I will state up front that I know this is probably wrong. I have a rope rode with only about 6 feet of chain. I sail a Hunter 34 with a Fortress anchor and do coastal cruising. Anchoring is almost always in very well protected harbors. Recently, however, I have had a couple of experiences where I had a lot of trouble breaking the anchor out of thick mud/tar-like sludge even with the rode straight up and down. That anchor grabs, and so does the bottom (anchor often comes up with a sludge ball sitting on it, yuch.). So I was thinking about the expense of a windlass; or just installing some blocks to run the rode back to a cabin top winch. Then, when thinking of blocks, I wondered if there was a way to rig a block and tackle in or around the anchor locker and run the anchor line through it to routinely get a mechanical advantage when lifting. Anyone ever tried this?
Windlass alternative
- Thread starter danm1
- Start date
A windlass is not powerful enough to break the anchor free. The motor will burn up.
To break it free, haul the anchor rode so that it is tight and motor forward. It may be necessary to motor forward and fall back a few times to work it free. If there is any wave action in the anchorage, it doesn't take much, just get the rode vertical and tight, cleat and let the wave action free the anchor.
The short chain on the Fortress is consistent with Fortress's recommendation. I know it feels wrong, however, the anchor is so light a heavy chain may cause it to bury too deeply.
A good reference for anchoring is Drew Frye's book, Rigging Modern Anchors.
To break it free, haul the anchor rode so that it is tight and motor forward. It may be necessary to motor forward and fall back a few times to work it free. If there is any wave action in the anchorage, it doesn't take much, just get the rode vertical and tight, cleat and let the wave action free the anchor.
The short chain on the Fortress is consistent with Fortress's recommendation. I know it feels wrong, however, the anchor is so light a heavy chain may cause it to bury too deeply.
A good reference for anchoring is Drew Frye's book, Rigging Modern Anchors.
I use my cabin top winch. Sometimes if the anchor is being stubborn, I will bounce up and down in the cockpit and get the boat to pitch. If you time your bounces right, you can get the boat to pitch several inches. Tighten the rode when the nose is down .... the leverage arm of the boat length has always worked for me to break the anchor out. I have not had to motor my anchor out.
No. That won't work unless you plan to run the block and tackle setup to the bottom with the anchor. I feel your pain (literally) as I have same boat with similar conditions in SF Bay. Running it to a winch could work. You might even install one up front somewhere. I sometimes cleat the line and motor forward to break it free. People have installed windlasses on the H34 but it is a big job to do it right. Take a look at the owner mods.
I had a hell of a time getting our anchor out of the bottom at the anchorage inside the L.A. Harbor at Cabrillo (near San Pedro, CA) one time several years ago. Talk about a soft, muddy/sludgy bottom.
I will feel confident anchoring again now - perhaps solo - knowing that I can use this technique to get un-stuck.
Thanks for the tips!
I will feel confident anchoring again now - perhaps solo - knowing that I can use this technique to get un-stuck.
Thanks for the tips!
I agree with this... For many years I had a 35' boat with mostly nylon and about 6 (or maybe 8) feet of chain... and a fortress anchor as well (which I still use as my secondary anchor). Your setup isn't wrong, and yes they do dig in incredibly... and pull up lots of mud/muck sometimes. Just pull every last bit of slack out of the vertical line... cleat it... and let waves do the work. Be patient... a few minutes will almost always break it free unless it is very calm... a little bouncing to pitch the boat can also help, or in extreme cases... a bit of slow-ahead motoring... not much though. My new boat has a windlass, but windlasses aren't meant for pulling the anchor out of the mud... you'll kill the windlass. In fact, before the windlass, I could pull the boat forward over the anchor using my hands (pulling nylon)... but now with 30 feet of chain, I use the ENGINE to get the boat forward over the anchor... NOT the windlass... that's just for taking up the slack and lifting the anchor from the sea floor up to the bow roller... not pulling the boat... and not breaking the anchor free. BTW, I have/had a love/hate thing with the Fortress... AMAZINGLY good at holding... and ridiculously light/easy to handle... I found that giant ball of mud you reference tends to "clog" up the flukes' ability to flip/hinge, so it's not good enough at RE-setting if the wind direction changes and drags the anchor 180 degrees back over itself... generally true of all danforth-style anchors I've seen. Whereas plow or scoop style anchors can more-often recover from that situation in my experience. I still keep mine though for the rare occasion I need to carry a anchor out in my dinghy to kedge, or for a stern anchor, or other (rare) occasions where I know I won't be swinging around in circles much (or at all).
