Para-anchor and coastal boating

[jemsea]

I would suggest looking at the book "Drag Devise Data Base"
By Victor Shane

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/bx030.html

Some of the posts here are in conflict with real world reports of using chutes and drogues included in the book.

There has also been a couple of good threads about this subject on the SSCA board.

Respectfully,

John

[rsn48]

I often go to a store in North Vancouver, BC that is a marine consignment retailer. Its the type of store where products drop in price by 1/2 percent of the original asking price, every day. Its one of the few instances where procrastination pays off.... lol.

By some miracle, the amount the parachute I had been eyeing was dropping by $12 a day rather than the proper amount which was around a dollar per day. I bought a "Used - but never been used" parachute from a guy who had just gotten out of boating (he was getting to old). So I paid one hundred dollars for the parachute. When I got to the till, the clerk discovered the error in their pricing and to my amazement honoured what the tag said, even though it was wrong.

I now have to purchase the line to use with the parachute; this item will cost more than the parachute did.

I notice that 300 feet is recommended with a parachute, this strikes me as really long. Any comments on this?

[Lodesman]

Delamarrey - I think you're speaking of Richard Woods and the boat was Eclipse, lost in the Gulf of Tehuentepec (?). There were a few forum discussions about it and YBW.com had input from Richard himself - very enlightening.

Rsn48 - I believe the long rode is to minimize the tendancy for the chute to collapse every time the boat surges forward on the downslope of the passing wave. I believe I've read it somewhere that you want so many wavelengths between the boat and the chute - I'm sure someone will pipe up with the full answer.

Kevin