How to UNset an anchor?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Andrew Troup

Bruce have got exactly the thing for you Nick: same result, but much simpler.

Oh no worries, I don't need it even if I need to rip the whole seabed out but it'll come up

[Jimbo485]

It took me over 90 minutes to get the FX-37 up today. 6 m depth, embedded deep from 40+ knot winds and a flood from a couple of months ago in the river mud. Scope of 1.01. We ran over it, pulled, prodded and performed for the audience in the park, had lunch, hauled, waited, hauled on that bitch again and still she refused to budge. So I swam down the chain, absolute blackness in this dirty river, thrust my arm down the chain through the mud and could just feel the shank, back to the surface for some air and a think. A little rest, another dive, a few handfuls of mud excavated, repeat, etc etc etc. Once I could touch the flukes, I climbed back aboard, we charged forward and then out she popped!

[Andrew Troup]

Originally Posted by 0urh

What techniques, equipment, tricks etc do you use to UNset (retrieve) a deeply set anchor?

The topic has drifted into the area of fouled anchors requiring a tripline to get them up.
(Fouled under a bottom chain, dragged into a rock crevice, or some such...)

One thing no-one has mentioned is: how do you work out what direction to pull the tripline from, and having worked this out, how do you actually achieve that?
(It's not going to be viable to pull it up from even a big dinghy: you need something with lots of buoyancy and stability, and also a fair helping of "bollard pull" - ie what tugboats have - but of course nothing like that much!)

Apologies for what's obvious in the following run-down, but I thought I'd lay everything out, in case somebody might otherwise not get a clear picture. There's a twist at the end...

Working out which way to pull might require getting wet, but if you're lucky, the sun's high and the water's clear, you can check from what direction the anchor needs to come back out by heading out in a dinghy, shading the water surface (hold your jacket inverted over your head like an old-time photographer) or if visibility is more marginal, put a diver's mask on and kneel in the stern of the dinghy. If you have or can borrow an old-fashioned 'look-bucket', you'll be more comfortable, but it's not essential. Failing these, or if the situation is complicated, go for a dive and check it out properly.

(If the problem is a bottom chain, it's a better idea to dive down with one end of a suitable long line, pass it through or under the bottom chain near as you can to the anchor. Take the end back up, and pull both parts using the warping drum, to lift the chain. You should easily be able to free the anchor with the tripping line, or possibly it will even fall clear.)

OK, here's the tricky bit: How to pull hard enough on the tripping line, once you know what direction to pull from?

The trick is this: Unload the entire rode, right to the bitter end, into the dinghy.

Hopefully you don't have hundreds of kilos of chain, in which case even with a big dinghy, this will be a painful exercise at best. Compromise and lower say half the chain to the bottom, in a pile on the opposite side of the anchor from the direction you need to pull towards.

If the water's deep, and/or your chain is heavy gauge, there'll be a lot of down-load, and you'll have to improvise to use this method*

Otherwise, fasten the chain coming out of the water to the middle of the transom (obviously you'd remove the outboard, if one's fitted)
and pile the remainder of the chain into the dinghy.

Now's the surprising bit: cast off the dinghy. It's not going anywhere: it's got a massive bloody great anchor, especially for a dinghy ..... and it's jammed.

Now you can take the yacht away, completely unhindered, to the right spot to haul on the tripping line.

If you don't do this, apart from the manoeuvring difficulties, the catenary pull of the chain on the shank from the wrong direction will likely stuff things up and keep the anchor jammed.

Even if this wasn't a problem, you might not be able to get far enough away before the chain comes tight (because you'll generally have to pull at quite a flat angle) especially if the water's quite deep.

Lacking a suitably manly dinghy, lower all the chain to the bottom, with a line up to an anchor buoy, and pray no idiot motors over it.

* one suggestion: so as not to pull the transom underwater with the weight of chain, you could rig a pair of bridles under the boat, one from stbd to port rowlock, the other from bow to stern, and hang the chain from the intersection, before loading the rest into the boat.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, 0urh.

[Kenomac]

If it's just dug in deep, power over the anchor or just take up the rode slack and wait for the tide action and waves to do the heavy work. If your anchor is truly stuck, you probably needed a rear trip line attached or achor retrieval system before you launched in the first place.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by jackdale

Rather than using a trip line, consider this option.



Comments?

I fotgot to provide my source for this.

To deploy or not to deploy Trip Lines (aka Anchor Buoys)

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

^^

If I remember correctly the super yacht that took those anchors later dragged ashore. . . .

Yep! And tried to sue the maker claiming they were defective.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by jackdale

Cinch up the anchor rode to a cleat, put the engine reverse and power up. That may work. Do not go forward unless you like doing gelcoat repairs.

Good advice on the reverse gear, however, if you look like this you may get away with it.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Good advice on the reverse gear, however, if you look like this you may get away with it.

True but most of the boats I teach on look like this.



reverse works in both scenarios.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by jackdale

True but most of the boats I teach on look like this.



reverse works in both scenarios.

There no anchor at all LOL

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

There no anchor at all LOL

That really saves on the gelcoat on the bow. Poor docking could result in hull damage though.

[FlyingCloud1937]

Originally Posted by 0urh

What techniques, equipment, tricks etc do you use to UNset (retrieve) a deeply set anchor?

The same large shackle I posted about in this topic on lifting a large anchor when the windlass breaks.

Take a line and connect it to the shackle along with a 1lb weight pass the anchor rode though the shackle. With the rode pulled tight by aid of the main engine, drop the shackle and let it go all the way to the base of the anchor stock. Then get in a motorized dink, and take the line and motor against the set of the anchor.

Lloyd

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by jackdale

I fotgot to provide my source for this.

To deploy or not to deploy Trip Lines (aka Anchor Buoys)

I'd thought of using the underwater floating line attached to the chain rode method myself, but unfortunately, it doesn't work so well in actual practice. I've even tried using a small floating loop coming off the backside of the anchor, a 6ft loop just off the bottom to grab with a hook. The trouble with these methods, is that the floating line tends to lasso junk and rocks on the bottom or it gets all tangled up with the anchor, compounding the problem. The floating line even makes an excellent target for the next person anchoring next door to get inside your loop and yank up your anchor. Who would have thought? More stuff to get tangled.

I'll probably just end up buying something like the "Anchorwitch" system, and forget about trying to come up with solutions myself. Anyone had any luck with the Anchorwitch?

anchorwitch_demo.mp4 - YouTube

[mrohr]

Once had to abandon a bruce anchor that just would not come up no way no how. tied an old pfd to the cut rode. came back 2 mos. later and anchor came up easily.????????

[Hydra]

Once, my anchor *chain* was fouled in an unmarked wreck. I tried diving but the water was too deep for me to reach the bottom and too murky to see anything. Finally, the anchor came up after heaving on the chain for 2 hours, pulling in various directions.

No trip line or high tech system could have worked in this case.

Alain