ever wonder what your dragging anchor looks like?

[Sterling]

i can show you the video!

i was in the channel islands today diving. the dive boats stern anchor started to drag once the current picked up (never set well from the start).

pretty violent, imho.

YouTube - anchor dragging, channel islands ca

[GordMay]

You anchored in a kelp bed?

[Pelagic]

Problem Gord is that the best dive sites make the most dangerous anchorages....kelp and strong currents in his waters

Much better to use a bigger inflatable tender and dive from that going down first to set your anchor someplace that will not trash the bottom


If it was a commercial dive operation and you were a customer (my guess) ......then those guys should know better and not anchor fore and aft in a changing current.......

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Much better to use a bigger inflatable tender and dive from that going down first to set your anchor

Yep... that's what we did as well.

The owners of one of the megayachts I worked on were avid divers. I always took the the 27 (ish) foot Novurania to the desired dive site.

Not only is it safer, but it opens up more dive sites in general.

Try a drift dive using the mother ship!

[Sunspot Baby]

I boated and dived in Southern CA for 7 years. Our boat was 24'. It was our transportation, our dive boat, and lodging. The option of taking the 27' Novurania borders on the sublime for a normal boater.

We tried to anchor in sand near the site but with steep drop offs and sandy bottoms that was not always possible. There were times we lowered the hook into the kelp bed. I never had one drag. As a matter of fact getting the kelp to release the hook and give it back was the trick. Of course, we had no power windlass and I had to haul it aboard by the armstrong method.

Ah for the good old days. I miss California and kelp diving.

George

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Sunspot Baby

Ah for the good old days. I miss California and kelp diving.

George

It was the same for me when I used to dive in BC Gulf Islands.

Places like Porlier Pass with only 30 minutes slack were a dangerous place to anchor. I would set my bow and then back almost to the beach. Tie 2 beach lines to keep my stern square in the back eddy then do our dives at slack.

Getting away safely, was always a challenge!

[Sterling]

Originally Posted by GordMay

You anchored in a kelp bed?

Heck no. I was a guest on a local commercial boat. If I were in charge I would have anchored further out, bow into the current and over sand and then dinked in closer.

Trouble is, commercial operations like to put the stern right over the site when they can. Most of the times it works without issue. I've been diving on this boat for about 5-6 years and this is the only time I've seen an anchor slip (and I'd know, since I usually ascend / descend on the stern line.

So yah, I'm not too thrilled with the damage done either. But, kelp grows back fast and this is the first time in 75+ anchorages that i've seen it happen.

[Roy M]

Nice video, Sterling! May I ask what camera and housing you used? And what about the audio of your breathing? Is the pickup inside the housing? Thanks for the entertaining action. I saw the same thing happen to our plow in the sandy bottom of Santa Barbara Island. After a long day of high winds and rough seas bashing into the anchorage (really, the only one on that small island), I dove down to see a trench a hundred yards long. Wow!. No wonder they call it a plow.

[Sterling]

The camera was a Canon G9 point-n-shoot inside the canon OEM housing. Nothing too special. The audio was captured via the onboard mic through the plastic of the housing. If you want to see more of what I shot that day:

my sister performing scuba gymnastics

YouTube - scuba gymnastics

me sucking at trying to catch a bug

YouTube - lame bug grab

my brother playing with the fishies

YouTube - sheepshead fish

swimming through the kelp

YouTube - kelp forrest

my brother checking out the sea lions

YouTube - mike checking out the sea lions

[CaptHead]

You should call that one "Go Bruce, Go!"

[CharlieCobra]

Yep, that hook ain't doin' much good upside down like that.