What an idiot! Does anyone know where I can buy an anchor?

[andanb]

Where to begin? I took two friends out for the maiden voyage of my new to me drift boat. We drifted the lower Sac and did about as well as most other boats on Saturday. I did have to apologize several times during the day to other boats for the "rookie" pilot as I drifted across their areas without enough room and bounced down some some riffles when I did not have the boat set right. Everyone was very nice and tolerant. One nice fish 16" inches landed and one smolt....Now to the reason I need a drift boat anchor and rope. I was setting the anchor all day 5' 7' 10' etc. I would let the rope slide through my hand and the pulley's until it hit bottom and then set the rope in the kleat. I had no idea that there are holes in the lower sac near Redding over 40 feet deep until the rope kept sliding and sliding and by the time I realized that it wasn't going to stop it was too late! :lol: :oops: I got no sympathy from my friends...can't say that I deserve any! :-({|=

Moral of the story ...Tie a knot in the end of your anchor rope idiot!

Oh well a new anchor and rope and I'll be fishin again.

Does anyone know where I can get one locally? 30 lb drift boat

[koffler]

There's a hyde dealership in west sac - he may have one. I don't recall the name of the shop but google it and I'm sure you'll get results. I just got a new rope from him - I assume he'll have anchors as well. If you can't find one quickly I have a 30# pyramid anchor you can borrow in the short term - I'm in Folsom, CA.

[Darian]

I believe Kiene's hasw some pyramid anchors in the shop. Don't know the weight tho....

Respectfully, the moral of your story should be to obtain detailed info about the water you're going to drift through before going.... 8) 8) An anchor is a relatively minor thing to lose. Gotta be safe out there.... 8) 8)

[Wednesday Caster]

Andanb,
Sorry to hear about the misadventures with the rode (anchor line/chain). Aside from the wise reminder from Darian about having charts, please remember when you intend to use an anchor:
FIRST cleat-off (tie off) the bitter-end (loose end) of the anchor rode (line/chain) to the boat. I use to use a milk crate to carry my anchors on our sailboat. The bitter end was fed out thru a hole of the crate and was tied to stay dangling out as a reminder to cleat it on the boat before use. I believe they even have anchor bags with the same idea.
SECOND always lower the chain to feel when you've hit bottom (or can't reach bottom in this case).
These are very common mistakes.
No Sympathies from your friend? That's just wrong!!!!
Quinn

[Hairstacker]

Hey Andanb, sorry to hear about your anchor. I guess the other fellas have already said it all. All I can add is, don't be too hard on your friends, they were probably cracking up too much to go into sympathy mode, ha. We've all pulled our share of Gilligans. :oops: It's part of what makes for good campfire talk. . . "Hey, remember when Andanb got his drift boat and tossed the anchor overboard. . . ." :wink:

[Wednesday Caster]

Just a note:
Those friends that had no sympathies for you?
On your next outing. They are called ROWERS. :D
Quinn

[C. Mattison]

Hello every one, new poster here.

I just thought I would jump in and add my two cents! Never, ever tie a knot in your anchor line. If you progress with your new drift boat as I'm sure you will, and get into some interesting white water work now and then, there is always the chance that when your anchor is flipping around behind you, your rope can become dislodged from your cleat. If it does and your anchor drops while you are in the middle of a run, when the knot hits the pulley it can pull the back of your boat right down into the water. The resulting cascade coming in the back of the boat will swamp you before you can do anything about it. When running white water with my boat, I try to remember to bring the anchor inside the boat before starting if it's a nasty run. Most of the time you don't need to however. I would much rather watch the end of my anchor line going through the pulley than feel the boat jerk to a stop and try to stand up on it's own.
Have fun, and be safe.

Chuck

[Darian]

Hey Chuck,.... Welcome to the BB community and your note is well said.... 8) 8) 8)

[Hairstacker]

Welcome aboard Chuck! Darn good point you made, appreciate you chiming in to make it. 8)

[slimfishin's]

Have to admit, Chuck's right here. I also never leave a knot in my anchor line for the same reasons he described. There's a reason aluminum boats come with that anchor nest on the transom. Another good idea: if you cant see the bottom in a river, you probably shouldn't anchor, or, keep an eye on how much rope is going out.

Here's some tips for anchoring in fast water. Follow these steps: 1. slow the boat down as much as possible by backrowing - complete stop is best. 2. Drop the anchor 3. seat the rope, and QUICKLY start backrowning again. 3. play out a little anchor line... backrow, repeat. If you have a good anchor, this process gets shorter. I would caution you to not anchor in very fast water, as it can get dangerous. Unfortunately, it takes some experiences to determine what's too fast.

My final tip: now that you lost that fancy Hyde anchor, take the opportunity to buy a #30 lead pyramid. Call the North River dealer in West Sac, they should have them. Otherwise, the Alumaweld dealer in Davis may also have them.


Good luck!
PS: I lost an anchor due to a crapy carabiner - make sure you get a locking one!

[Wednesday Caster]

Very good advise from Chuck. I never tie a knot on line/rope that enters the water and attaches to the boat. Use a cleat (a horn one). Properly done, it's hard to dislodge but still easy to release if needed.
http://www.usps.org/localusps/potomac/knots.htm
Quinn

[andanb]

Thanks much for the ideas and info. I did buy an anchor from North River... but I got the last one they had in stock. It's good to know that you can get one locally. I will be much more careful in the future with the anchor but also with the possible dangers of drifting in general.

[jblack]

It is also a good idea to keep some extra rope and a basketball net that has one end zip tied off. when you lose or cut anchor in jam --you can fill the basketball net with rocks to make a temporary anchor. I have never actually tried it but it was suggested to me when my dad and I picked up our boat from the owner of clackacraft. under the head of things you might never of thought of yourself.