Anchoring a pontoon boat

[DocPit]

I'm a newbie boater. I've watched several YouTube videos about anchoring a pontoon boat. They all secure the anchor line to a cleat, but they never show anyone actually doing that. I have a Bennington 20 SLL. There's very little space around the playpen at the bow. To secure the anchor line to a cleat at the bow, I would need to hold on to the aluminum frame of the boat with one hand and tie a cleat hitch with the other --precarious even in calm water. A guy I met, who has been boating for 45 years, tells me he just ties a hook to the end of his anchor line, then attaches the hook to the eyelet at the tip of his middle pontoon. Seems like a great idea. My only caution is that if I back away in reverse-idle to set the anchor, that may stress the toon and cause problems over time. Any thoughts?

[MattGent]

Eyelet should be fine. Post a picture of it.

Tie the rode to the hook so it won’t chafe. Presume you are talking about day anchoring, not overnight or long periods on a mooring.

[steve1313]

Tying off to one of the eyelets on the toon shouldn't be a problem, but the only issue I see with tying a "hook to the end of the anchor line" is that where you tie the anchor line to the boat is going to change based on depth, wind, bottom conditions, etc. If you limit yourself to using the entire length of anchor line, that may not be what you need. Also, if you're deploying the line to it's end and you drop it, you've lost an anchor!

Or you could just use your existing cleat in the corner, and learn how to do this!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWYgcgkreoI

[riplipper]

Having your anchor line in the center of boat is by far best, keeps boat from swaying back and forth.
I use a carabiner attached to my front center loop which easily allows me to slip my anchor line through.
I added a cleat near that on the front just to the side of my door for easy access.
This makes your anchor line fully adjustable, easy to tie off and undo, and nobody can trip on the cleat.
I would add a picture but I am not that computer savvy.

If you dont want to add a cleat, just use the center loop and adjust your rode by a simple knot.

[DocPit]

Thanks very much for the information. Much appreciated. As for the video of the dock lady doing the cleat hitch, it will be a cold day in hell before I can do that!

[Steiner]

Thanks very much for the information. Much appreciated. As for the video of the dock lady doing the cleat hitch, it will be a cold day in hell before I can do that!

Well the good news is when that happens you won't have to fool with the anchor, just use tire chocks to keep it from sliding around on the ice.

[rick carpenter]

I'm a newbie boater. I've watched several YouTube videos about anchoring a pontoon boat. They all secure the anchor line to a cleat, but they never show anyone actually doing that. I have a Bennington 20 SLL. There's very little space around the playpen at the bow. To secure the anchor line to a cleat at the bow, I would need to hold on to the aluminum frame of the boat with one hand and tie a cleat hitch with the other --precarious even in calm water. A guy I met, who has been boating for 45 years, tells me he just ties a hook to the end of his anchor line, then attaches the hook to the eyelet at the tip of his middle pontoon. Seems like a great idea. My only caution is that if I back away in reverse-idle to set the anchor, that may stress the toon and cause problems over time. Any thoughts?

Newbie here too. Agreed on the balance issue! Our 18' Sun Tracker has four cleats, two fore and two aft. I can lean over and tie the anchor line to the starboard bow cleat, but I'm kinda leaning over the water doing that. I'm leery about using my front eyelet unless I use it with a hook like you said but only for a "last grab" if the line gets loose from my hands. Regardless, I'll lean over and tie the anchor line to the cleat properly, and just try real hard not to get wet.