Marking your anchor location

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by carstenb

"Anchor thief?" don't know this expression...................

Something like this:


https://www.ultramarine-anchors.com/trip-hook





A very useful thing which you may not need often, but you do need it, you REALLY need it.

[SV__Grace]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Something like this:
https://www.ultramarine-anchors.com/trip-hook
Attachment 211607

A very useful thing which you may not need often, but you do need it, you REALLY need it.

I'm always on the lookout for new gadgets that make life on the hook easier, more comfortable, and safer, and this is new to me.

I can't find any information on the manufacturers website about how it's used. Like a grappling hook? Can you enlighten us?

One strategy to retrieve a fouled anchor that doesn't have a trip line is to use a length of chain (2 feet or so) and shackle the ends to create a loop around the rode, attach a line to the shackle, and send it down the rode to the anchor and by dinghy or by moving the boat, work it over the shank to pull the anchor from the other direction.

I've never tried this, seems iffy but useful as a last resort.

[DanCan]

Originally Posted by SV__Grace

I'm always on the lookout for new gadgets that make life on the hook easier, more comfortable, and safer, and this is new to me.



I can't find any information on the manufacturers website about how it's used. Like a grappling hook? Can you enlighten us?



One strategy to retrieve a fouled anchor that doesn't have a trip line is to use a length of chain (2 feet or so) and shackle the ends to create a loop around the rode, attach a line to the shackle, and send it down the rode to the anchor and by dinghy or by moving the boat, work it over the shank to pull the anchor from the other direction.



I've never tried this, seems iffy but useful as a last resort.

This?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zj_G19yKLUQ

[SV__Grace]

Originally Posted by DanCan

This?

Thanks for that video. If that's the use for this hook it seems pretty silly to me because you would need to be able to see the problem to use it, which might work in warm, clear waters, but not where I cruise!

In the same situation as the video it seems to me you can simply bring up the anchor and remove the caught rode.

A trip line, which I always use, would be even better.

Am I missing anything?

[Souzag818]

Originally Posted by DanCan

This?

I'm sorry, great theory but...that's all fine and dandy when you can see what you're doing. Try doing it in zero vis 30' down with your eye closed. Crap shoot...Just sayin'

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by SV__Grace

Thanks for that video. If that's the use for this hook it seems pretty silly to me because you would need to be able to see the problem to use it, which might work in warm, clear waters, but not where I cruise!

In the same situation as the video it seems to me you can simply bring up the anchor and remove the caught rode.

A trip line, which I always use, would be even better.

Am I missing anything?

You don't need to be able to see it -- you can feel when it catches the chain.


Yes, you can sometimes bring the anchor all the way up, throw a line around the chain or cable or whatever it is, get your anchor out, and release. I've done that a few times. But sometimes for whatever reason you can't -- either it's too tight or too heavy, or there's not enough of the other guy's chain out to pull it all the way up without either tripping his anchor or pulling him into you. In those cases, the anchor thief is very valuable.


I've carried one on board for decades and guess I haven't used it more than 5 times, but was very glad for it all those 5 times.

[DanCan]

Originally Posted by Souzag818

I'm sorry, great theory but...that's all fine and dandy when you can see what you're doing. Try doing it in zero vis 30' down with your eye closed. Crap shoot...Just sayin'

Lol, of course, a trip line could’ve done a better and simpler job here. The video, I guess, visually explains how it works but I’d love to actually see how it works in deep, dark waters...

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by DanCan

Lol, of course, a trip line could’ve done a better and simpler job here. The video, I guess, visually explains how it works but I’d love to actually see how it works in deep, dark waters...

That's how I use it -- in deep, dark, and COLD waters -- and it works every time. You just drag it around until you feel it catch, then release the second line, and haul. Simples.



But note that this is not a substitute for a trip line in every case -- it doesn't trip your anchor and it won't help if you're stuck in a rock. It is for getting someone else's chain off your chain, or a cable or something you've snagged, so that you can raise the anchor -- something a trip line won't likely help you with, because dragging the anchor backwards won't get it out from under a chain or cable or whatever.



But query whether a trip line will help in a stuck-in-rocks situation, either? Does anyone actually know anyone who has used a trip line successfully in such a situation? I don't. I don't actually know how you recover an anchor badly stuck in rocks, without diving. And if it's just the tip stuck, you can almost always get that out by gently working the anchor around from a different angle. Or in the worst case sending a loop of chain down on a second line from the dinghy. I don't think actually I can think of a single case where a trip line will solve a problem, which can't be solved just as well or even better by other means.

[DanCan]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That's how I use it -- in deep, dark, and COLD waters -- and it works every time. You just drag it around until you feel it catch, then release the second line, and haul. Simples.



But note that this is not a substitute for a trip line in every case -- it doesn't trip your anchor and it won't help if you're stuck in a rock. It is for getting someone else's chain off your chain, or a cable or something you've snagged, so that you can raise the anchor -- something a trip line won't likely help you with, because dragging the anchor backwards won't get it out from under a chain or cable or whatever.



