Break-Away Anchor Rigging

[Bryan 2530]

Great ideas and concept ... but ...

I hope that anyone that rigs a break-away anchor also carries a SPARE anchor or a dedicated STORM anchor that is NOT rigged in such a break-away fashion.

I'd opine that more lives have been lost by not having a proper anchor (setting or sea) to keep the bow into the waves during s$#t hits the fan weather.

Bravo!

it's much more important to concentrate on keeping the anchor IN, than making sure you can get it out. Also, that every 'gadget' you employ aboard adds to the complexity. .

I agree, I use a separate rode and anchor for reef fishing, One that I pulled up off the bottom after someone cut it.

 

[grouperjim]

Bravo!

I've spent over 1,000 nights at anchor (we lived aboard a sailboat for 3+ years) and it is my finding that it's much more important to concentrate on keeping the anchor IN, than making sure you can get it out. Also, that every 'gadget' you employ aboard adds to the complexity. Now this isn't a problem and can even be fun when everything is going your way, but when push comes to shove, the simpler the better. It is never ONE thing that causes trouble, it's a multitude of things that create a disaster and all those gadgets contribute to the multitude. During the times I really want my anchor to hold, the last thing I want to worry about is a wind or current shift causing the Anchor Saver to 'save' my anchor when I need to stay put. I have nightmares about moving parts underwater anyway.

The same goes for triplines with a float. We tried that once. During the night the tide changed. We drifted into the trip line and it caught the prop; we swung with the new current and up came the anchor...and guess what, now the motor was useless because the prop was fouled.

Of course, YMMV.

Bingo! Let us not confuse safety with convenience. This is not a safer way to anchor.........just a more convenient way to save a buck should it get fouled.

Another reason the break-away would not work for me is because if I miss my spot by more that 50 ft and I'm not getting the bite, I'll drive by it 45 degrees off and pull it free to move it over to make minor position adjustment. Or, in some cases, just drive short distances to the next spot with the anchor trailing on the surface behind the boat.