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| Fouled Anchor Recovery Kit
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September 4, 2003
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Capt. Fred Triggs’ August 26 item about anchoring in the tiny cove off the Butchart Gardens dinghy dock contained a reference to an “anchor retrieval kit” Fred carries to free a fouled anchor from the bottom. I asked Fred to describe this “kit” and tell us how it is used. Here is his answer.
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D
ear Bob,
I hope the Butchart Gardens item helps someone. There was at least one marriage under some strain as a prospective visit to the Gardens morphed into a prolonged attempt at anchor recovery.
One of our yacht club members (apparently with ample experience in having his anchor hold only too well) gave a talk on recovery of same.
His (now my) kit has two elements, one for general recovery, and one for cable snags, where you can get the anchor in sight but can't slack your chain enough to get it off.
1. For general recovery carry an 18-inch length of fairly heavy chain with shackles on each end. With the boat's snagged anchor rode pulled taut, loop the recovery chain around the anchor rode and use one shackle to fasten the ends together. Tie a length of line to the other shackle and lower the loop of chain down the anchor rode to the bottom, hopefully sliding it down the fouled anchor’s shank to the crown, near the flukes. Then slack the rode until a fair amount of the anchor chain is piled on the bottom. The weight of the anchor chain on the ring end is supposed to tip the shank of the anchor parallel to the bottom and hold it there. Then heave in on the recovery line.
If all goes well, the loop of recovery chain lifts the anchor from the crown end, thus unhooking it from the bottom. That's what we did at Butchart Gardens, and up came the plow. I suspect one might have to repeat this a time or two, although for us it worked on the first attempt.
2. For an anchor fouled to a cable, a dock anchor line, a fellow boater's rode, etc. which can be pulled up into sight, we have a hook with two lines attached. The main line suspends the hook (point upward) to catch the cable, and the tripping line upsets the hook. The idea is that you first pull up the offending cable as far as you can with your anchor rode (using an anchor windlass, a sheet winch, or by hand if necessary). Hook the fouling cable with your recovery hook. After making the recovery line fast to your boat, preferably as far as possible from the bow, where the rode is, slack off the rode. Your anchor should drop free of the cable, which is being held with the hook. Last, using the second line to the recovery hook, trip the hook free of the cable and be on your way.
Swiss Tech, which had a display at the Seattle Boat Show, sells such a hook, with the added feature that it slides into a slot near the head of their patented boat hook, thus making the snagging of the cable easier. With just a bit more effort, the hook alone should suffice. (Swiss Tech has a web site, www.swisstech.com. Go to the yachting accessories menu, then "moor and get out.")
I keep all the gear in one small canvas bag, so I don't have the added frustration of trying to remember where all the parts are.
Warm regards,
Fred Triggs
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