But query whether a trip line will help in a stuck-in-rocks situation, either? Does anyone actually know anyone who has used a trip line successfully in such a situation? I don't. I don't actually know how you recover an anchor badly stuck in rocks, without diving. And if it's just the tip stuck, you can almost always get that out by gently working the anchor around from a different angle. Or in the worst case sending a loop of chain down on a second line from the dinghy. I don't think actually I can think of a single case where a trip line will solve a problem, which can't be solved just as well or even better by other means.

Obviously I value and respect your experience with it. I never saw it but it counts that you found it extremely helpful in those scenarios. I only meant that in that video a trip line would’ve done the same job, of course the person who did the video only wanted to share the bare basics of the movements.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by DanCan

Obviously I value and respect your experience with it. I never saw it but it counts that you found it extremely helpful in those scenarios. I only meant that in that video a trip line would’ve done the same job, of course the person who did the video only wanted to share the bare basics of the movements.

Cheers; certainly no offense at all -- we're just having a discussion, and exchanging different experiences and points of view, which is always valuable for everyone.

[Don C L]

For that particular application I can definitely see the utility of that hook. It takes up less space than a grappling hook and looks pretty handy.
As far as a trip line getting an anchor out of rocks, yes I have done and seen that one with a CQR and a Danforth. With a Danforth you may need to pull at a lower angle if it is really jammed, but if a trip line won't get it, nothing will IMO.
I just realized I must sound like either the unluckiest, or dumbest, at anchoring around if I have fouled my anchor enough to comment on this!

[CassidyNZ]

Not being deliberately contentious, just musing . . .

The video shows a Danforth hanging vertically, presenting a fouled chain that would almost be impossible to miss. The video was obviously made by someone who could see exactly what they were doing, witnessed by the fact that the hook was at exactly the right depth and facing the right way.

Whilst I’m not for a moment saying it can’t be done, I believe that if the anchor was near the ground in murky water, the video may have been different. That would mean dropping the hook onto the ground and losing any “feel” needed to grab the chain. And dragging the two ropes over the chain from a deeper point would surely turn the flat hook sideways-on?

I was in Fiji a couple of years ago when a fishing trawler broke free, drifted down on an anchored fleet and caused at least one boat to pay out and eventually abandon 100 metres of stainless 10mm chain (read $$$) into 6 metres of water. The owner of the trawler, faced with the prospect of paying for the lost chain (and stainless anchor) spent a week using every conceivable device (but probably not this hook) trawling back and forth across the area with a tender and never found the chain.

Perhaps this hook only works on suspended chain but I still wonder how one ensures that it is facing the right way. Maybe with 2 dinghies holding the two lines well apart, straddling the likely location of the chain? But then the hook will not be hanging down . . .

Apologies Dockhead, I am a sceptic.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

Not being deliberately contentious, just musing . . .

The video shows a Danforth hanging vertically, presenting a fouled chain that would almost be impossible to miss. The video was obviously made by someone who could see exactly what they were doing, witnessed by the fact that the hook was at exactly the right depth and facing the right way.

Whilst I’m not for a moment saying it can’t be done, I believe that if the anchor was near the ground in murky water, the video may have been different. That would mean dropping the hook onto the ground and losing any “feel” needed to grab the chain. And dragging the two ropes over the chain from a deeper point would surely turn the flat hook sideways-on?

I was in Fiji a couple of years ago when a fishing trawler broke free, drifted down on an anchored fleet and caused at least one boat to pay out and eventually abandon 100 metres of stainless 10mm chain (read $$$) into 6 metres of water. The owner of the trawler, faced with the prospect of paying for the lost chain (and stainless anchor) spent a week using every conceivable device (but probably not this hook) trawling back and forth across the area with a tender and never found the chain.

Perhaps this hook only works on suspended chain but I still wonder how one ensures that it is facing the right way. Maybe with 2 dinghies holding the two lines well apart, straddling the likely location of the chain? But then the hook will not be hanging down . . .

Apologies Dockhead, I am a sceptic.

I'd tend to agree with that... I think a grappling hook will be more reliable for that purpose, or for a broader range of situations.

[sailcrazy]

I carry 2 of the hooks, both rigged with lines and ready to be put to work. And I've had to use them. In one case I could see what I was trying to hook (a bike that slipped off the dock) but the water was to murky to see the hook itself. It took some time, but we got it, and pulled the bike up (about 15'-20' of water). In another case the anchor hooked a buried cable....with the hook we transferred the load, got the anchor free, and then tripped the hook (the 2nd line), and all was good. Maybe not the best (a diver would be better), but at least it's something that CAN work, with some time and effort. and it stored a whole lot better than a grappling hook! If you've got the storage space.....go for it!

[slug]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Something like this:


https://www.ultramarine-anchors.com/trip-hook


Attachment 211607


A very useful thing which you may not need often, but you do need it, you REALLY need it.

It’s called a J. Hook,

They are for lifting chain and clearing anchors

Tugs , workboats Ships carry them

On yachts you make s J hook by cutting off the flukes of the smallest Bruce anchor