Anchor setup for anchoring at a cove or beach

[96Pirate]

I keep a second anchor (rubber coated river anchor) under one of the rear seats and use it as a stern anchor when I do not find anything to tie to. Normally I use the 100' 3/8" anchor line to tie to a tree or other suitable object.

I doubt the 1/4" line would break but if you get an anchor rope it will have a dual purpose.

This is the line I use which is reasonably priced at $22 and much nicer than the typical anchor rope.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058SH6YC/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the link @Bruce That does look like a nice line. Unfortunately I need it for this weekend and of course I am waiting till the last minute. Overton's has the 3/8" line for not much more than that. I will be heading there today. I plan to tie off to a tree but I do have a river anchor I can use as well.

 

[sysinu]

Remember that when you "walk up to your boat in the morning" you have to be able to get back onto it, If I'm not using an anchor buddy and just letting the current or wind hold the boat in a direction, I use a lot of slacked line (and a line marker buoy) of the stern and just set it on shore (with a spike, or tied to something) just so I can retrieve the boat. That line I'm okay with using 1/4" on just because it will never hold tension other than the tension you're pulling on it.

so because of that, I keep 200' of 1/4" (50' tied to a mushroom, 50' roll + 100' roll) on the boat hidden in a compartment. It gets used if I want to leave the tubes filled up somewhere off shore (usually it's for the party island) or if I'm anchoring as previously mentioned. 1/4" line is the only line I have that isn't double braided as well. I have found single braid becomes unmanageable after it gets wet and dried too many times. double braid is not that much more expensive, either.

 

[96Pirate]

Remember that when you "walk up to your boat in the morning" you have to be able to get back onto it, If I'm not using an anchor buddy and just letting the current or wind hold the boat in a direction, I use a lot of slacked line (and a line marker buoy) of the stern and just set it on shore (with a spike, or tied to something) just so I can retrieve the boat. That line I'm okay with using 1/4" on just because it will never hold tension other than the tension you're pulling on it.

so because of that, I keep 200' of 1/4" (50' tied to a mushroom, 50' roll + 100' roll) on the boat hidden in a compartment. It gets used if I want to leave the tubes filled up somewhere off shore (usually it's for the party island) or if I'm anchoring as previously mentioned. 1/4" line is the only line I have that isn't double braided as well. I have found single braid becomes unmanageable after it gets wet and dried too many times. double braid is not that much more expensive, either.

Yep, will definitely keep the stern tied up with some slack. The difference will be if I can walk out to the boat, I may not use the anchor buddy but will be able use the rope to pull it in closer and walk out. If I use the anchor buddy, then I can pull it in even further. It will all depend on the cove and whether I want to pull it in all the way (worried about rocks, stumps, etc) or if the slope is bad enough that I will need to use the anchor buddy.

 

[latitudeadjuster]

I use 4 of these Kwik Tek A-3 Screw Anchor System....two off the bow towards both directions at 10 and 2 0'clock and two off the rear eye hooks, one off each......sometimes when calm I only use one off the bow.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Justice-for-Darren-Wilson/688591377895008

 

[sysinu]

I use 4 of these Kwik Tek A-3 Screw Anchor System....two off the bow towards both directions at 10 and 2 0'clock and two off the rear eye hooks, one off each......sometimes when calm I only use one off the bow.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Justice-for-Darren-Wilson/688591377895008

View attachment 10904

I'm having a difficult time understanding/visualizing this. all 4 screws in the same direction (like to shore)? or each directly out? Is this in addition to using a buried anchor?

 

[latitudeadjuster]

I'm having a difficult time understanding/visualizing this. all 4 screws in the same direction (like to shore)? or each directly out? Is this in addition to using a buried anchor?

No, two hooked to the bow eye.....one out port side 10' oclock and one out startboard side 2 o'clock

One off stern port hook around 8 o'clock and one off starboard around 4 o'clock. Here is my crayon version.....LOL

Now I use this is on a lake so not sure about ocean rougher water etc. I do not use anchor in addition.

 

[sysinu]

No, two hooked to the bow eye.....one out port side 10' oclock and one out startboard side 2 o'clock

One off stern port hook around 8 o'clock and one off starboard around 4 o'clock. Here is my crayon version.....LOL

Now I use this is on a lake so not sure about ocean rougher water etc. I do not use anchor in addition.

