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Anchor Trip Line 101, Please

21K views 48 replies 23 participants last post by  KStepman 
#1 ·
AS an inexperienced sailor, I read to gain knowledge. I have read in many places about using a trip line on the anchor to help free the anchor shold it become stuck. I am seeing this described two ways: One, as a line attached to the anchor with a float on the other end, the line being of a length which is slightly more than the depth of the anchor. Two, a line the length of the rode attached to the anchor and run back to the boat. Often the second option speaks of the trip line being attached to the rode. Never having used either option, I have questions about both.

When attached to a float, how do I keep from running over the line while I'm moving over the anchor while hauling it aboard? Seems to me to be a fouled prop waiting to happen.

As a line attached to the rode... Why? If it is so attached, would not any pull on the trip line be equivilent to a pull on the rode? If it is a paralell but seperate line, how do I stowe both it and the rode while I pulling up the anchor so as not to get the two lines hopelessly tangled? And if I pull up one line at a time, how do I keep the second line out of the prop?

BTW: 30' production coastal cruiser, Chesapeake Bay, Bruce style anchor, mostly doublehanded.

Thank you in advance for any information that you can give me.
 
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#2 ·
I've never heard of a trip-line running back to the boat or attached to the anchor rode in any way. That sounds like danger waiting to happen.

My trip line is longer than the water is deep at high tide so it won't pull on the anchor at all. I run the line up to the float and through a shackle and then put a little weight on the end of the line. The weight pulls the slack out of the trip-line and keeps it floating plumb at all stages of tide.

Remember to attach the trip-line to the other end of the anchor so if you need to use it you are pulling the anchor out backwards (which is how you get it unstuck).
 
#3 ·
We use a trip line in a couple of anchorages with known fouling problems and had to use it once to recover our anchor. We tie it off to a small styrofoam fishing cork marked "anchor". It helps other boats know where our anchor is as well. That said, you would be amazed at how often your boat sits right over top of your anchor on calm days with that darn little float knocking against the hull in the middle of the night. And then when you go to pull up anchor after several days, the trip line is wrapped around the anchor rode several times, making anchor retrieval even more fun. Unless you're willing to free dive down and attach a line if you get stuck, they are sometimes a necessary evil IMO.
 
#4 ·
I've seen a trip line attached to the rode using small clips or light seizings that allowed it to be pulled free when the anchor needed to be tripped. I've also seen float-rigged trip lines similar to what soulesailor describes.

I'm not a fan of anchoring and needing to use a trip line. I'd rather anchor in a place the trip line wasn't a necessity.
 
#5 ·
.....

BTW: 30' production coastal cruiser, Chesapeake Bay, Bruce style anchor, mostly doublehanded.

Thank you in advance for any information that you can give me.
Rayncyn,

I'll let other folks offer advice on the trip line mechanics, but I did want to mention that I've never found a trip line necessary nor desirable anywhere on the Chesapeake. Your bruce anchor should hold well, and should release easily from the mud once you get the rode more-or-less vertical.

That's not to say you won't ever need to know how to use a trip line, but I don't think you'll have much use for it on the Chesapeake. And if you end up in a crowded or busy anchorage, it would be a real liability.
 
#6 ·
recently read an account by Labatt where they put out a trip line & bouy. Another boat came along after dark and snagged the trip line and started dragging them.

I've read other people thinking the bouy was a mooring bouy and tied to it!

I like the suggestion that you put a piece of poly rope on the anchor but set the rope so it floats 5' to 6' below the surface. If you need to trip your anchor, you can get another line down to it with a boat hook or just swim down to the line. This method keeps the line out of virtually all props and out of the reach of others.
 
#8 ·
I read about a great trick in The Complete Book of Anchoring and Mooring, a book I would recommend.

You can use the rode itself as a trip line. You need an eye on the crown of the anchor. Instead of shackling to the end of the arm, you shackle to the crown, and then seize the rode onto the end of the arm with a line that can break under sufficient pressure. If the anchor doesn't get stuck, same as anchoring without a trip line. If it does, then when you weigh, the seizing breaks and now the rode pulls the anchor out backwards.

I forget what it's called. I think it was often used on traditional stock anchors, but I don't see why it couldn't be used on a modern anchor with sufficient modifications.
 
