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Anchoring


Birm

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I have found some great input on anchors on this site and will probably go with the Box anchor. However, I have not found any info on how to set the anchor, how to properly rig it to a buoy, connect the boat, what length of line to use, how to adjust the line length, etc. How are you all doing it?

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I use the Anchor Buddy setup: mushroom style anchor attached to 6' of chain which is attached to the Anchor Buddy. The other end of the Anchor Buddy has a clip to attach it to the bow ring. I also attach a fender (Polyform G3) to the Anchor Buddy clip to keep it floating when we want to set the anchor for the day.

With that in place, we can easily tie off to shore using a long line and pull the boat in when people are entering and exiting the boat. Let the line out and the Anchor Buddy pulls the boat away from shore into deeper water.

We boat exclusively on lakes and don't have to worry about a lot of current. The chain is, IMO, the critical piece. It provides enough weight to set the anchor and avoid drift.

Hope this helps...

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Chain is essential to make the anchor work effectively & typically if you use more chain you can get away with a smaller anchor. We use the Anchor Buddy in the same fashion with a similar anchor (ours is a mushroom style with petals rather than a full circle), the only other thing that we add is a line from the anchor to the shore line - this acts both as a safety line in case the Anchor Buddy snaps as well as a line that lets you easily retrieve both lines at once when you come back to your spot. I've found that the Anchor Buddy is good up to about 30-35' with my setup, much beyond that & we'll start to drag the anchor especially if there's any sort of wind. With normal line, you need to figure about 4' of line for every foot of depth & twice that if it's very windy. I added a 50' line to the Anchor Buddy the other day & we were able to anchor in about 50' of water with 2 boats tied up alongside, & we didn't drag (very little to no wind though, it could have been much different if there had been).

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I use an anchor much like the one Tracie described. I don't use a chain and until this past weekend have never had a problem dragging the anchor. We live in Oklahoma and constantly deal with wind. This weekend we were at a lake with a lot of grassy vegitation on the bottom. It was thick enough that the anchor was never able to dig through it into the mud. Most of the time the anchor digs in so good it is a PITA to get broken loose. I think that the make up of the lake bottom has more of an impact on anchor than does the depth of the water. Just my .02

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Remember, if you end up buying a box anchor, no chain is needed. For me that was a plus. No chain to worry about around the gel coat, less clumsy and it holds like a mofo. Money well spent.

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And if you don't & end up needing the chain, get the kind that is rubber coated. It doesn't rust (saving your carpet from stains) & the rubber coating saves the gel if you do whack it accidently. Not that I've ever done that. Innocent.gif

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I once had a Coast Guard guy tell me a good rule of thumb that does seem to work well. Just remember 7:1. that is for every 1 foot depth at the back of the boat you need 7 foot length rope for the anchor. That is of coarse for windy conditions. He said 6:1 for non-windy conditions. I know it sounds stupid, but try it, it really does work. The more the wind blows, the harder it sets. This is for an average sloped lake bottom.

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Here is an anchor idea that will not slip along the bottom.

Go to an auto junkyard and ask for cracked 8 cylinder engine block. He (or she) will look at you funny so then tell them you plan to run a chain thru two cylinders and use it for a boat anchor. Then also inform them that is has to be a FORD motor block. At this point they will look confused and are bound to ask you why it needs to be a Ford. Tell them, because the engineers at Ford have spent the last 50 years designing them to make good boat anchors.

Sorry, couldn't resist. I actually did this scenario a few years ago when I needed a good anchor for a swim raft.

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