Delta anchor sizing

Bigtalljv · 20 October 2014, 17:16

had a great day spearfishing yesterday with the exception of no fish. Beautiful water, we could see the bottom in 75' of water.

But at the end of the day when my buddy pulled up the anchor there was no anchor at the end of the line!!?? we'd already changed out of dive gear and had drifted/motored from the anchor spot so finding it would have been iffy.

That being said I have a zodiac 7m. I had a 9lbs delta from the old boat. I have a mile of heavy chain and have never had a problem with the boat moving. Should I stick with the 9lb or step up to the 14lbs? Delta specs say the 9lbs is for boats up to 20', the 14lbs is 20-30'. the only problem with the bigger anchor is I am not sure if it will fit in the anchor locker that I made....

Thanks,
Jason

Peter_C · 20 October 2014, 17:34

Are you diving off an unattended boat? If so I would go with the correct or larger sized anchor.

Curious if you carry a Nautilus Lifeline or a PLB with you while diving? (I carry a Nautilus in my drysuit pocket, but a PLB is on the shopping list.)

jyasaki · 21 October 2014, 15:08

In general sizing recommendations are for hard boats. While a RIB may be lighter for a given length, it also has a much larger sail action than a hard boat. Go larger.

Out of curiosity, what failed to cause you to lose the anchor? Shackle come undone?

What kind of fish were you stalking? And where?

jky

Bigtalljv · 21 October 2014, 15:53

Good point about sail area, I was thinking about the weight. no idea what happened to the anchor, I assume the shackle came loose, it was wired shut, but there was nothing but clean chain so no evidence. We were out at anacapa looking for yellowtail.

Peter, yes unattended boat. We are freediving and I don't have any locators or anything.

Trimix · 21 October 2014, 15:58

I'm planning on diving from my RIB unattended and went through a thought process that basically ended up with me buying the biggest anchor I could fit in the anchor locker

Oh, and about a mile of chain.

Perhaps someone nicked yours ?

Peter_C · 21 October 2014, 16:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtalljv

Peter, yes unattended boat. We are freediving and I don't have any locators or anything.

Well at least freediving you get to see your boat every couple of minutes. It is gonna be one heck of a swim challenge to keep up with a drifting boat in higher winds though.

Just out of curiousity do you ever scuba dive? Unfortunately due to a blown left ear drum 4 times (Wakeboarding injuries) I can not equalize fast enough on ascent. Descent is usually fine though. Screwing around with a K bottle of O2 I did manage an easy 3 minute breathe hold

Cheating I know, but I was standing at least. If you are freediving to 75' that is impressive...as is the vis!

Bigtalljv · 21 October 2014, 17:09

no, nobody else around to swipe it

and I do have a mile of chain. that was one of the big considerations, the crew (generally wife and kids) has to haul this up.

I'll go with the bigger anchor. Hopefully it fits.

Yes, I do scuba dive but I much prefer freediving. Hunting on scuba feels very unsporting after freediving. No I can't freedive to 75', we could just see that far, part of the reason I didn't get suited up and go look for it. I can work 20-30' depths for long enough but I am by no means a great freediver but I still enjoy it tremendously.

So the the next question is anchor rigging. The delta and other plows you can shackle at the plow end and connect with a break away on the shank so if it gets stuck and you yank hard enough it self releases, or that's the theory. anybody rig theirs that way? what do you use on the shank end? zip tie or seizing wire?

Peter_C · 21 October 2014, 17:29

I prefer to not have my anchor recoverable by breaking a zip tie and pulling from the back. In other words if it is stuck it will get left behind and possibly recovered later, or I will dive on it immediately to free it. To me it is more important to find my boat where I left it an hour later.

As to the shackle tie stainless wire is the best. Although I have a pink zip tie on mine that gets replaced often as I don't want the sharp wire cutting someone's hand.

If you are not using long freedive fins there is a whole new world waiting for you...

Bigtalljv · 21 October 2014, 18:17

i've been freediving/spearfishing for 20+ years. It's not new to me. even still I just got a new set of heavy fiberglass blades, carbon and kevlar cost too much and aren't stiff enough, I'm a big fella. I dove on them for 5 or 6 hours sunday until my calves started to cramp up

captnjack · 21 October 2014, 18:23

I don't shackle tie mine. The last thing I want is the wind veering, the zip-tie breaking and the anchor dragging backwards

If it gets really stuck I will either dive to free it, tie off a fender and come back later, or cut it free.

I use a claw, the delta is too pricey to lose IMO.

Bigtalljv · 21 October 2014, 18:37

this is my first lost anchor over 15 years of boating so I am sticking with the same style. It's worked for me for that long so I'm not going to change now. It was just a bummer of conditions that made getting it back too much. I know roughly where it was, maybe i'll take the scuba stuff and go looking for it with my boy when the weather calms down. winds to 30 and combined seas to 14' today and not dropping off much for the week.

ncp · 22 October 2014, 04:24

I heard it got rough up there! We were planning a surf trip but I don't think it's going to happen.

I was told to buy one of these [img] http://newcontent.westmarine.com/con...ull/289274.jpg[\img]. I haven't lost and anchor yet but that really doesn't mean anything. Your 15 yrs of boat ownership to my 3 yrs. It takes an allen key and loctite to put it together and seems pretty solid. Cost: ~$38.

jyasaki · 22 October 2014, 14:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtalljv

So the the next question is anchor rigging. The delta and other plows you can shackle at the plow end and connect with a break away on the shank so if it gets stuck and you yank hard enough it self releases, or that's the theory. anybody rig theirs that way? what do you use on the shank end? zip tie or seizing wire?

I have my spare hook rigged that way. If I remember right, I have it shackled at the front (with the pin safety wired - you saw where I was going with that, didn't you?), and a few 175# (I think) zip ties to hold the chain to the shank.

A single or double wrap of safety wire would do as well.

I figure that I don't want it to break out unless I really need it to, and in that case, I'd use the motor to free the chain from the shank.

NCP: Isn't that just a swivel to keep the rode from twisting?

Pete: When I safety wire the shackle, I use a pair of safety wire pliers, leave about 3/4" of twisted section, and fold that back on itself twice, so the pointy bits are hidden in the middle. Then smash it all down so it's out of the way.

jky

Peter_C · 22 October 2014, 17:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Pete: When I safety wire the shackle, I use a pair of safety wire pliers, leave about 3/4" of twisted section, and fold that back on itself twice, so the pointy bits are hidden in the middle. Then smash it all down so it's out of the way.

jky

I have one of those tools that locks on and spins for safety wire. I tried folding it under and got myself pretty good pullinng the hook. Poke OUCH! Of course not much blood LOL Probably should switch back to safety wire.

Alright break is over, back to sanding...sigh