Anchoring and safety

[philpot]

Here is the thing! Kevex and myself have had afew chats regarding improving anchoring effectively and with safety in mind.

The setup on kev's kayak is one shown in the various forums,
A buoy is connected between the anchor and the divers reel.

Now this would allow the reel to be thrown overboard in an emergency but not until you guide the anchor trolley back to centre in order to release the anchor through the carabina which is slow and possibly unstabe for the kayak in a tide.

The other method we have talked about is:- To attach the buoy via a carabina to the anchor reel with perhaps 25' of rope from the buoy through the anchor trolley carabina to a cam cleat on the kayak.The reel is always in the water with this method.

This arrangement would allow an immediate release from the anchor to allow rescue assistance or to allow myself to get out of a tight spot. The only problem i can see with this is once the buoy rope has been collected, it will need to be re fed through the anchor trolley carabina which could put you sideways on to a tidal run and create another problem. This i assume would be a pain every time you want to change position. We anchor from the bow i should state.

So, do i have the only two ways of using a buoy and anchor setup or is there another way or even is it a case that i have got it wrong in my mind.

I do want to use a buoy for quick release but also to help to keep the bow higher in the water which is bound to happen if the rope from the buoy to the kayak is horizontal with the water instead of the downward force of direct contact to the anchor.

I hope this all makes sense as it is not that easy to put into words.

I would love to have some feedback with your thoughts or alternative methods.

Phil

[gerryw]

Excellent qu. Phil. I am sure you (and I) are not the only ones looking to see what comes up here.
However, I have heard of a third way which is to have the buoy linked to the reel as you say for flotation but to loop the anchor line (between the reel and anchor) through the trolley link before taking it to the bow or stern for release. Once released the looped anchor line is placed in a cleat. That way if you need to release quickly you can take the anchor line loop from the cleat and it will 'flow' back through the trolley link releasing you instantly from anchor. Your float will then hold the reel in place for later pickup.
However, you still get an issue at pickup as you will be getting hold of the float or reel at your seated position before clipping it through the trolley line and taking it to the bow for recovery.....if you see what I mean! Also there is the qu. of how well the anchor line will drop the anchor via a loop.

Bl@@dy difficult to describe this in words like you say.

Gerry

[BUDDY]

This a prefered method
zebrakayak.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=safety&action=display&thread=2716
There are major down sides to having your reel in the water.
1
You have to retrieve your reel and wind on the loose line before lifting the anchor. This all takes extre time. Much needed time in an emergency.
2
to have line trailing under your kayak is asking for it to be snagged sooner or later.

Try not to look just for the positives but the negatives also.
Weigh up all the pro's and cons and go for the safest method.
At the end of the day your safety is the number 1 priority.
Steve

[gerryw]

Thanks Steve - But just one qu. if I may...

With the reel out of the water (presumably beside you in the cockpit area) the anchor line must go fore or aft through the link with the anchor trolley to be safe. How then can you configure a quick release using a float on the reel without having to either haul up your anchor (not quick) or bring the anchor trolley link back to midships to unhook the anchor line at which point it is dangerous and possibly could cause a capsize?

The only way I can think of is to use the loop as I tried to describe earlier.

Gerry

[BUDDY]

You will have to fetch the trolly to the center to release the rope as you would to retrieve the anchor. This shoul;d not cause a capsize as the anchor rope is at its full length and the kayak will have been pulled round with the tide.
Steve

[kevex]

Hi all, this is one of those annoying situations where the more you think about it the worse it gets, I,m thinking on the lines of, at some time, you will have to retrieve the cord (used to connect buoy and reel to your cleat) you could then paddle further upstream this would then allow enough time to pass the cord through the carabina and fix into the cleat, then trolley the carabina forward to the bow, by then you should of drifted back to a tight line to your anchor. This is usually what I was doing with the old anchor system I had.
Any worse case scenario,s I think you would be retrieving the anchor if possible and getting back to shore...

Cheers

Kev.

[philpot]

Gerry, i see where you are comming from----i think. The loop i take it is actually the anchor warp doubled back to allow a quick release, if that is correct, i would have thought it more complicated to gather and then fold back and finally feed through the carabina onto the cleat. I think i prefer my second method as the now loose warp trailing from the buoy is not under tension as the anchor warp would be.

Steve, i have looked at your link before and i mean't to tell you then that the second link No.240 does not seem to exist, the number is along way different to the first link number.

You know Kev we should perhaps make a dummy at your house or mine just to simulate what we were trying to create when we talked last.

If it does'nt work, we could always take the yaks to the nearest hill and have a go at snow kayaking!!! ;D
Phil

[gerryw]

Phil
Dead right, the loop in the anchor warp is what I meant and there are two issues with it. One it is complex to set up and second at some stage the anchor needs to be lowereed either at the bow or stern. I recon that would be impractical with a loop too.

I take Steve's (Buddy's) advice here. But I will be interested in your 'lawn' trials. Do take some piccies and post as we would all like to see your conclusions.

Gerry

[SEAJUNKY]

In an emergency I would without hesitation cut the anchor line with my snub nosed safety knife.

[Jessica Parker]

Dec 3, 2010 19:01:03 GMT -1 BUDDY said:

You will have to fetch the trolly to the center to release the rope as you would to retrieve the anchor. This shoul;d not cause a capsize as the anchor rope is at its full length and the kayak will have been pulled round with the tide.
Steve

Thanks a lot for sharing the information, extremely helpful as how to go for and deploy anchors while kayaking....