folding anchor???

hi, quite new to boating, got big inflatable, dont laugh but tried anchoring
with bag of stones on rope over the side to do bit of fishing, hopeless as u
prob know in a breeze ,also heavy to lift up again, so got myself a small
folding type anchor.
bit puzzled as to what to do getting up if the spikes get stuck on bottom
junk or whatever. i see it has an eye at the bottom which i presume is for
another rope ??? so u can pull up and out hopefully from snag??can anyone
say if this is correct or do u just hope u dont get snagged??? cheers dunky

In article , dunky
--remove55 wrote:
hi, quite new to boating, got big inflatable, dont laugh but tried anchoring
with bag of stones on rope over the side to do bit of fishing, hopeless as u
prob know in a breeze ,also heavy to lift up again, so got myself a small
folding type anchor.
bit puzzled as to what to do getting up if the spikes get stuck on bottom
junk or whatever. i see it has an eye at the bottom which i presume is for
another rope ??? so u can pull up and out hopefully from snag??can anyone
say if this is correct or do u just hope u dont get snagged??? cheers dunky

Er, please don't take this the wrong way:

You need to do a basic boating/seamanship course. One of the RYA courses
would be fine, your local harbour office will know where to find them.

However:

The stones might have worked if you had suitable chain and on the right
bottom. A concrete archangel would be better - used to control a drift over
sand for eg.

Your anchor has a tripping eye. Two ways to do it. Either attach a small
buoy on a light rope to the bottom of the anchor so that if it snags you
pick up the bouy and pull it out backwards or attach your chain to the
tripping eye and fold the anchor back so that it's the right way up then tie
the chain to the stock with a single loop of light twine that will break if
you pull *hard* and so capsize the pull.

You MUST have a length of chain next to the anchor btw even if you use a
lighter warp for your main line. The heavy chain brings the pull to the
horizintal and allows the anchor to do it's work.

Cheerio,

--

Attach a rope to the spare eye and secure on board. When time comes to move,
if anchor does not release naturally, motor uptide until the angle of the
spare rope allows the anchor to be dragged free.
Cheers
Gordon.
"dunky" --remove55 wrote in message
...
hi, quite new to boating, got big inflatable, dont laugh but tried
anchoring
with bag of stones on rope over the side to do bit of fishing, hopeless as
u
prob know in a breeze ,also heavy to lift up again, so got myself a small
folding type anchor.
bit puzzled as to what to do getting up if the spikes get stuck on bottom
junk or whatever. i see it has an eye at the bottom which i presume is for
another rope ??? so u can pull up and out hopefully from snag??can anyone
say if this is correct or do u just hope u dont get snagged??? cheers
dunky

"Derek.Moody" wrote in message
...
In article , dunky
--remove55 wrote:
hi, quite new to boating, got big inflatable, dont laugh but tried
anchoring
with bag of stones on rope over the side to do bit of fishing, hopeless
as u
prob know in a breeze ,also heavy to lift up again, so got myself a small
folding type anchor.
bit puzzled as to what to do getting up if the spikes get stuck on bottom
junk or whatever. i see it has an eye at the bottom which i presume is
for
another rope ??? so u can pull up and out hopefully from snag??can anyone
say if this is correct or do u just hope u dont get snagged??? cheers
dunky

Er, please don't take this the wrong way:

You need to do a basic boating/seamanship course. One of the RYA courses
would be fine, your local harbour office will know where to find them.


Good advice.
But if you choose to ignore, as many do, purchase a set of flares. You will
probably think that you will rely on a mobile phone. Don't risk it. Phones
fail
to connect. A inflatable with a failed engine against the tide will drift
out at a
extremely fast rate. As a newcomer I expect that you will no navigation or
map
reading experience to inform the authorities or whoever you contact on your
mobile
where you are.
Set off a flares can alert more people than a mobile who can good
navigational
information to the Coastguard.
Just friendly advice.
http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-home

Attach the chain on the warp to the loop at the centre of the 'bottom' of
the anchor. Then run the chain alond the shaft to the 'top' and attach to
the ring with a mediun sized cable tie / 60 lb nylon. If it gets stuck,
the temp restraint snaps, and you pull it out backwards .... easy-peasy


On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 20:19:39 +0000 (UTC), Merlin
wrote:


"Derek.Moody" wrote in message
...
In article , dunky
--remove55 wrote:
hi, quite new to boating, got big inflatable, dont laugh but tried
anchoring
with bag of stones on rope over the side to do bit of fishing, hopeless
as u
prob know in a breeze ,also heavy to lift up again, so got myself a
small
folding type anchor.
bit puzzled as to what to do getting up if the spikes get stuck on
bottom
junk or whatever. i see it has an eye at the bottom which i presume is
for
another rope ??? so u can pull up and out hopefully from snag??can
anyone
say if this is correct or do u just hope u dont get snagged??? cheers
dunky

Er, please don't take this the wrong way:

You need to do a basic boating/seamanship course. One of the RYA
courses
would be fine, your local harbour office will know where to find them.


