Hypothetical Course, of Course

[Nikolina]

Here' a hypothetical question. Let's say your at the dock loading gear etc.. for a weekend trip. Then let's say you placed your spare Fortress FX-16 on your swim step, no rode attached, flukes pointing up, leaning the top of the shank ever so slightly against the transom. Then let's say for what ever reason, that when you removed your hands, it stayed exactly in that position. But as you turned your back to fetch some cordage that was directly behind you and to your left to securely tie the anchor in place. At the exact moment you loose visual of the anchor (less than 1 second) it does it's best impression of an Olympian going off the 3 meter platform! Very little splash! So here's the question; as the anchor back flipped into the water was it's course into the murky depths straight forward or did it twist and spiral and flutter like a butterfly landing as far away from the boat and point of entry as possible? Remember this is purely hypothetical so I'm thinking it was in about 21' of water and no currents!

[belizesailor]

Danforth style anchors, like Fortress, may glide with flukes acting a bit like wings. I would not expect it to spiral or flutter, but rather head straight down or glide. If it flipped so that crown was pointed away from the boat, it may have glided on an angle away from the stern.

So, my guess would be that it would hit bottom somewhere on a line from roughly beneath the stern to somewhere aft of the stern.

[UNCIVILIZED]

When you drop something like that, IMMEDIATELY tie a weight to a white string, & drop the weight (in freefall, aka no tension on the string) in the same place. It'll give you the best reference, more or less, from whence to start your search on the bottom. Once you've donned the appropriate gear to go looking for it, that is.

[Island Time O25]

Murphy's Law would stipulate that if you make scientifically calculated boundary of where the anchor should end up at, it will lie just outside that perimeter.

[Don C L]

I'd second that opinion. Better put on your hypothetical wetsuit. Or you might get really lucky with a grappling hook.

[El Pinguino]

I would expect almost straight down as it would be 'nose heavy'... to glide it would need more ballast 'down aft' which would be in the normal course of events be provided by the rode.

This based on a straight drop and ignores the back flip.

[Stu Jackson]

And you're waiting to go jump right in why...???

[UNCIVILIZED]

PS: I'd figure that even though on an anchor like that, the flukes have a lot of surface area. Since the anchor's untethered, the law of gravity would likely kick in pretty quickly. So that the heaviest part of the anchor would quickly be the one with the most "incentive" to reach the bottom the fastest. And that part would be, the crown & the bottom of the flukes.
Thus, most likely, after taking a few vertical feet to stabilize in this position, it'd fall pretty much straight down.

PS: Let us know how things turn out, & where she landed.

[Alan Mighty]

Why not send a Private Message to Brian (user name Fortress) of Fortress Anchors?

If anyone were to know the flying behavior of a Fortress anchor, Brian would be the one.

[seasick]

I'm in the straight down camp. Buy a good quality retriever magnet and go fishing. You just might come up with a few hypothetical tools and other goodies.

Fortress's website says the FX-16 is made with High-Tensile Rust-Proof Alloys. Hmmm you might want to find another FX-16 in your marina and see if a magnet will stick to it. If not, I have had reasonable luck with a wad of treble hooks and a small fishing weight. Failing this try to amortize the cost of a diver by having him/her clean your bottom while they're down there.

[Cadence]

I'd conclude it is a hypothetical idiot in the first place for allowing it to happen. Anchor fly is like asking if pigs fly.

[boatman61]

Still water more or less straight drop..
Tide/current upto 10ft radius from the drop..

[buzzstar]

Excellent hypothetical. For practical testing start with six exemplars and either good sonar or a metal detector with a very long pole. Next tie the same vessel in the same position at the same dock. Go from there. When those methods fail, the grappling hook mentioned by a previous poster may come into play. Unfortunately, I am unsure form you facts if it tipped from top or slipped from the bottom, so you may wish to start with the hook, line and sinker.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by Nikolina

Here' a hypothetical question. Let's say your at the dock loading gear etc.. for a weekend trip. Then let's say you placed your spare Fortress FX-16 on your swim step, no rode attached, flukes pointing up, leaning the top of the shank ever so slightly against the transom. Then let's say for what ever reason, that when you removed your hands, it stayed exactly in that position. But as you turned your back to fetch some cordage that was directly behind you and to your left to securely tie the anchor in place. At the exact moment you loose visual of the anchor (less than 1 second) it does it's best impression of an Olympian going off the 3 meter platform! Very little splash! So here's the question; as the anchor back flipped into the water was it's course into the murky depths straight forward or did it twist and spiral and flutter like a butterfly landing as far away from the boat and point of entry as possible? Remember this is purely hypothetical so I'm thinking it was in about 21' of water and no currents!

Tie it on or lose it.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[hamburking]

Most likely, it will drop straight down. I would start a search directly under the splash point, and work my way out from there.

Sadly, I have dropped lots of things overboard at my dock. I was able to retrieve all of them (only about 10' deep). And every item was exactly below the splash point. The hard part is finding small things in weeds (like glasses...the seeing kind, not the whisky type)

With a metal anchor, I would start by sending down my big magnet on a line. I would expect the magnet to latch onto the metal anchor without much fuss at all. I used this method even with some supposedly stainless steel items, which theoretically should not have worked at all.