View attachment 10905

Ah, I see. so this assumes you are in exceptionally shallow water with no real slope to the bay/lakebed.

 

[latitudeadjuster]

Ah, I see. so this assumes you are in exceptionally shallow water with no real slope to the bay/lakebed.

yes, we walk it into the sandbar....I don't like beaching my boat. Some have an extended bar, thought about those for the deep end.

 

[Ronnie]

One additional thing I do at night is put both ends of the anchor buddy on the in water shore spoke or box anchor. This effectively cuts the scope of the anchor buddy in half so I dont have to worry about wind or current pushing my boat all the way to the shore.

Also, I've had the loop on an anchor buddy unravel (only on one of four anchor buddy's over the last 12 or so years) so it's something to consider if you are thinking about using it to hold your boat in place especially if your shore spike and or box anchor is not marked with its own buoy. That is, if you are concerned just do what the instructions state and put a standard anchor line next to it (that way of the anchor buddy fails your boat is still secured and so is your spike/anchor).

 

[96Pirate]

So I ended up getting 100' of 3/8" braided rope yesterday. Here is a pic of the site from the nc state parks website. It looks like I might be able to walk in and out pretty easily. It does not look like much if any stumps/rocks but it may be shallow so it might need to go out in deeper water. We will see.

 

[sysinu]

So I ended up getting 100' of 3/8" braided rope yesterday. Here is a pic of the site from the nc state parks website. It looks like I might be able to walk in and out pretty easily. It does not look like much if any stumps/rocks but it may be shallow so it might need to go out in deeper water. We will see.View attachment 11515

Can't tell if that's sandy/grassy or if those are really small rocks. Yeah, you're going to have to go pretty far from shore based on the slope of the terrain, that looks like it will be about 5' deep in that bay, which is fine, but you'll have to be creative setting your anchor.

My advice would be to anchor parallel of shore and set a stern anchor to keep the boat from running aground. This is what I have in mind: bow anchor in the middle of the bay, shore spike with a tension line on the windward side (this will be the side you retrieve from as well). Slack line with a shore spike into the bay opposite side on a slack line (just in case wind changes directions and you need to adjust your tension line in a hurry).

Also, depending on how far it is from your camp... dropping bow anchor right off that point and then pulling a bunch of scope out and dropping a midship starboard anchor in the bay would be a really good way to keep the boat safe. Just wouldn't be very convenient for loading and unloading.

If you try to drop anchor in the middle of that bay and then stern to shore toward the camera, you'll just drag your anchor since the bottom will be on a downward slope, you'll likely not have a firm set.

 

[96Pirate]

Can't tell if that's sandy/grassy or if those are really small rocks. Yeah, you're going to have to go pretty far from shore based on the slope of the terrain, that looks like it will be about 5' deep in that bay, which is fine, but you'll have to be creative setting your anchor.

My advice would be to anchor parallel of shore and set a stern anchor to keep the boat from running aground. This is what I have in mind: bow anchor in the middle of the bay, shore spike with a tension line on the windward side (this will be the side you retrieve from as well). Slack line with a shore spike into the bay opposite side on a slack line (just in case wind changes directions and you need to adjust your tension line in a hurry).

Also, depending on how far it is from your camp... dropping bow anchor right off that point and then pulling a bunch of scope out and dropping a midship starboard anchor in the bay would be a really good way to keep the boat safe. Just wouldn't be very convenient for loading and unloading.

If you try to drop anchor in the middle of that bay and then stern to shore toward the camera, you'll just drag your anchor since the bottom will be on a downward slope, you'll likely not have a firm set.

Thanks @sysinu I was thinking of a 3 point system as well. Only I don't have any shore spikes. I was thinking the box anchor off the bow, my river anchor off the port stern and the 3/8' line off the stbd stern anchored to that tree with some slack. This will give a little freedom to the boat but also prevent it from beaching itself (if everything holds).

Here's a etiquette question. When tying up in a public cove what is the etiquette with ropes, anchors, shore spikes, etc being in or near the water or across the beach? There are multiple camp sites all along the shoreline. I assume some people will be using that area for swimming, walking the beach, hanging out, etc. Should I think about keeping it further out and not so close to shore. What do you do?

