Anchor Talk
 

Lost a couple of anchors yesterday and thought I'd share the story in case some of you have different approaches or stories to learn or laugh from...:exp:

I was anchored on a ledge yesterday where it drops from about 25' to over 70' rather quickly. A steady Tautog bite had me zoned in when the tide slowly snuck up on me and lifted the anchor off the bottom. The current also rips through this spot, so it was pretty obvious once adrift, that I was getting pulled into the rip. After a few attempts of starting the boat, I pulled the anchor up far enough to see the chain and maneuvered myself back into position. After lowering the anchor back down and trying to secure it, something didn't feel right...somehow it felt lighter? I pulled the rope back up to find only the chain dangling...my custom-made grappler was gone. Although I had the threaded shackle pin zip-tied through its pin-hole, the zip-tie must have snapped, allowing the threaded pin to back out, weaseling its way off the chain, along with the anchor...:rollem:

On to plan B, because there was no way I was leaving that bite. I don't like the danforth for spots like this, but a man's gotta do//blah/blah...so I thought.
After pulling all the rope out of the box, I reached in and grabbed the rusty danforth...ughh, one of the wings snapped and stayed in the box as I tried lifting it out...second wing was rusted stuck too, but after a quick grab, I was able to break that one off too...:realmad::realmad:..negligence at its best!!!

Once back home, I had to settle for buying one of those pos grapplers that are galvy-dipped, I'm sure that won't last...but I need something for this week, I also had to replace the danforth.... cha-ching due to my negligence - ((Before my dad retired, he had custom-made me a couple of awesome grapplers...tines strong and long enough to hold, yet forgiving enough to retrieve and bend back. Not a speck of rust in over 10 years...I still have the 2nd one as a prototype...Any welders out there making decent grapplers looking to cash in on my loss? PM me.))

This time I mushroomed the bottom-end of the threaded pin with a hammer and punch. Hopefully I can work it out if I ever need to...

Anyone ever lose an anchor due to the shackle pin coming loose/lost?
I still swear my wife sent my son out to the boat and had him loosen it up...she's always looking to get me home early.:mad:

I enjoyed the story, made my day, sorry for your loss. anyway, blue lock tite is your friend,not only will the pin stay put, in the event you DO need to remove it, it wont be corroded to death and need a torch to remove.. gotta watch wives, I've often seen mine calculating how much SHE could collect in the event of a fire( every thing is in her name)
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Gilly, keep an eye out for yard sale anchors... I bet I have half a dozen, and three or four with rodes, for very very short money....

Need to use SS wire on the shackles. 200 years of tradition unimpaired by progress.
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More anchor follies...

This past weekend I anchored up near Jamestown, wind and tide were working hand in hand at keeping the anchor line pinned tight. It kept reminding me with the occasional moan from the strain it was under. Bite was slow, measuring board still dry...time to move.
54' below me, is my brand new grappler-anchor, zip-tied for a second chance effort if needed. I fire up the engine and push forward a little to take some strain off the rope...then I rush the rope and start jerking, doesn't take long before it's pinned again...tide is rushing too hard and it's got the wind at its back. After numerous attempts, I decide to change the angle and pull from the opposite direction. This too is a chore due to wind and tide. I only have 100' of rope, so with 54' doled out, I don't have much for maneuverability.. ......shiny-new grappler still isn't budging so I pull from another direction, then another. Determined to get my brand new grappler back, I remained stubborn. So stubborn, that it took over an hour of numerous failed attempts before I decided to cut the rope. I just couldn't understand why the zip-tie had failed me?? I even tried using the boat to power it out...nothing but an angry motor and turbulent water.
Due to the stage of the tide and the amount of line I had out...I wanted to retrieve as much as possible before cutting her free. Not that I'd be using this line again, but I wanted to minimize the amount of line I'd be leaving behind. I've never had to abandon an anchor before and thought this was the best I could do at the moment? I started pulling the line as tight as I could...I had the knife handy for when the time was right. Little by little I pulled on the line...whenever I thought I had reached its limit, I gained a little more. With the tide and wind still working against me, I just figured I was slowly pulling the boat tighter and tighter to the anchor. This went on for longer than it should have, but each time I'd give that last backward lean..I'd gain an inch. I even grabbed the knife a couple of times, but at the last second, I could advance a hand forward and had to drop it. I suddenly began to realize that I had quite a bit of line in the boat, more than I should if I'm anchored in 54' of water. This gave me a second wind allowing me to muster up what little energy I had left and continue to heave backward. I was never so happy to hear the chain slap the hull...I somehow got it up? It took me a moment to absorb what I was looking at when I reached over the port side....
From what I gather, I had hooked an abandoned lobster line or one lost in a storm. The grappler tines were embedded in the over-grown busted cage of a pot with the rope intertwined around the rest of the grappler. I must have hooked the pot or line and then woven a mess by trying to pry the anchor from different angles. It looked quite the mess...worthy of a picture, but I'm not much of a photo guy. Still holding tight to the chain, it took me a minute to realize why it seemed so heavy and why I couldn't get it into the boat....it had friends! The main line was leading down to another pot I imagine, as the line disappeared into the darkness. Tried as I may, I could not gain another inch. Although I was happy to see that the zip-tie had broken, it didn't really matter because the aged rope was woven around the grappler tines as if braided by King Neptune himself! I finally freed the grappler with as little damage as possible to the abandoned pot line.