Good advice.
But if you choose to ignore, as many do, purchase a set of flares. You
will
probably think that you will rely on a mobile phone. Don't risk it.
Phones
fail
to connect. A inflatable with a failed engine against the tide will drift
out at a
extremely fast rate. As a newcomer I expect that you will no navigation
or
map
reading experience to inform the authorities or whoever you contact on
your
mobile
where you are.
Set off a flares can alert more people than a mobile who can good
navigational
information to the Coastguard.
Just friendly advice.
http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-home





--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Dunky
We are talking serious chaun here at least 6ft and at least 3/8" thick - you
need the weight rather than the ultimate strength..
Try a lifting tackle co. (yellow pages) and ask if thay have any condemned
lifting chains which they can let you have.
Should be cheap and they will cut off any hooks and rings.
Health and safety regs might require the chain to be totaly destroyed tho'
You can only ask.

Keith M
"dunky" --remove55 wrote in message
...
hi, quite new to boating, got big inflatable, dont laugh but tried
anchoring
with bag of stones on rope over the side to do bit of fishing, hopeless as
u
prob know in a breeze ,also heavy to lift up again, so got myself a small
folding type anchor.
bit puzzled as to what to do getting up if the spikes get stuck on bottom
junk or whatever. i see it has an eye at the bottom which i presume is for
another rope ??? so u can pull up and out hopefully from snag??can anyone
say if this is correct or do u just hope u dont get snagged??? cheers
dunky

Some advice, from personal experience:-

If you go for "cheap" chain, don't forget to wash the salt off very
frequently, otherwise it rusts jolly quickly, turns into a nasty useless
lump, and spoils any rope that is touching it. Chain that is sold "inland"
is often only plated, and it just wont stand up to use in the sea.

If you want chain that you can use and just put back in the locker and
forget 'til the next time, get proper hot-dip galvanised chain from a
chandlers. 2 metres (or better, 5) wont break the bank, and it will last
for years.

Incidentally, buy hot-dip galvanised shackles to join things together. (You
will need 3 - take the anchor and chain with you, when you go to buy them).
These aren't cheap (chandlers again!), but having all the same metals slows
down the corrosion, and the gear will last you for years. The shackles need
to be one size thicker than the chain, as they are not as strong as chain.
Don't forget to "mouse" the shackles pins, so they don't come undone! I use
Monel wire, but you could use cable ties, as long as you check they are
still there, from time to time.

To join the rope on, use an "anchor bend", if you don't want to do a splice.
It is like a Round Turn and 2 Half Hitches", but you put the end of the rope
through the round turn, when you make the first half hitch. I usually
stitch through the rope-end, and put a whipping on to fasten it, but I think
you could probably get away with 2 or 3 cable ties, as long as you check
them occasionally.

It may seem a lot of effort and expense, but I got less than 1 year's use
out of my "cheap" setup, then 6 year's use out of my "expensive"
replacement, which would have lasted another 2 or 3 years, if I hadn't lost
it accidentally!

Christine

"Keith M" wrote in message
...
Dunky
We are talking serious chaun here at least 6ft and at least 3/8" thick -
you
need the weight rather than the ultimate strength..
Try a lifting tackle co. (yellow pages) and ask if thay have any condemned
lifting chains which they can let you have.
Should be cheap and they will cut off any hooks and rings.
Health and safety regs might require the chain to be totaly destroyed tho'
You can only ask.

Keith M
"dunky" --remove55 wrote in message
...
hi, quite new to boating, got big inflatable, dont laugh but tried
anchoring
with bag of stones on rope over the side to do bit of fishing, hopeless
as
u
prob know in a breeze ,also heavy to lift up again, so got myself a
small
folding type anchor.
bit puzzled as to what to do getting up if the spikes get stuck on
bottom
junk or whatever. i see it has an eye at the bottom which i presume is
for
another rope ??? so u can pull up and out hopefully from snag??can
anyone
say if this is correct or do u just hope u dont get snagged??? cheers
dunky