 

[sysinu]

Here's a etiquette question. When tying up in a public cove what is the etiquette with ropes, anchors, shore spikes, etc being in or near the water or across the beach? There are multiple camp sites all along the shoreline. I assume some people will be using that area for swimming, walking the beach, hanging out, etc. Should I think about keeping it further out and not so close to shore. What do you do?

Yeah, etiquette would be to anchor bow onto your beach @ your campsite. Or you could do bow out + 2 point stern in so long as your stern anchor points don't go into someone else's beach area.

To answer the "what would you do" question, it depends on how busy it is. This holiday weekend, where there will probably be 50 people and 4-5 boats in that cove... your best bet is box off the bow with a lot of scope, then put a mushroom anchor 15' up from the box anchor (on the box anchor rode) in the middle and then single point stern to shore spike (or other type) anchor. The downside to doing that is convenience. It will make re-boarding suck, but that way no one will run over your anchor line and it will hold well.

 

[latitudeadjuster]

A friend of mine uses the Danik Hook. I thought about getting one for anchor set up. Anyone use?

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Danik-Hook-Anchor-System&i=38808

 

[smthng]

I got two for the last trip out... Worked great. We were on the intercoastal at a beach with a really easy slope... you could walk 50 yards out and still touch at high tide. We anchored through an entire tidal cycle and had no problems...

I have two slip-ring anchors. Bow anchor is slightly larger than the stern, both have 5' of chain. Dropped the bow anchor about 100 yards out, backed in while someone kept the rope gently taught, used the Danik hook to clip to the bow ring, tied the end of the anchor rope to a grab handle as a secondary safety. For the rear, I walked it off the stern, planted it about 10 ft from the shore line (at the time) and stood on it until wave action buried it. Put a fender on top of it to mark it, used the Danik hook to snug it down on a stern eyelet. As the tide flow changed, I could easily hook it to the opposite stern eye so that my peeps weren't trying to cross the line when the current changed and pulled the boat the opposite direction. Out of the 8 or so boats on our beach, I was the only one that didn't have to re-anchor.

I did use the Danik hooks to pull the boat a little further from shore and take up some slack as the tide was going out. They're good as kind of a one-way pulley and for minor adjustments once you're in place, or for swapping attachment points. If you're good with knots, they're unnecessary, but for me it just makes it one less thing I have to deal with, which is worth it to me.

 

[96Pirate]

We had a successful trip everyone. The water ended up being higher than what the pictures above showed. Just about up to the 2 trees in the foreground. And a very gradual slope. So I didn't even use the anchor buddy. I took @sysinu advice and modified a little. I parked the boat perpendicular to the shore line and used the box anchor off the bow and the river anchor lodged between some rocks on shore off the port stern and the 3/8" rope off the starboard stern tied to the tress with some slack. I don't have any shore spikes so I used the river anchor and tree. The boat held firm throughout the evening. The gradual slope made it so easy to load/unload and to park/leave the area. Thanks for all the help everyone. The assistance ahead of time made me feel much more relaxed leaving the boat in the water. The Hibernia campsite on Kerr Lake was very clean and beautiful.

 

[sysinu]

oh WOW the water level went up a ton. You did the right thing, how did your bow line hold up, did you put anything heavy in the middle of the rode (like a mushroom anchor)?

 

[96Pirate]

oh WOW the water level went up a ton. You did the right thing, how did your bow line hold up, did you put anything heavy in the middle of the rode (like a mushroom anchor)?

Yes, it was up higher then I anticipated. Everything held up well. I was only in about 4' of water at the bow and used about 10' of rode. Box anchor held firm with that so I didn't really need anymore rode. The channel that everyone used was about 20' out from my bow so I didn't think I needed anything tied to the middle of the rode. As I used the river anchor off the stern and I didn't have another anchor I was thinking about tying a rock to the rode but I felt I didn't need to because of the channel.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

On the TVA we use an anchor buddy attached to either a river anchor or Richter. I prefer the Richter as it sets within inches of where you drop it. I use a slide anchor off of the stern with a couple of my dock lines. No need to haul extra dedicated lines for things, I tie two dock lines together leaving the single strand and use a dank hook so I can slide and adjust how for the boat is off of the beach/rocks that we have here in the mountains.

 

[Lspeedss]

How busy was it down your end?