There is also the idea of tying a trip line and float to your anchor.
Tie a line to the fluke end of your anchor. Make the line long enough to reach the bottom of the area you usually anchor. 10 feet of water 12 feet of line, to allow for 2 feet of tidal change. Tie a float to the end. When wanting to raise the anchor, pull in the anchor rode. When you get to the float, reach out with a pole and retrieve the trip line. Now haul in on the trip line. This will pull the anchor out of the mud backwards so that the flukes slip out of the mud not yanked upwards against the mud by the anchor rode. This method also serve to show other boats where you have placed your anchor.
Tie a line to the fluke end of your anchor. Make the line long enough to reach the bottom of the area you usually anchor. 10 feet of water 12 feet of line, to allow for 2 feet of tidal change. Tie a float to the end. When wanting to raise the anchor, pull in the anchor rode. When you get to the float, reach out with a pole and retrieve the trip line. Now haul in on the trip line. This will pull the anchor out of the mud backwards so that the flukes slip out of the mud not yanked upwards against the mud by the anchor rode. This method also serve to show other boats where you have placed your anchor.
I keep a set of these on my boat.... I don't use them as a trip line but I do mark where I dropped my anchor.
Another good idea (that I got from this forum) for an anchor buoy is to use an empty orange juice bottle or other clear plastic jug with a screw cap and place a snap-n-glow stick in side. You now have a lighted anchor buoy for those crowded anchorages with night visitors.
I also keep red glow sticks in my trailer bag. On one occasion my trailer lights stopped working about 30 min from home and it was dusk. I snapped two red glow sticks and put them on the back of the trailer with some string.
A cop pulled me over. I thought he was going to bust me but instead he thanked me for being responsible and said he thought the glow sticks were a great idea. So... maybe something to standardize in you trailer parts bag.
We used this technique all the time on our fishing boats. It sure beat mlm pulling up 500' of rode, chain & anchor. Works really well but it was still work.
Granted most sailboats aren't anchoring in 200' of water.
I'm not sure how it would work on a sailboat. Most don't have that kind of HP compared to a power boat.
on the great lakes there is no need for chain, ever. i never liked a windlass because it is dead weight above the water line (slow). on my 42 ft'r it would just be in the way for sailing.
35 lbs danforth, motor up till rode is straight up and down, cleat off, put in reverse, back down, for the last 45 years and allot of use it has never failed. if there is muck, i use my hands to remove then rinse. no chain up here makes it easy to man handle.
i like backing down. not driving ahead. i believe that it is easier on the anchor. it keeps the anchor away from the hull.
just my $0,02
35 lbs danforth, motor up till rode is straight up and down, cleat off, put in reverse, back down, for the last 45 years and allot of use it has never failed. if there is muck, i use my hands to remove then rinse. no chain up here makes it easy to man handle.
i like backing down. not driving ahead. i believe that it is easier on the anchor. it keeps the anchor away from the hull.
just my $0,02
Dave.
Interesting idea. I can just see the rode sweeping into the keel if I was not careful and made an extra wide turn...
Wondering. How big does the float have to be with 35lb anchor and 105 feet of 3/8 HT chain in 25 ft of water?
Interesting idea. I can just see the rode sweeping into the keel if I was not careful and made an extra wide turn...
Wondering. How big does the float have to be with 35lb anchor and 105 feet of 3/8 HT chain in 25 ft of water?
Let's see, 35# of anchor, 25' of chain a 1# per foot, that would be about 60 # to support with the chain straight up. Water weighs about 64 # per cubic foot, so a float would need to be at least a cubic foot. Back of the envelope calculations here, makes that about a 16" orange ball, 20" would probably be better.
Doesn't the H34 have a perforated toe rail? If so, put a snatch block on it to get a fair-lead back to the primary as it will have more power than the coachroof winch and make it easier to weigh anchor. If the rode was sweeping on a muddy bottom may want to put another line on it to keep the gel coat clean.
An earlier post suggested just taking up the slack and let the boat bob in the wave action is what I've done a number of times. A lot easier than either stressing yourself or the equipment.
An earlier post suggested just taking up the slack and let the boat bob in the wave action is what I've done a number of times. A lot easier than either stressing yourself or the equipment.