Anchoring ideas

krampuppy

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
31
I recently bought a 1990 javelin 17 foot fish and ski boat. The previous owner used it almost exclusively for skiing or traveling. I am going to use it for fishing too. I will mostly troll, but will anchor sometimes too. Anyway it has no anchors and I am wondering where and how would you put anchors ont the boat? Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
 

External Combustion

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
608
Re: Anchoring ideas

Tie the anchor to the cleats or handrail if you do not have cleats.

Use a scope of seven to one, ie. seven feet of anchor line to every foot of water depth. Have a short lengtt of chain betrween your line and the anchor. Use clevices to attach the chain and line.

Find out what type of anchor the locals are using. That will be a good guide to what will work best for you. Get one heavier than you think will be needed most of the time, as you never know when you might have engine troubles when a storm sets in.

Use the search engine here on the forum to find out more recommendations.

Good luck and happy sailing!
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Anchoring ideas

anchor from the bow when ever possible.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
Re: Anchoring ideas

Perhaps you have a different idea of what anchoring is but if you drop anchor off the bow, the wind and current if present will cause the boat to swing into the wind or current. This allows the boat to ride the waves so to speak. If you anchor off the stern on rough water you will have a very wet boat. You have a 17 foot boat -- you don't need more than one anchor unless you want to hold the boat in one specific orientation. Even then that situation is rare because the biggest movement is going to in a circle of 17 foot radius with just one anchor.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
Re: Anchoring ideas

Perhaps you have a different idea of what anchoring is but if you drop anchor off the bow, the wind and current if present will cause the boat to swing into the wind or current. This allows the boat to ride the waves so to speak. If you anchor off the stern on rough water you will have a very wet boat. You have a 17 foot boat -- you don't need more than one anchor unless you want to hold the boat in one specific orientation. Even then that situation is rare because the biggest movement is going to in a circle of 17 foot radius with just one anchor. As for how you put anchors on a boat, you pick it up and set it in the boat. If you want to get fancy you can buy an anchor system that uses a winch to drop and retrieve the anchor. Those are hardly necessary on a 17 foot boat. A 12 - 15 pound anchor is all you need.
 

sunaj

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 25, 2007
Messages
109
Re: Anchoring ideas

I'm doing a little research on anchors, and I was wondering about using two anchors, and when that is advisable, if you are sleeping in your boat overnight on a trip do you use two anchors to further stabilize the boat,
thanks sunaj
 

Boatist

Rear Admiral
Joined
Apr 22, 2002
Messages
4,552
Re: Anchoring ideas

In most cases it is safer to anchor with one anchor tied to the bow of the boat. With two anchors if the tide changes or the wind changes and the boat tries to swing around the stern anchor can get wraped around the motor or the two lines can twist around each other.

Set one good anchor and set a anchor watch on your GPS or Loran C so if the boat moves off station the alarm goes off and wakes you up.

I would not use any anchor over 8 pounds flute type or danforth. Personaly I would use a 4 pound Fortress FX-7 and make sure have enough line for a 7 to 1 scope at any depth you attend to anchor in..
 
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