Anchor system

I was looking in this months wakeboarding magazine and they had an ad in there for an anchor system for $189 so I looked at their website and it doesnt look like its worth that much. You have to buy your own anchor and anchor line along with the stake to put on land. I am planning a summer vacation and would like to leave my boat in the water. I'll be camped out right next to it and would prefer to have it next to me as opposed to tied up to a dock were who knows what someone will see and potentially take. So I was wondering if anyone has tried something simliar that would work for my application. The lake I'm going to fluctuates 2-3' due to the dam.

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Originally Posted by csumerall

I was looking in this months wakeboarding magazine and they had an ad in there for an anchor system for $189 so I looked at their website and it doesnt look like its worth that much. You have to buy your own anchor and anchor line along with the stake to put on land. I am planning a summer vacation and would like to leave my boat in the water. I'll be camped out right next to it and would prefer to have it next to me as opposed to tied up to a dock were who knows what someone will see and potentially take. So I was wondering if anyone has tried something simliar that would work for my application. The lake I'm going to fluctuates 2-3' due to the dam.

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I have never been a fan of the bungy anchor ropes. I figure I can swim in and out as needed. The lakes here are mostly muddy bottoms so I have 2 20# river anchors (mine have the little wings and are not the mushrooms, and I've had one catch once on a underwater tree and had to dive to get it out). They hold well in calm and light wind. When just out for the day, I only carry one. When camping, I drop both out off the stern on each side. Then the bow is tied to shore if appropriate. If the landing area is too rocky, then I use one of the anchors on the bow and one on the stern and turn the bow out towards inbound rollers.

I use my "bungi-o-matic" all the time that I built. I built mine using about 6' of the large bunge with one end connected to the anchor and anchor rope and the other end connected to a loop in the anchor rope about 10'-12' out from the anchor which gives you 4'-6' stretch and if the bungie were to break you still have the anchor rope connected to save the boat and the anchor.

The system works well where I live because the water is cold until July and I don't like to venture out any further than I need to and the bungee keeps tension on the rope so wave action isn't snapping the anchor rope. Some places at night you need to anchor out a ways because the water level flunctuates. In one case on the Snake River near Boise Idaho, the level dropped 4' by morning to flush the rafters down the wild part of the river on the other side of the dam. I had an I/O then and the boat was partially sitting on a rock (fortunately it was a smooth flat rock) and I was able to slide the boat into the water.

The draw back is you have to give yourself room for the bungee to flex so you shouldn't be anchoring it too close to other boats as wave and wind action will flex the bungee and move it around some. It's interesting to see the bungee in action after you get some huge waves that will move the boat back some but when the waves have subsided it moves back out to where it was.

I use the following system that has worked quite well for 4 years--even in fairly turbulent waters.

For the Bow: I have slip-ring fluke-type anchor attached to an "Anchor Buddy" bungee line that I drop from the bow as I'm headed into the shore. This has a buoy near the hook for the bow so I can leave it when I go out and hook up when I come back in.

For the Stern: I use a standard braided 3/8" anchor line that I hook to the transom hook and a stake I drive into the ground on the beach. Then I can pull the boat in close to shore to board, unhook from the stake and bow anchor and take off.

This system keeps the boat pointed out into the lake so it handles waves well and allows you to pull the boat in close to shore to get things or board and let it retract back out into a save depth to store it.

It has been very secure and has worked quite well. Only in very windy conditions has it been a problem with the anchor dragging.

My system is almost the same as Carson's and works really well to retrieve stuff. Pull the boat to shore to get stuff and let it pull itself out to deeper water. Those who are on the beach who didn't figure out I had a bungee hooked to the anchor I'd tell them it's one of those new "Smart Anchors." It knows when you are finished and takes the boat out into deeper water. I've been using the same bungee for about 10 years now.

Yes - this method works great - one little improvement - a buoy to both the anchor line and the stern line .. and when you are ready to leave -ie pulled the boat to the shore -everyone on board.. (be careful not to get to shallow if there are rocks- dings --mud no prob.. you then pass the "stern rope to the bow around the tower and hook up to your bow line - this way you dont have to reverse into possible shallow rocky/stumpy areas.. nor does someone have to "swim the boat" to shore to hook up.. when you return - simply bow into the buoy.. hook up bungy line to bow.. hook stern line to stern and "PULL" yourself in w/ engine off.. when shallow enough - everyone gets off.. and let go.. bungee pulls you out to deep water and stern line keeps you straight.. just make sure that bungee is out far enough (some use 2 - one for backup further out than the first so that there is ALWAYS tension on at least one bungee if not both - this keep the boat where you want it.. even if only using one bungee, make sure it is far enough out to keep tension on the line when boat is floating in deep water - with "fluke " style anchors this is important to keep the flukes dug in to the mud/rock whatever - when ready to pull anchor.. drive past where it is hooked up and it should release. hope it helps- i know it keeps me dry - especially when coming back late at night after a night boat run and only my feet get wet sometime not even that if i can jump far enough -

Yep, I tie a buoy on also. My anchor rope is long enough to go to the shore most of the time so I usually have one continuous line. I put the buoy on so some yaahoo doesn't run over it as the rope floats. When I come back to the beach I do a U or L turn and pick up my rope on the driver side of the boat, hook the front and pull the end of the rope tied to the beach so everyone can get off in the shallows without getting wet, tie the back end and let the boat go back to deeper water. The reason for the long rope is some reserviors drop off really fast and 30 feet off shore it may be 30 feet deep. The rivers that I live near are much shallower so I tend to use the anchor rope all the way to shore.