Anchor problems while diving...

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by captnjack

Ahhh English...

I assume you all are refering to what we call a "sentinel". In the pic I stole its marketed as an "anchor buddy" These are extra weights either attached to an anchor rode somewhere down low or lowered on a ring down along the rode. Help keep the pull horizontal.

look like this...

In place of these I have the ~8ft of 3/8" chain. That stuff is heavy. Right now my ~15ft of chain is about 15lbs total weight, as much as any anchor I'm likely to buy.

Not English - Welsh!!!

[BruceB]

Depending on dive sites and depths I tended to use one of two methods.

On wrecks I used a grapnel made of an 18" long piece of 2" solid bar with the bendable flukes welded on and a loop at the top. This was ideal up to around 65m or so as it went down fast and hooked in. I never bothered tying it it, just checked it was hooked properly when down at the beginning of the dive.
On scenic dives I found even in the sound of mull and surounding areas that a 5kg Bruce with an angel if thought necessary was more than enough in some fairly strong tides. Not much gravel about here though but lots of rock, Mud and sand.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by keelhauled

Pete 7, Surely you mean a cavity block. Breeze blocks float . Nearly!

Yes those are the ones

Capt Jack, do you recon that the weight half way down the anchor line does any good? personally I have my doubts. Once you get a couple of knots of tide on the boat then the anchor line is going to be pulled tighter than a Welshmans wallet, regardless of what the weight is doing and if its less than that so the extra weight is taken down to the seabed then the anchor would hold it anyway.

Pete

[Nick Hearne]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Yes those are the ones

Capt Jack, do you recon that the weight half way down the anchor line does any good? personally I have my doubts. Once you get a couple of knots of tide on the boat then the anchor line is going to be pulled tighter than a Welshmans wallet, regardless of what the weight is doing and if its less than that so the extra weight is taken down to the seabed then the anchor would hold it anyway.

Pete

I have used this method with a 10kg weight & it dose seam to help!

Nick

[BruceB]

I should maybe mention that my Angels are 56lb weights!

[captnjack]

Holy smokes how are you getting those aboard??

Everytime I've dragged its been in marble or golf ball sized gravel and there's been ample scope out. The anchor was just skating along over the rocks. Based on actually watching the anchor slide along, I doubt an angel/sentinel would have done anything.

I've done fine in sand, mud and rocky areas.

[BruceB]

Tis easy, the same way the grapnel is recovered and any other line.
Clip one reasonably large bouy to a small climbing ascender (the one piece type with no moving parts) and clip to line. Tie end of line to U bolt on stern and move away at a reasonable speed once the line is clear of bottom.
Bouy runs along line, weight on bottom comes up to meet bouy and ascender stops it running back down when you stop.
Pull rope and bouy into boat and lift the weight over transom or tube into boat, easy!

[Paulmac]

BruceB,
That method works great for us, although we use a 5 gal, plastic drum as a float. I didn't think there was anyone left who still pulled in 100m + of line by hand power. LOL
Jack, Perhaps thinner,longer flukes and adjusting the angels may help penetrate between your golf balls to achieve grip. On the 'gravel' beds on the NSW South Coast we use two anchors and experimented with the weight attachment points, even weighting the anchor flukes, until they penetrated the top layer. The anchors then dug themselves in, those gravel rocks are mostly grape size though.
Cheers,
Paul

[Rogue Wave]

if you are looking at delta style then check out fortress them re light and strong.

[PacificNWrib]

Captnjack,

I would recommend a Columbia River system with a buoy. I have tried several different types of anchors with my RIB on the Columbia and none them worked. Except for the river type we use down here.

The type of bottom can be what you are describing, plus the high river flows of the big "C" can make it tricky to get your anchor set.

I use a 15lb. anchor and it holds in all kinds of conditions. Here are some examples.

[Paulmac]

PacificNWrib,
Those pix are great. That's a much neater looking system than our home made one but the principle's the same as I was trying to describe above. We found it to be very effective, sometimes setting a 12lb weight 'after' the anchor to help it drag flat and bite.
Cheers,
Paul

[captnjack]

I just picked up a anchor retrieval "ring" (I already had the bouy) so I should be able to try that out in a couple weeks. Trying to find either a Delta or a Bruce in the right size now...