Sunday was a better day, but I was perplexed again with multiple schools of mackerel breaching the surface with no visible bait around ...nor predators. Not sure what this ritual is...but they wouldn't touch a thing?? I actually put a pogy snagger on just to confirm what they were....I snagged one, but couldn't get a single one to chase a tree or any of the shiny metals I tossed? I can't see that many fish zoned in on micro-organisms, especially at the speed they were traveling, and not hit a jig/tree?? I'm sure some of you have witnessed this before....thoughts??

I haven't used it in some time for I do not do as much chunking for stripers as I used to. But when I use to chunk allot in the local ledges I lost some anchors so I bought something like this chene anchor. So you could ride up on it the opposite way to pull it out. I haven't lost it yet.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/chene-anchors

That's a good idea Ross...I'll be looking for some of those
since I've lost a few anchors already ......including an expensive fortress anchor...first time it was the shackle pin, second one was just stuck hard on the bottom.
There was a story a few years back.....NFL player out on his boat....upset about his anchor being stuck again after he had bought a new one. Pulled too hard with the boat and capsized with tragic results.

Did your pin back out Bob? That's what happened with me,... although odd why that would happen with the amount of pressure being applied when you tighten it down. On my grappler, I mushroomed the thread end on the new shackle, we'll see how that goes.
For the danforth (at the opposite end of my rope), I threaded both ends of a SS rod and am using SS nylon-locknuts on both ends. Guessing that should work too, but not sure why that wouldn't have been a standard accessory on the shackle pin, (a lock-nut on the thread end)? Unless that has a history of failing as well?

About the NFL story....I had similar concerns. With such low sides on my boat, I was afraid of the water rushing in from the rear if things didn't go as planned, (if using the rear cleat). So I powered in reverse tie-ing to the front cleat...but then I wondered if my cleat was going to get torn off, or worse...rip my bow open! LOL...I didn't dare drive forward with fear of the prop getting strangled by the rope, not knowing if the rope would break or where...Amazing the amount of things that enter your mind when you're in despair. Always an adventure when out on the water... makes me miss the surf that much more.

I'm sure most of you guys know how to rig a danforth style anchor backwards.. for those that dont, drill a hole behind the flukes(on center) and attach your Clevis there, run your chain forward and secure along the way with tie wraps or light sisal or cotton twine..if the anchor gets stuck, the weak ink breaks and you haul your anchor up. Backwards, I've never seen an anchor so stuck it couldn't be freed using this method..an anchor ball and haul ring takes the danger out of anchor retrieval, even in a small boat.
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^This

I agree ... zip-ties are an anchors best friend, or rather the captain's.
But during my last fiasco, zip tie or not....it wasn't happening. Hard to explain, but that old rope was tied around each tine, and twisted. My zip-tie was gone, and the anchor was backwards, but that rope was so darn twisted that it made no difference.
I've also seen the anchor ball in action...just never felt I'd ever need something like that, I guess I just didn't want to sacrifice any more real-estate than I have to... an 18' er gets small really fast. Perhaps I need to rethink things...

In my best Corona-guy voice....
"I hardly anchor, but when I do....I get that biitch stuck good"....:hee:

Sometimes, it just ain't your day..if you do all you can and still loose, its not a loss.. it's a lesson in humility, we all think we are so smart.. King Neptune occasionally reminds us that its HIS ocean..and we say thank you sir, may I have another!
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FWIW, I fish an 18' center console, most days alone, no problem storing a 12" anchor ball..
Its saved my bacon tuna fishing and cod fishing more times than I can count
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I am slow learner I guess. Can't picture this...

Anchor ball is very good idea/solution, one I have never carried, though. We don't have ripping currents like Quick's Hole, locally

Here's a quick video for ya Ross.... hope you enjoy!
Shows the basic principle of each technique...

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+...u5NoP-u-mgA418

And you're right Rockfish, some things are well worth the trouble.
Problem is, most of us only realize that after learning that hard lesson...:wave:

The only lessons I ever learn are learned the hard way..that way I remember them!
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Anchoring for togs is, by definition, always a risk; you're in rocky areas where every time you throw out, there's no guarantee you can get it back. We almost lost ours (a good one) a couple of times while togging last month. When I'm kayak fishing for togs, I try not to move much
for precisely that reason; find a good spot and just stay there.

Of course, that doesn't equal last year. I did a better job then; just picked the the anchor up, didn't notice it wasn't tied on, threw it overboard and lost it! Now that's the smart way to do it!
:jester:

Can you say GEO-Spot?

:drool: ...wish I had a Santa Clause

?? Hoping this wont' fail me ??

But wondering why this wouldn't already come standard with a nylon-lock-nut? I know I'd pay the extra for security...

I’ve always thought
Tension from the U bolt?

I usually wire them, then you can still take them apart with a spike and don’t have to deal with nuts and wrenches.
Maybe I just gave up a blow boat secret
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Me too.... but I'm a worry wart, and it happened, I had it cranked down tight, like really tight...but guessing with the 'rattle-n-roll' of the chain? It backed its way out and off without me noticing....can't say it's something I often looked at, if at all..

I had it zip-tied, but it must have broken. I do have some thin-gauged SS wire...but in the way I tend to over-think things, I'm going to give the lock-nut a spin? Hoping the SS rod I threaded doesn't corrode due to the DYI threading?