Manson Surpreme Rock Slot

[sailorboy1]

This is NOT a question about different types of anchors or whether you feel the design is stupid etc. If you don't have a Manson Surpreme anchor please go over to some anchor debate and join that battle instead off taking this question off track!

I have a brand new MS on my boat. I used the non rock slot eye, but there are lots of rocky anchorages in my area so I wonder if maybe I should use the rock slot.

Who has experience with using the MS rock slot?

[SailFastTri]

Don - I do have a Manson and would not use the slot, especially if leaving the boat or going to sleep. If circumstances warrant a trip line, I would attach one at the hoop.

Your profile shows you're in New England, as am I -- and the water in this region is generally turbid. In most anchorages you would not be able to see the anchor unless you dive on it, so determining which direction of pull is needed to operate the slot might be a bit dicey anyway, and you'd probably need to circle a bit. Even if you could get it to work, the slot doesn't extend very far down the shank and I think the pull would be more "up" than reversed. The hoop would be a more reliable point of attachment to pull for freeing the anchor, IMHO.

[Kettlewell]

Don:

I have cruised in New England for more than 30 years and I have never once snagged my anchor in something that the rock slot would have helped me with. In any case, on a typical New England evening the wind will swirl around numerous times, which could possibly have you tripping out your anchor by accident if the direction of pull were to reverse. I personally would rather take the tiny risk of fouling the anchor in such a way that the rock slot would help than I would with the very likely scenario of a reversed wind direction tripping out my anchor. However, if I was using the anchor on a small fishing boat anchoring out on the reefs, where I would always be keeping an eye on things while anchored, the rock slot might be handy.

[SailFastTri]

Which would be more more advantageous as a point of attachment to pull free a wedged anchor -- the hoop or the bottom of the slot? (Seems pretty obvious to me.)

[onestepcsy37]

been using my 45 lb manson supreme for over a year now and can't imagine any situation where the rock slot would be preferable to the ring.

and like sailfastri implies, if you think you might need to trip the anchor out i would tie a heavy line to the big hoop. that would be more likely to exert a really strong pull in the opposite direction....

[Kettlewell]

Just to be sure we're all on the same page, I'm not sure everyone realizes how the rock slot is supposed to be used. The main shackle connecting your chain to the anchor is attached to the anchor in the slot. If you then pull your main anchor rode from the opposite direction the shackle should slide down the slot in order to pull the anchor out backward. I think some folks pictured the slot as a place to attach a separate anchor trip line, which I suppose could be done too, but when using a separate trip line it appears that the hoop would be a better attachment point. I consider a trip line and float a hazard in New England waters as the harbors tend to be crowded and the trip line then becomes something for someone to foul as they motor over it, tripping out your anchor when you least expect it.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Just to be sure we're all on the same page, I'm not sure everyone realizes how the rock slot is supposed to be used. The main shackle connecting your chain to the anchor is attached to the anchor in the slot. If you then pull your main anchor rode from the opposite direction the shackle should slide down the slot in order to pull the anchor out backward. I think some folks pictured the slot as a place to attach a separate anchor trip line, which I suppose could be done too, but when using a separate trip line it appears that the hoop would be a better attachment point. I consider a trip line and float a hazard in New England waters as the harbors tend to be crowded and the trip line then becomes something for someone to foul as they motor over it, tripping out your anchor when you least expect it.

We were all on the same page. Would never use that slot. Is an anchor that will un-set itself if the pull reverses any less of a risk than a trip line?

[boatman61]

Recognise the 'Rock Slot' for what it is.... a sales gimmick..
This is where common sense comes in... if it don't look right... its not...

[Factor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Recognise the 'Rock Slot' for what it is.... a sales gimmick..This is where common sense comes in... if it don't look right... its not...

What a silly statement - many things in life don't look right but still are.

Just ignore the rock slot as Sail Fast Tri does and use the anchor for what it is.

[boatman61]

[serah]

I realize this is an old thread, but we just spent a week in Hotham Sound in BC. It is a fjord, with mostly very deep, quite steep anchorages with a rock bottom. As there were almost no other boats, and not once more than one boat in our anchorage, we chose to use a trip line. (We saw a fair number of floats on the surface, which couldn't possibly be traps, and when we tried to pull a few of them up, discovered a very well stuck anchor.) In general, we NEVER use a trip line, however we do when we are stern tying and there is high chance of fouling the anchor in a rocky bottom and there is little chance of someone running over or "accidentally" pulling up our trip line.

We have a Manson Supreme 35 and always tied the trip line to the ring. We figured that if the anchor we wedged good in a rock, the ring would be the best option to pull it out with. We were usually in 40' - 60' of very cold, dark water. Diving would not be an option. We were also in an area that used to be active in logging (submerged cables likely) and another on top of the remains of an old oyster farm (you could see much of their abandoned gear on the beach at low tide) and were worried for snags from those as well. Apart from the one time when the anchor managed to land upside down on the line, and we quite obviously did not catch, this system worked a dream. In general, we were really happy with how this anchor worked in the conditions. Granted, this is anecdotal, and to each their own, but a huge step up from our old CQR.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by serah

As there were almost no other boats, and not once more than one boat in our anchorage, we chose to use a trip line. (We saw a fair number of floats on the surface, which couldn't possibly be traps, and when we tried to pull a few of them up, discovered a very well stuck anchor.)

That makes no sense whatsoever.
And what were you doing pulling up floats anyway, planning on stealing a feed?

[serah]

My apologies for the confusion, or for the offense. In the *entire sound* (with multiple anchorages) we saw very few boats; perhaps 6 boats cruising the entire week. In the *specific anchorage* we were in, there was not once another boat.

And I don't appreciate the implication that I was "stealing a feed", what I assume you mean stealing an anchor or trap. When we saw a tiny fish float tied to 1/2" anchor rode, covered in slime, it was simply curiosity to see if it could be dislodged.

I'm really not sure why you seem so upset. I was merely trying to say that using the hoop for the trip line on the Manson Supreme worked well for us when we were anchoring in rock (as it has in all other bottoms we have tried)

[serah]

Wait, that was misphrased. We have never used the trip line in any bottom other than rock, where it worked well. In other bottoms, without trip line, it has been great.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by serah

And I don't appreciate the implication that I was "stealing a feed", what I assume you mean stealing an anchor or trap.

Oh ok, sorry about that
Is stealing a trap or an anchor OK over there?

I'm really not sure why you seem so upset.

Who's upset?

But I do know I'd be spewing if someone pulled up my
a) anchor
b) fish trap
c) cray trap
d) crab pot.
out of no other reason than "curiosity".

Try that in Australia and you are likely to get in a world of grief.
Fisherman dont like people pulling their pots for whatever reason you want to claim.