Anchoring in Soft Mud

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

The main problem is the stinky mud.

Understood. The stuff we were pulling up during the testing was real foul-smelling....eliminating any thoughts of selling it as a facial beauty product.

[nigel1]

Originally Posted by avb3

Just a silly thinking out of the box idea, (which I have not tried nor know if it would work), have you thought of using what I call a pikeral jig (from fishing) setup?

The idea is both anchors on the rode, separated by a significant amount of space. It would have to involve a lot of scope, but with the Fortress being the lead anchor, setting it, and if the Spade sets, great, if not it is there as a potential backup. Then you could use your windlass.

Something like this:

Attachment 92274

In the offshore oil industry, that anchor set up is known as a piggy back, generally used as last resort as it is such a PITA to deploy and recover, but, it does work (sometimes).

[Kestle]

This may be heresy, but we bring the anchor only up to about ten feet below the keel, then motor SLOWLY out of the anchorage. It usually washes most of the mud off. If not, I let out enough, so that it is behind the stern and go a bit faster. Our outboard is hung on the port side, so I just make sure the anchor runs past the keel on starboard.

As the rode comes up, I sit on the bow with a rag-towel and wipe it. I find the boat smells better when I do this. I also have a water pump">raw water pump but have not installed. It.