#9 ·
About 6 months ago my boat snagged my anchor buoy and we ended up dragging (in about 10K wind). Since then I have used some 15lb mono filament to act as weak link in the system. (make sure the full strength rope is still long enough to reach to surface or close to it) Its a bit to early to tell if it has been successful, as I use a anchor buoy rarely.
One thing I always use is a short 6 foot anchor buoy that always stays underwater. If the anchor does snag its much easier to locate snorkeling than a buried anchor. It also reduces the free diving depth to attach a line if the anchor snags.
 
#42 · (Edited)
This is a great idea. I've rarely used an anchor buoy because I've heard of so many stories of other boats snagging it, or swinging and snagging it on your own boat and suddenly you're adrift. The monofilament line would prevent that nicely!

I also have a 6' length of poly on my anchor head for the same reason. It has a bowline already tied in the end and occasionally when pulling up the anchor, and it's all backwards, it makes it really easy to re-orient it using a boat hook.

To address the original poster's question, I would not recommend an anchor buoy in mud or sand. I would only use one in rock/kelp, near wrecks/cables or generally anywhere that you knew you shouldn't have anchored in the first place.

MedSailor
 
#16 ·
Um.. Ray.. The water's like really cold here. Deep, too. Do you scuba, or are you some kind of superman?

I'm totally paranoid about anchoring, but there's NO WAY I'm diving an anchor up here!

DAvid
 
#11 ·
That sounds like it would be great for making your anchor visible, but doesn't it create problems with setting and maintaining a good set? Where do you attach the buoy line, to the crown, or the end of the shank? I guess if you use a small buoy the buoyancy would be completely overcome by the weight of the anchor and chain, but still seems a little iffy. I can see myself losing sleep, worrying about the buoy pulling the anchor out.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
That sounds like it would be great for making your anchor visible, but doesn't it create problems with setting and maintaining a good set? Where do you attach the buoy line, to the crown, or the end of the shank? .
The idea (if using an "underwater" anchor buoy) is to use a very small float, to just make the line buoyant. I use a small float that is round with a hole in the middle like a donut. It is only a couple of inches long. They are used by the 100s on fishing nets in the Med so you can often find them beachcombing.
Any trip line should be attached as far forward and low down as possible, so the anchor can be pulled out backwards.
 
#12 ·
I suppose it depends on how big your buoy is. Ours is a cork. Its pull is neglible. After switching to a Mason Supreme anchor, I can sleep well at night after a good set on very little scope in benign conditions. The bugger is hard to break out of the mud without using the boat's momentum, so an underwater buoy wouldn't concern me. (P.S., I don't sleep on a 1 to 1 scope, but I think I could in the right conditions)
 
#15 ·
Aha, I was picturing the sort of buoy that you use to mark crab traps.

xort - the difference between poly line and the buoy is probably one of visibility. Waters in PNW are pretty murky and vis is basically zero below ten feet, especially during summer when that pesky environment thing starts growing all over the place.

One thing I would do with the little buoy -- or with the poly line -- is to somehow paint it with reflective paint or otherwise make it reflective. Even on low-vis days, reflective objects can stand out like spotlights underwater.
 
#17 ·
David: my guess would be he doesn't anchor in very deep water :) Besides, the PNW has a pretty devoted freediving community.

erps, I am curious as to whether you go through all the trouble of donning a wetsuit before you dive your anchor...
 
#21 ·
We have had two negatives with our anchor buoy. The first time, we had the anchor buoy catch under our keel and hold the boat on very short scope in high wind. We ended up dragging the anchor some as a result. The second time, a trawler caught their rudder on our anchor buoy and dragged us at 7kts through the anchorage. We let them keep the buoy.
 
#22 ·
another solution ??

Thanks for all of the tips, we lost an anchor last summer in a powerboat.. no way that thing was coming up..
Afterward, someone told me about an "idea" where you have a decent sized buoy on a shackle of some sort, and if you get stuck you put the rode through the shackle and toss the buoy overboard and then do something.. :) That's the trouble, i can't remember what you do to get the anchor up.. and i'm having trouble visualizing what in the world the buoy would do..

Have any of y'all heard of this "idea", and if so, what's the last step ?? and does it work..

~Joey

Charleston SC,
Starwind 22
 
#24 ·
Thanks for all of the tips, we lost an anchor last summer in a powerboat.. no way that thing was coming up..
Afterward, someone told me about an "idea" where you have a decent sized buoy on a shackle of some sort, and if you get stuck you put the rode through the shackle and toss the buoy overboard and then do something.. :) That's the trouble, i can't remember what you do to get the anchor up.. and i'm having trouble visualizing what in the world the buoy would do..

