I was doing.

Third, he stated you want to use TWISTED nylon anchor line, not braided like I have been using. Reason being is that braided line doesn't have the 'elastic give' that twisted nylon has. So when my boat is being pulled against the anchor due to winds, there is almost zero give in the anchor line thus it's 'snapping' the anchor and making it move along the bottom of the lake.

So basically I have been doing everything wrong; wrong line and incorrect length of line used. He also stated not to throw the anchor out while the boat is still moving (which I don't do). He stated to just drop it over (with the correct amount of line out) and the anchor is designed to roll over into the correct position and fasten itself to the bottom correctly.

Again, this is for the box anchor, not a traditional anchor (except for using the twisted nylon line which he states you should use with any anchor).

I'm not trying to insult anyone's intellegence by posting this. Perhaps most already know this but I have been involved with boats and lived on lakes almost my entire life and I didn't know some of the things he told me so I thought I'd share.

He ended with saying that he wanted me to save his phone number in my contact list on my cell phone and that if by this summer when I use my anchor again (correctly and with the correct anchor line) and the anchor still doesn't hold, even on windy days with my bimini fully deployed, to call him and he would buy the anchor back from me (and I have used it for 2 years now). That's backing your product.
I am a newby to pontooning and appreciate this post very much. Thanks for the detailed explanation. You have saved me from buying the wrong items.
 
I am a newby to pontooning and appreciate this post very much. Thanks for the detailed explanation. You have saved me from buying the wrong items.

Ditto. Some of these threads should be stickied, or compiled into a list of New owner FAQ... Maybe someday I'll have the time... or take a hotspot on the boat with me and work on it while in a cove... though that would seriously cut into my beer drinking... hmm...

:p
 
Marc

While I am in a different geographic area I am often in a gravel/rock bottom, I can tell you my favorite anchors are the box anchors

I also like that I can use 1/2 the rope....and yes, I have several other anchors in my garage
1/2" rope is key!!! And a wood tote to put it all in!
 

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Interesting how the water and conditions dictate type of anchor and scope. I boat on the sandy bottom Eastern Shore of MD with strong tides. I use the Fortress with minimum 5:1 scope. I think I be afraid of dropping her on a rocky bottom for fear of not getting it back.
 
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