Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey Guys,

This is maybe a dumb question, but this my first year with the boat, so here goes...

When you guys pull up in a little cove (on a lake for me) and want to anchor and let the kids swim and play a while, what do you typically do? I see some people point the bow away from the shore and anchor off the bow. Some anchor off the bow and the stern. Some people go bow to the shore and throw an anchor on the beach. Some people beach he toon. I've seen a few stick anchors also.

I'm just wondering what the best practice is, what things to consider. For me, I'm usually wanting to anchor for a few hours, not overnight or anything.

Thanks ahead of time and sorry for the noob questions...

I always anchor with the bow into the wind and back down..... making sure the boat has enough room to swing around the anchor line with any changing winds. We don't prefer to put the bow or stern onto the shore..... prefer to stay off shore with plenty of water under us. Usually anchor in 10 to 15 feet deep and back down into deeper water.

side note: we don't have kids so no one is wanting to go ashore or to a beach from the boat.

We beach on mud or sand! if you don't want to beach you can anchor in 2 to three feet and trim motor to a shallow drive position. I can't see a scenario where I would put my motor against the shore, just sayin.

If it is a good bottom, not real rocky, just use the boat like it is meant to and beach it. I see some people anchoring and then swimming to shore, waste of energy if you ask me. I have never damaged the bottom of my boat by beaching it. When I got my first boat new, I did that for the first half of the summer then realized how dumb it was. Obviously, don't do it with sharp rocks.

Edit: Sorry, I read your question wrong, I thought you were asking if you should beach or anchor.

I don't know about you guys, but at my lake, it seems the procedure is (for me anyway)

1) Find a nice spot, drop anchor, back down to give it enough scope, and drop a stern hook just to keep swing under control.

2) watch as some mouth breathing redneck pulls up within 30 feet of you, drops a cinder block with 31 feet of rope in 30 feet of water for an anchor, crank up Lynard Skynard on a shitty Kraco radio as loud as it will go, and distortion be damned.

3) Wait for every little wave to bump is anchor off the bottom and enjoy the sight of his boat getting gradually closer and closer.

4) pull up my anchors and move to a different place.

5) repeat as often as necessary.

Tim

Cowracer wrote:I don't know about you guys, but at my lake, it seems the procedure is (for me anyway)

1) Find a nice spot, drop anchor, back down to give it enough scope, and drop a stern hook just to keep swing under control.

2) watch as some mouth breathing redneck pulls up within 30 feet of you, drops a cinder block with 31 feet of rope in 30 feet of water for an anchor, crank up Lynard Skynard on a shitty Kraco radio as loud as it will go, and distortion be damned.

3) Wait for every little wave to bump is anchor off the bottom and enjoy the sight of his boat getting gradually closer and closer.

4) pull up my anchors and move to a different place.

5) repeat as often as necessary.

Tim

Oh the joys of boating

We had a guy last weekend in the party cove that came by himself and sat on the back of his boat, by himself, just watching for 4 hrs straight, by himself. And yes he cranked his crap ass distorted radio as high as it would go to the point it was just crackling noise. Good times

If the bottom is not too bad I beach. Otherwise I put out an anchor off the bow with the bow pointed into the wind or boat traffic if we're in an area that wake can affect us. I let out a good bit of line (scope mentioned above), and I'll sometimes secure the stern with an anchor for positioning with much less line.

Cowracer wrote:I don't know about you guys, but at my lake, it seems the procedure is (for me anyway)

1) Find a nice spot, drop anchor, back down to give it enough scope, and drop a stern hook just to keep swing under control.

2) watch as some mouth breathing redneck pulls up within 30 feet of you, drops a cinder block with 31 feet of rope in 30 feet of water for an anchor, crank up Lynard Skynard on a shitty Kraco radio as loud as it will go, and distortion be damned.

3) Wait for every little wave to bump is anchor off the bottom and enjoy the sight of his boat getting gradually closer and closer.

4) pull up my anchors and move to a different place.

5) repeat as often as necessary.

Tim

This is exactly how it happens out here too, only every other redneck boat has straight exhaust (to compliment the music) that the owner uses to compensate for some physical deficiency.

