Chain for boat anchor?

Question

I have a 12 foot rowboat and a fluke anchor. It does a lousy job not slipping while I fish. In my reading, I am getting the impression that a chain is necessary to connect the anchor to my rope, and serves a function other than not losing the anchor. Is the chain necessary for the anchor to dig in? Can someone explain this to me?

Can anyone offer personal experience with the "Digger" anchor?

Thanks

Answer 1

hmmmmm.based on 40 years of designing and building and sailing boats and a few books on seamanship:

a 10 lb Danforth type anchor and a  bout 4 foot of 5/16th chain and maybe 50 foot of 3/8 line...( you dont have to put out all 50 feet).the weight of the anchor and chain alone in shallow calm water will hold you.

If you're trying to anchor in a thin soupy muddy bottom no anchor will hold well..them the pole driven in the bottom idea has lots to be said for it......

I have also noticed plastic covered mushroom shaped "anchors" sold by fishing gear stores...save your money. Use it as a paperweight

Answer 2

Using a 10' or so piece of galvanized chain on your anchor will help keep the rode parallel to the bottom resulting in better holding power in addition to eliminating chafing of your rope part of the rode on the bottom.

Another thing you might try is putting out more scope. In 10' of water, we put out no less than all our chain and at least 20' of the nylon rode (a 5:1 ratio).  Depending on wind and current conditions, perhaps even more. Then again, our boat weighs about 7,000 lbs and I really don't feel like waking up in a panic in the middle of the night because we're dragging the hook.

Our ground tackle consists of 30' of 3/8" chain and 300' of 5/8" rode with a 22-pound Danforth anchor. It's probably overkill,but we've had no problems so far with dragging in over 13,000 cruising miles.

(EDIT)

Your only other option would be to anchor your boat fore-and-aft in a Bahamian moor, which will prevent swing and keep you where you need to be. Two old plastic-covered 10 lb. free weights would probably get it done.

The Digger anchor is fairly spendy and won't hold well at all unless you use the recommended scope.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

The purpose of the Chain is to give Weight to the top of anchor to make it lay down so it can dig in, if an anchor lands in mud it will many time stay straight up, the chain will force it to lay down as the boat drifts, then dig in.

Answer 4

The fluke anchor is the most common anchor in America. It has (for its weight) an inordinate holding power in mud or sand. However, they are not any good at all on gravel, shell, coral, rocky, grassy or even clay bottoms.

So... one "first" thing you might check (if you don't already know) is what kind of bottom are you fishing over... If in fact, you are fishing over anything other than mud or sand, you need to change the type of anchor...

Before lowering your anchor - don't throw it - don't just drop it in and let it go... Keep tension on the line until you see that your anchor line and chain angle forward.

If you just drop or throw your anchor you are just asking for a fouled anchor because the chain will fall to the bottom on top of the anchor and tangle or foul. If the anchor fouls, it walks. If it walks, it doesn't do its job - and sooner or later it is gonna get seriously hung - possibly to a point you can't retrieve it.

Furthermore, the anchor "rode" - that is, "everything" between the anchor and the boat, can be just as critical as the anchor itselt.  Most boaters have been very lucky... in other words, they have never had to depend on their anchor holding in a life of death, hold or have my boat destroyed - situation... Most in fact, think the rope or chain from the boat to the anchor, only needs to be strong enough to lift the weight of the anchor.  Fact is, even in your case (a 12 foot open fishing boat, the effect of water, waves, and wind forces on your boat - the horizontal force exerted on an anchor by 15 knots of winds can be upwards of 200 pounds, at 20 knots the force has increased expedentially to 1,000 pounds.

So... a piece of chain at the anchor, may indeed help... but, my guess it that you are not placing enough "rode" between your boat and the anchor... I use "fluke" and "plow" anchors on my 60 footer... both are good - but on different bottom types... you need to make sure that you are at least 7 to 1 (rode length to depth) ratio, (that is... the actual depth of the water plus the height bow above the water surface. So if you are fishing in 20 ft. deep water, and your bow (anchor) roller is 5 ft. above the water, you'll need to use at least 175 ft. (25 ft. X 7) of rode to anchor. I have my lines all marked off in ten foot increments, so I can easily know how much line to set out, and how far out my anchor needs to be.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

if you are going to fish in areas with less than 5 ft of water, use a 'cajun anchor' - a pole you push into the ground and tie off to.  it works in calm shallow water.

i suggest you read 'chapmans' a good book on boating that you can find at any west marine or barnes and noble.  the book will describe anchoring and the different types of anchors for different bottoms, and other useful informations.

good luck

Answer 6

Audio God and Capt. John both offered good advice.  There are few anchor designs that will work without enough scope.  If you chose to ignore well meaning advice get yourself a 50 block of concrete.

Answer 7

A mushroom anchor will solve your problem.  Wal mart has them cheap.  An eight pounder will keep you still with minimum scope.  A danforth type digger anchor requires much more scope to allow the anchor to lay flat and dig in.   You can also fill a milk jug or cofee can with cement.  Feed the end of the anchor line in and cover with wet cement(or use an eye bolt sticking out from the cement).  Keep it simple, the fish are not impressed by anchoring prowess.

Answer 8

at boating stores you can get a setup for your boat already assembled with chain and rode and anchor for your size boat.