Attaching a dink to a nasty pier with big tide swings & swell

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I learned long ago and the hard way that a folding grapnel anchor is not good enough to anchor a dinghy in other than coral. I bought a small danforth style that worked very well until some lowlife stole it in Papeete. I made do with a French replacement, which worked well and took a bit less room.

French Polynesia Tahiti Bora Bora Woman On A Boat Throws Anchor Stock Photo | Getty Images

Don--

You're likely right but, for where we've been, we've been using the same folding grapnel anchor--with the same trick and anchoring while swimming snorkeling--since 1971, on a number of different inflatables, and we haven't lost one yet. Of course, there's always a first time, eh?

FWIW...

[UNCIVILIZED]

Lots of good tips. A question though. Who among you uses a hard dink, & who's in inflatibles? And do your techniques at all differ based on dinghy type?

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by carlheintz

HyLyte -- wow, what a neat, clever, wonderful way to handle a problem we all have encountered!

Carl--Thanks for the applause but as I mentioned at the end of my original post on the subject, its a trick I learned from Eric Hiscock who used it to manage his "alloy" (i.e. aluminum) pram that he and Mrs. Hiscock carried on the first "round the world" venture on Wanderer III in the mid-1950's and later, at least for awhile, on their voyage from England out to New Zealand and "Oz" in 1969-70 on Wanderer IV. We met them as they were in a guest slip near our boat in Sausalito for a few months in the midst of their trip. Often times "old guys/gals" have a lot to offer/teach young guys/gals if the young are willing to listen, eh? (As it is said, with experience, one avoids mistakes. Unfortunately though, one must make mistakes to gain experience!).

FWIW...

[admiralslater]

I use a small dingy danforth off the stern .some times I place a diving weight on it to hold the dingy off better.
Never would have bought the little danforth but it works so well i would replace it if lost

[Rigdaddy]

Thank you svHyLite for the response; I will try out that technique. I have used the kellet method, suggested by a64pilot, with success in limited tide ranges.

I, like donradcliffe, am not a big fan of folding grapnel anchors for general use.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

Don--

You're likely right but, for where we've been, we've been using the same folding grapnel anchor--with the same trick and anchoring while swimming snorkeling--since 1971, on a number of different inflatables, and we haven't lost one yet. Of course, there's always a first time, eh?

FWIW...

After thinking about this for awhile, as Don pointed out I can see situations that are not so favorable to our little Grapnel Anchor as those we've had in past and considering the length of time we've had the thing, I guess we've gotten our $8.00 worth out of it. Given that--and that an old dog should be willing to learn new tricks--this AM I went looking for alternatives that would be nearly as small and relatively easily managed with an inflatable, like the grapnel, but might be more suitable over a wider range of bottom conditions.

With that I came up with the (click on) Mantus Dinghy Anchor The anchor weighs 2.5 lbs/1 Kilo and is about 16" long, 10" wide and 6-1/4" high. One version comes in two pieces--the flukes and the shank--assembled with a pin and so,broken down, would fit our current dinghy anchor bag which also contains 3 feet of 1/4" chain and 150' of 1/4" double braid.

I wonder if anyone has actually used one of these as I'm contemplating buying one as a Christmas present to me from my (much) better half.

Anyone?

[zeehag]

i have the cutest little bruce anchorette for my dink--i also have a mushroom, and i used to have a little cute danforth.
these were all made by the gods to prevent ruination by riprap.
i have seen cute lil deltas, and other cute lil useless anchors that are good for this exact job.
if you donot have a proper dink anchor, a good cement block will work--it does for pangas--then you can get to the store to buy a new cute lil anchor, as most gringos dislike the stigma of anchoring without a proper shiny new anchor. even a rebar grapple will do the trick.

btw--i use a walker bay 10 ft plastic fantastic family wagon dinghy. riprap doesnt affect it much. what is another character mark on a dink. and i row

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

After thinking about this for awhile, as Don pointed out I can see situations that are not so favorable to our little Grapnel Anchor as those we've had in past and considering the length of time we've had the thing, I guess we've gotten our $8.00 worth out of it. Given that--and that an old dog should be willing to learn new tricks--this AM I went looking for alternatives that would be nearly as small and relatively easily managed with an inflatable, like the grapnel, but might be more suitable over a wider range of bottom conditions.

With that I came up with the (click on) Mantus Dinghy Anchor The anchor weighs 2.5 lbs/1 Kilo and is about 16" long, 10" wide and 6-1/4" high. One version comes in two pieces--the flukes and the shank--assembled with a pin and so,broken down, would fit our current dinghy anchor bag which also contains 3 feet of 1/4" chain and 150' of 1/4" double braid.

I wonder if anyone has actually used one of these as I'm contemplating buying one as a Christmas present to me from my (much) better half.

Anyone?

I hadn't seen the folding Mantus version before.... very cool!


Matt

[Jetx]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

With that I came up with the (click on) Mantus Dinghy Anchor The anchor weighs 2.5 lbs/1 Kilo and is about 16" long, 10" wide and 6-1/4" high. One version comes in two pieces--the flukes and the shank--assembled with a pin and so,broken down, would fit our current dinghy anchor bag which also contains 3 feet of 1/4" chain and 150' of 1/4" double braid.

I wonder if anyone has actually used one of these as I'm contemplating buying one as a Christmas present to me from my (much) better half.

Anyone?

No personal experience, but Practical Sailor tested it and loved it.