RobZ71LM7 wrote:

Cowracer wrote:I don't know about you guys, but at my lake, it seems the procedure is (for me anyway)

1) Find a nice spot, drop anchor, back down to give it enough scope, and drop a stern hook just to keep swing under control.

2) watch as some mouth breathing redneck pulls up within 30 feet of you, drops a cinder block with 31 feet of rope in 30 feet of water for an anchor, crank up Lynard Skynard on a shitty Kraco radio as loud as it will go, and distortion be damned.

3) Wait for every little wave to bump is anchor off the bottom and enjoy the sight of his boat getting gradually closer and closer.

4) pull up my anchors and move to a different place.

5) repeat as often as necessary.

Tim

This is exactly how it happens out here too, only every other redneck boat has straight exhaust (to compliment the music) that the owner uses to compensate for some physical deficiency.

My boat is not loud, it is a 4 stroke outboard, but I have to admit there is a guy on our lake with captains call exhaust and it sounds awesome. No one on our lake complains about it, at least at night he switches it to the quiet mode.

Thanks for all the advice guys! And the laughs.

We are all different creatures, right? We anchor pretty much all day every time we are out. We are usually anchored in 10-30 feet of water.

I'm just the opposite of what was said above, I don't understand the reason to beach it. I can see our boat has been beached many times by the previous owner and a few times by me. That does not bother me at all and the boat is not hurt from it. I just have no desire to go to shore. We hang out in the water, not on the shore. No rocks, no mud, no bugs...... I would prefer to be in the water rather than on land.

Here is what we do and what I recommend:
1) Buy a box anchor
2) Pick your spot where you want to end up once you are anchored
3) Go up wind of that spot by an appropriate amount of the scope you intend to use
4) Drop your box anchor over board and tie it off, enjoy the day.

That's it. You are done. No need to back down and "set it" as the wind will do that for you. Seriously, with a box anchor that is all you have to do and you are set in that spot for as long as you want to be. An hour, all day, all night, all weekend.... whatever you want.

No stern anchor required. Let it swing around in circles as the wind shifts. Everyone else in the cove will swing the same way you do, pretty much. When you set a stern anchor you are asking your anchors to work much, much, much harder (by fighting the wind all the time) than if you have only one anchor and allow the boat to swing around as the wind shifts.

The only hassle (probably too strong of a word) I ever have is if someone up wind does not have a decent anchor and they drift our way. It is no big deal, as they almost always realize they are moving (after all, it is highly unlikely our boat is drifting UPWIND while PUSHING a taught anchor rope, right?) so they move and reset usually long before you need to fend them off. You can usually watch the same people fight their anchor all day.

You'll find your groove and the best way to have fun for you and your family. Enjoy your new boat!

Pulling into a cove, I don't think about it too much. Just find a nice spot and push the button, down goes the anchor

Ok, Add on question regarding box anchors.

What size?

I have a 22' toon and live in Kansas. The lake I'm on has mud and rocks for bottom. Where you're at depends on what the bottom is. It's the "Flinthills" so that's not a surprise.

find about 20' - 30' of water, push the button, and drop the anchor... never have beached, except at Panama City Beach, on Shell Island, once, and that's because my mushroom anchor wouldn't catch in the sand bottom.... (we normally boat in mid-georgia, not in the salt water; it was a one-time trip)

I use only one anchor, from the bow... to me, it allows the boat to ride smoother while anchored, it also puts the boat downwind of the anchor... which, in turn, keeps the heat and smoke from the on-board BBQ grill (mounted over the edge of the boat, near the rear) blowing away from the passengers...

seems like, on Jackson Lake, people usually try to stay away from each other, unless you purposely want to raft up...

NonHyphenAmerican wrote:Ok, Add on question regarding box anchors.

What size?

I have a 22' toon and live in Kansas. The lake I'm on has mud and rocks for bottom. Where you're at depends on what the bottom is. It's the "Flinthills" so that's not a surprise.

Get the Small. I have a 24' and that is plenty. These things are quite heavy.