Have any of y'all heard of this "idea", and if so, what's the last step ?? and does it work..

~Joey

Charleston SC,
Starwind 22
I've seen a device like you're describing in a magazine or a marine store (maybe west marine) but I've not seen one in use.

here's one:

https://www.savvyboater.com/p-42-anchor-ring-anchor-retriever.aspx
 
#25 ·
bruce anchor

rayncyn51 a bruce anchor has a hole in the shank by the claws. put a shackle in the hole to attach the trip line. i use that with a float when anchoring in rocky bottoms. the line will pull the anchor out backwards to free it.
 
#26 ·
Exactly erps, but did you notice in the description :

The Anchor Ring anchor puller floats the anchor to the surface using the forward motion of the boat. Once at the surface the chain counterbalances the anchor to allow you to easily haul the anchor into the boat. Once you have used the Anchor Ring, you will never want to go back to hauling the anchor by hand again

Is still missing how the heck it works..
OK assume you clip it on the rode and try and drive away from the anchor, the buoy just flounders around between the bow and the waterline..
to "lift the anchor off the bottom" it would have to go 30 feet down and lift the anchor off the bottom...
 
#27 ·
the buoy does two jobs.
1. If the buoy line is the correct length with the tidal height added in, it will mark about where your anchor is at and reasonbly smart people won't plant their anchor over the top of your anchor rode.
2. If the buoy line is strong enough, it can be used to haul your anchor back out of the bottom.
 
#28 ·
I'm convinced there are only two ways to keep people away from a buoy. One, is to use an inflatable or dummy horn mine. Even jetskiers are bright enough to know it might blow up, although they might try to take it home anyway.

The other would be to use a white buoy and just mark it "DANGER - MINE" and explain that as meaning it is MINE and I'm cranky about people touching it.

Or maybe stop down by Mines-R-Us and post the video on YouTube afterwards? (G)
 
#33 ·
I'm convinced there are only two ways to keep people away from a buoy. One, is to use an inflatable or dummy horn mine. Even jetskiers are bright enough to know it might blow up, although they might try to take it home anyway.

The other would be to use a white buoy and just mark it "DANGER - MINE" and explain that as meaning it is MINE and I'm cranky about people touching it.

Or maybe stop down by Mines-R-Us and post the video on YouTube afterwards? (G)
The Authorities would take a dim view of a claim that the anchorage is a mine field... But drunken idiots would still see how close they could come to it without setting it off.

Take a tether-ball paint it black paste three mine type horns on it and maybe put an "Acme Sporting Goods" or "Acme Arms Dealer" sticker on it also. Then float it above your anchor. And when someone comes real close to it. Set off a M-80 fire cracker and watch their pants turn brown.:laugher

Whilie Coyote from the Road Runner cartoons would know where to get those stickers.
 
#29 ·
My guess, looking at the buoy/ring thing in erps' link, is that the idea is to get the ring as close to the anchor itself as possible.

Say you have a 25 lb anchor and, I dunno, 100 feet of chain at (I'm making numbers up) 1 lb/ft. You take the bitter end of the chain, stick it through the ring, and -- gulp -- drop it overboard. Not mentioned, but I expect it would have to go into a bag or something.

Suppose the anchor is fouled in 20 ft of water. You keep pulling the chain through the ring and into the bag and eventually you have 80 feet of "bitter end" on one side of the ring in a bag, which weighs 80 lbs, and 20 ft plus a 25 lb anchor on the other end. The 80 lb bag is now a counterweight that, along with the buoyancy of the ring buoy, is sufficient to lift the 45 lbs of chain and anchor out of whatever it's stuck in. The closer you can get the ring to the anchor, the easier it gets.

What your anchorless boat is supposed to be doing at this time is not clear to me.
 
#30 ·
With that method, your bow is still lifting the weight of the chain and the stuck anchor. And the forces and directions are all still the same. I don't see any benefit in it.

If I wasn't set up with a trip line, I might use a bouy and line to mark where the anchor is, so I (or a diver like erps) could go back and get it.

Maybe we should add this to the how-to-make-money-while-cruising thread. Retrieving stuck anchors and selling old anchors that you find.
 
#31 ·
Spearfishing off the southwest tip of Fishers Island, NY I found an anchor twice, IIRC. They were stuck in piles of boulders, right where the fish hang out.
 
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