Need Anchoring Tips

[Bobby E]

I have a 2014 SAN G21 and use a small (21lb) box anchor. Every time I try to set the anchor, the wind pulls the boat around and I start to drift into other boats or the rock wall. I'm in Lake Cumberland and the water depths are around 30' in the coves we hang out in. I know I'm suppose to use the 5:1 rule but the coves can be crowded and I never feel like I have the room to let 150' of rope out. I do not use a chain with my box anchor because I was told not to use one with a box anchor. Any tips are appreciated. I'm tired of constantly having to adjust the anchor.

[ScooterMcgavin]

Have you tried an anchor buddy yet? They take the shock out of the line and keep from pulling anchor around.

https://www.amazon.com/Greenfield-An...a-569825172371

[kopp210]

Cumberland can have some areas of flat rock where there is nothing for a box anchor to grab onto. We have been successful in using the depth finder to find the shelf drop off, dropping the anchor on the deep side and backing the boat gently toward shallower water until it hooks up.

This also has lost us a couple anchors cause sometimes they don't come back out of the rocks.

We go all the way to the back of the cove and use an anchor buddy and tie a line to one side of the cove, anchor buddy to the other side.


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[MN Ryan]

Is it pulling loose or is the boat swaying? If it's swaying, often times dropping another smaller anchor straight from the stern will help

[Scooter G]

I'm on an old school shank anchor with a chain, with the anchor buddy (magic) on the end. I've used this system for years and haven't had a fail yet.
If we are hanging on the beach we'll run a sand spike on the shore with a line to the bow. The anchor buddy stretches and keeps the line taunt and the boat off the shore. We leave enough stretch in the line to pull the boat in a little closer to load up. With a good crew you're set up in less than 5 minutes.
Bobby E I heard rock wall, so the sand spike won't do you any good. MN Ryan's call on a second anchor sounds like the direction I would go with a anchor buddy on one line to keep everything tight.
Run a float at the end of your line, it's an easy hook up if you decide to leave for a few sets and come back. I learned that the hard way, I have a full anchor system on the bottom at about 60', watched a kid unhook and huck it in the lake without pulling the anchor. Bad instructions from the Captain, lol. I'm sure it's still there, just a little deeper than I want to free dive and lug an anchor back up in a 60 degree mountain lake.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Scooter G]

For what it's worth, this is a quick video clip from this weekend:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAqVmszLveY

[Bobby E]

Thanks everyone!!! Sounds like getting an Anchor Buddy is where I should start. Any suggestions on the stretch length? I'm typically anchoring in ~30' of water with more wind issues than wakes.

[SilentSeven]

FWIW, I use a smaller 'river anchor' and it's performed well. On my setup, I also use about 8 ft of heavier chain between the anchor and the anchor line.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=river+anchor&i=sporting&crid=24NAV720X1H2L&spr efix=river+anchor%2Csporting%2C154&ref=nb_sb_noss_ 1

Pros:
- quickly sets and holds in most situations - mud, large rocky bottom, weeds
- works well with almost no scope in general situations
- physically pretty small and without any sharp parts; stores ok.

Cons:
- decently heavy. I can't recall what size mine is. With the chain lead I'm guessing it's 20 - 30ish lbs.

Our use is typically cove anchoring (aka 'lunch hook' use and not overnight use). To save a little space, I clip on a fender if we leave for a set vs having a dedicated anchor buoy. What type of bottom are you working with? I think hard sand bottoms may be the most challenging as you need to get the anchor to dig in which almost always means lots of scope and having to back the anchor down to get it to set.

My buddy has a box anchor and needs significantly more anchor scope to work.

Hope this helps. No fun to have a boat load of people and having to keep messing with the anchor or managing your swing.

[Hurley]

We camp on the windward side of a mountain lake that also gets a lot of afternoon boat traffic. The anchor buddy stretched too much for me so I bought a 16.5lb Lewmar claw anchor. The key though was adding 8 ft HEAVY chain. That anchor setup never budges now.

* It is heavy to pull up though!

[bturner]

I bet it doesn't, that things a beast.

[MN Ryan]

8' of that chain should make any anchor stick!

[XBIGPUN66]

We use a 40 lb Richter anchor with 6 ft of chain. I usually pay out about 40- 50 ft of line with it. We also have a 25 lb Richter we use for the stern.

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[Bobby E]

I tried it the anchor buddy without adding chain. It held
really good. Swayed a bit but significantly better than my last outing. The big test will be in 2 weeks when I come down for Labor Day. Should be significantly more traffic than there was this weekend. Thanks everyone for your help!