Anchor rant!

[steveiam]

I will get better pics and dimensions if mine when I get home this evening Steve.

[6thFairway]

For what it's worth....my store bought box anchor supposedly folds...and will if you have patience and a lot of time to fight it getting it to fold. It is so tough to get it to fold I don't bother so I wouldn't worry about the lack of folding if you are building your own.

I only use a "small" box anchor and it holds my 25 foot tritoon extremely well. The design allows the smaller size so I also would take that into consideration in making one. Mine actually fits in my front under seat storage unfolded to give context on size.

Size doesn't always matter... Good luck!

I store mine unfolded under the front seats in a 21' party barge.

I know the box anchor is expensive, but we spend so much of our time at anchor and it provides so much peace of mind that it's worth it to me.

[OK Toon]

I will get better pics and dimensions if mine when I get home this evening Steve.

Thanks. I was finally able to see your pics from your other post (work blocks image hosting sites, so I miss a lot of pics till I get home).

Looks like 3" flat steel cut into 8" lengths. The teeth look about 4" long at a 45 degree angle. Then an eye bolt. I've read the comments about holes needing to be added to front and back pieces to help with pulling the anchor up. I can do that with a Inhibit step drill bit.

[Drago]

Biggest mistake when anchoring is THROWING the anchor. Always lower it by hand. Never toss it.

Bryan,

Can you give me some sort of explanation for that?

[robster]

Biggest mistake when anchoring is THROWING the anchor. Always lower it by hand. Never toss it.

Bryan,

Can you give me some sort of explanation for that?

anchors get mad if you throw them in.. gotta be nice to them...

[Bryden24shp]

Biggest mistake when anchoring is THROWING the anchor. Always lower it by hand. Never toss it.

Bryan,

Can you give me some sort of explanation for that?

anchors get mad if you throw them in.. gotta be nice to them...

Robsters got it!

Ken, if you "throw" the anchor. the chain can pull the anchor down and the flukes can get caught up in the rope. By lowering it by hand, the rope, chain and anchor will all be straight down in line. Increasing the chance that the anchor will bite.

[woolznaz]

Another Box Anchor fan here. I thought they were just a gimmick. I was more of a traditionalist -- Danforth, Diggers, etc seemed like "real" anchors because that is all I knew from decades of boating. I was so wrong! Anchoring is just so simple now. Here is what I do.

1) Idle just upwind of where we want to be.
2) Drop my box anchor off the bow with at least 3:1 scope, usually more
3) The box anchor will catch almost immediately and then just let out more rope for proper scope as mentioned above.
4) Enjoy the day and maybe the night, because other than swinging around in circles as the wind shifts, we are not going to drift.

It is that simple and that reliable with a box anchor. We have used it 3 summers now on a 25' tri-toon and have never once drifted or had to reset. We anchor all day, usually, and it just never moves. If I lost my box anchor I would have another one before going to the lake again. That's how much I like them.

I see people tossing their anchors in and backing down trying to set them, over and over again. It unnecessary in my opinion. Just drop the box anchor in upwind and shut the boat off. It will set -- the wind/breeze will take care of that.

[Old Dog]

Very interesting read for this anchoring noob who hasn't yet tried. Thanks to all the contributors who have provided some initial hope I'll get this right the first time (if real lucky).

Some questions concerning the mushroom anchor I think it was called to help stop swinging in circles.

1) do they require the same scope as the main anchor?
2) where would you tie them off, (a) to the eye on the log, or (b) to the cleat on the boat?
3) what weight is recommended for a 21-footer?
4) how and when would it be deployed?

Oh so many questions!!!

Thanks for any and all help!

Garry

[curtiscapk]

Old Dog,

I use a 18 pound River anchor(mushroom with tabs) for the bow anchor and a 8 pound Mushroom for the stern. I use the fore cleat and opposing rear. U can see the rear rope tight lined behind the motor.