Using an anchor marker

[Seawindow]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I don’t use anchor buoys as a general rule. It’s nice seeing where other anchors are, but they essentially act as unused moorings. In a busy anchorage, or a deep water one where people must use long rodes, they unnecessarily clog things up and block people from using the water. There’s nothing wrong with a boat swinging over a set anchor.



When I do use a buoy it is for a trip line, attached to the anchor. I only deploy this when I suspect there is serious fouling on the bottom which may snag my anchor (trees, logs, garbage). It is more awkward deploying and retrieving the anchor with trip line, but not a big deal. I toss it clear as the anchor goes over the side. For retrieval I snag the trip line with my boat hook as we come up on the set anchor.



I’ve never heard of someone using an anchor buoy that wasn’t attached to their anchor. That seems problematic to me. My trip line ties to the fore edge of my anchor (Rocna). It then loops through a block that is attached to my buoy, with a small weight attached to the other end. This keeps the trip line snuggly over my anchor so it doesn’t drift around taking up even more space.

Good tip re the block. We use loops at metre intervals and clip the float on accordingly. Thanks for sharing.

[Seawindow]

We use a float/trip line as required by tying it off to the anchor with a bowline as needed. Mainly we deployed it when we first got on the boat full-time and learnt how she behaves on anchor. Was very interesting how much of the time we were pivoting on chain and not the anchor

[Toys_with_time]

Originally Posted by Privleoplag

Hello Ann, I do exactly that all the time. Especially easy in a protected anchorage like I'm in now, but like I said in my 1st post, conditions were not good. Very windy, very wavey and rough. As you know, the boat can put a lot of force on that chain when it ends up sideways and under the hull in those conditions. I needed to be able to direct the boat towards the chain from the helm.

Does your chain come off the forward beam? Also would make things much easier.

Fred

I think many of the responses are from mono sailors who don't have the same problem as a cat with the anchor chain feeding well back from the bows. Like you I do the crazy running backwards and forwards if single handed and being a cat she blows off very easily and can quickly end up with the chain grinding along one hull or the other - the anchor windlass alone will not keep her head to wind as the chain comes in if there is a breeze blowing. The only method I've found for improving the situation is to take a mark on something in the bay, return to the helm & motor quickly ahead for a little while towards the mark while taking up chain then return to the anchor locker and reassess the chain direction and then repeat. I also find that the noise of the chain coming up varies slightly with the angle it is at, so I use that as an additional indicator of how I am tracking (if it's not blowing so hard I cant hear it). I regret sometimes not investing in a chain counter as I reckon that might also make life a little easier. Would be interested to hear if the camera to phone idea works - with low light trying to see the chain direction might be hard?

Cheers

TwT

[markpierce]

Never used an anchor marker. Would be tempted, however, if suspected the anchorage was fouled.

[sailjumanji]

Shoot me, but when single-handed anchor raising, I go forward and use the up/down foot buttons at the windlass. I have chain rode. I know they say you are supposed to motor forward and not use the windlass to pull you forward, but my windlass doesn't seem to have issue. That said, I have a Muir 1250 which is probably oversized for my boat. When the chain is coming up, it's running pretty fast and not sounding like it is under any load. A foot on the up button, the spray hose in my hand, washing and watching the anchor rode looking for length tags. If the boat starts drifting sideways, just stop the windlass and let it all resettle, straighten up, and get back after it. When it gets close to pulling the anchor out of the mud, I bump it (windlass) until anchor breaks loose.

Yeah, you can try motoring to retrieve the chain, but as you pointed out, when single handed there is a lot of running back and forth which is risking an accident. When there are two of us raising anchor, I am usually at the helm slowly motoring forward while wife is doing the aforementioned on the front deck/nets.

As for anchor markers, I hate them. Wait until someone snags it on their motor. And I don't care for someone that sets two anchors in a limited anchorage. We saw that in crowded anchorages in Georgetown, whereby the wind changed at night and everyone swung, except the two-anchor boat that got bumped. And an argument ensued in the middle of the night as to who's fault it was. And yes, the boat in front of us swung over the top of our anchor, and then swung off of it when the wind changed, and then back. Who cares. The afternoon before we were planning to leave, we asked them to motor aside for a bit, we retrieved our anchor, and reset so we could leave early the next day without issue.

Finally, the humerous side of anchor buoys. I have seen people motor up to one in their dinghy, to take it thinking it was just a boat bumper floating free for the taking. When they figured out it was attached to something, they left it alone, probably because they thought someone was watching. I have on another occasion seen a dinghy approach a float, realize it was tied to something, and then tug away trying to get whatever it was tied to off of the bottom. You don't want that to be your anchor!

[quandary]

I've always thought the main reason for considering a marker is in case your anchor (I have a big delta) fouls and you need to trip it to pull it out backwards.
If thats the reason, I have 80m of chain rode so I am unlikely to ever anchor in more than 20m of water. I use a 20m length of floating line tied to the trippoint on the anchor and then pulled fairly tight and tied to the rode 20m from the anchor as the rode is let out. This keeps it floating just above the rode but far away from any props etc and unlikely to tangle around the rode. When I haul in and there is 20m still out, the end of the floating line comes aboard and is untied from the rode and pulled in manually as the rode is winched in. If the anchor is fouled, the trip line can be used to pull the anchor out backwards. Seems to solve most of the concerns raised?

[Privleoplag]

PROBLEM SOLVED.. (for all the ones that didn't read my OP, suffice it to say that if you have a monohull or a catamaran that the anchor comes off the forward beam, instead of like mine, from aft of the trampoline, which in my case is about 1/3 of the boat length back from the front, and between the hulls.. and if you're not single handling, you have no clue what I was trying to accomplish)

I set my gopro up and wifi'd it back to a spare smart phone at the helm. It's gonna work great!! I won't need to use a marker, not even for night departures. I'm sure it will be simple enough to shed light on the chain for it to work at night too.

Only thing I notice is because the camera is facing backwards.. if it appears the chain is to port, it's actually to starboard, and vice-versa. I have a chesty that the gopro fits on and that allows me to drop the gopro between some trampoline lines, and still be supported by the chesty plate and use the chesty straps as safety line for the camera/supporting plate. Slick Slick. And the gopro allows me to right the picture for the camera being upside down.

Only question is... why the heck didn't I try this earlier??

[Pete O Static]

I never mark my anchor. Even if I need to set a trip line, I simply run the trip line back along my anchor rode and secure it to the chain. As I come up on the anchor, the trip line presents itself on the chain as it comes up over the roller. No need to float anything, ever.

Privleoplag. I understand your dilemma. However, if you only need to know what direction to steer in order to keep your anchor rode between the hulls during retrieval at night single handed, then may I suggest you ditch the float and just back down slightly before beginning the retrieval process. When the rode gets taught and the boat pivots toward the anchor, glance down to the compass. You now have a bearing directly to your anchor.

I would imagine that you likely lose sight of the float anyway as it approaches the trampoline.