Unknown item aboard...

Hello hello, I found this item on a recently purchased trawler and did not find its usage yet. It was located on the anchor post in front of the trawler. I was wondering if someone could tell us what it is and what we should use it for... Sorry for our ignorance !

My guess is that it is for retrieving a stuck anchor. Slide the loop over the anchor rode, attach a line to it and let it slide down the rode. Take the attached rope and pull the anchor backwards using your dinghy. Of course, I could be wrong...

Cheers, Bill

I would have guessed that it was designed to slide down the rode of a stuck anchor with a line attached to the small loop. Then pulling the line would help pull out a stuck anchor.

But I'd think you needed a break in the large loop to get it on the rode for that to work. So I guess I'm not much help.

Edited - woops, Montenido beat me to it.

Montenido said:

My guess is that it is for retrieving a stuck anchor. Slide the loop over the anchor rode, attach a line to it and let it slide down the rode. Take the attached rope and pull the anchor backwards using your dinghy. Of course, I could be wrong...

Cheers, Bill

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Makes sense! Thanks for your input Bill. Our new Rocna anchor has an attachement point on it for a buoyed retrieval line so I guess this piece of XYZ stainless is good for our home museum .

I think I understand how it works. You feed the line through it and lock it off. Attach a body with a short line to the round hole. Then drive around the anchor and pull it out like the pic below.

Hopefully there is not to many anchored boat around when doing this maneuver !

ChiefChirpa said:

Hopefully there is not to many anchored boat around when doing this maneuver !

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Yeah. Have to wait it out until everyone moves.

ben2go said:

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This is a dangerous maneuver, especially in a smaller boat.

Interesting.

The problem using that item as a deanchoring device is that you would have to pass the entire rode through it before you could send it down to the anchor. We use a 25 ton shackle. You can unscrew the pin and put the shackle around the rode. When you drop it it will definitely go to the bottom since it weighs about 15 pounds. After you feel it work it’s way to the crown of the anchor you pull out the fouled anchor in the direction it was initially set.

MYTraveler said:

This is a dangerous maneuver, especially in a smaller boat.

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Yes, I would consider it a last-ditch effort before cutting the anchor free.

Seems like it would be a pain to deploy after the anchor was launched.

Agree that it looks like part of an anchor ball retrieval system. Maybe the PO intended to put it on from the bitter end.
On the east coast they have been around for years for boats anchored on tuna grounds in several hundred feet of water. Although all that I have seen have an opening to pass over the rode then clips closed when a float is added. You need a lot of room to use one correctly. Not something one would see in a typical cruiser anchorage.

No idea what it is but it looks like a good one. There is a company called XYZ MarineSupplies but I didn’t see it on their website.

The anchor retrieval system discussed requires a split ring and a buoy. I sold a bunch of them but only saw one in use once.

I was on a large sport Fisher in a tournament. We needed to anchor in several places and not waste time. At the first spot the Captain dropped the anchor in the normal manner. When it was time to move he used the split ring and buoy to get the anchor to the surface. He didn’t bother to bring it in, just towed it behind the boat. When we got to the next spot, he stopped the boat,The anchor sank, And we fished.

Looms a bit like what we called a 8 in free climbing:

https://media.decapro.com/Large/81/1a/811ad2e3bfac42a8ab30b39a11f56af0.jpg

L

We have used the heavy shackle to deanchor boats many times in the past. Lots of times in training and a few times in real life. If can be dangerous if not done correctly. But it does really work well if someone can’t retrieve their anchor. But you do need something that you can put around the anchor rode in the middle so a shackle works well. The device in the first post will not work in this application unless you take the bitter end of the anchor rode and run it through the device. That is not practical in a deanchoring evolution.

Here is a website that sells it.........

Don't see the need to by a bling.

rochepoint said:

Here is a website that sells it.........

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Wow, you found one, impressive !

rochepoint said:

Here is a website that sells it.........

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Thanks for posting that. I was half correct in my analysis.

HopCar said:

No idea what it is but it looks like a good one. There is a company called XYZ MarineSupplies but I didn’t see it on their website.

The anchor retrieval system discussed requires a split ring and a buoy. I sold a bunch of them but only saw one in use once.

I was on a large sport Fisher in a tournament. We needed to anchor in several places and not waste time. At the first spot the Captain dropped the anchor in the normal manner. When it was time to move he used the split ring and buoy to get the anchor to the surface. He didn’t bother to bring it in, just towed it behind the boat. When we got to the next spot, he stopped the boat,The anchor sank, And we fished.

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much better design, the solid ring can not be easily put on the line.
And do those rings work with chain? Seems the links would keep it from slipping down to the anchor.

sdowney717 said:

And do those rings work with chain? Seems the links would keep it from slipping down to the anchor.

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This puzzles me also. I figure there's probably enough force to clunk the ring down along the chain links, but it'd be nowhere near the same as running down a rope rode.

The time I saw a ring used it was on a combination rode.
The ring had no problem going from rope to chain.

We used a 15 ton shackle. It would go down over the chain without a problem. Holding on to the tow line you could feel when the shackle started bumping along the chain and hit the anchor.

Yes. No problem for chain. Only a problem if thimble is too big to get though ring. The one HC shows is what we used with up to 600 ft (2-300 ft sections shackled together) of 1/2” three strand. You only have to watch the ball. It will go bonkers when the anchor is straight down, then pop up and settle down as the anchor pulls up, then starts pulling forward and partially underwater when the anchor pulls into the ring.
This is completely different rigging than what ComoDave describes for a stuck anchor.

Giant bottle opener?

What is the procedure for using the ring?
Can the boat go slowly?

When another boat had it’s anchor down and could not get the anchor up, we would use our huge shackle to deanchor the other boat. Say the boat set it’s anchor while heading north and could not retrieve it. We would have them shorten the anchor rode as much as possible. We would put the shackle around the anchor rode with a tow line attached to the shackle. We would then drop the shackle down the anchor rode of the disabled boat. The shackle would drop down to the crown of the stuck anchor. When we had it worked all the way down, we would begin towing the disabled boat to the north and pull the anchor up. We could usually get the anchor to surface while towing it. The caution while doing this procedure is that if you do not get the shackle all the way down to the crown of the anchor it would ride back up the anchor rode to the disabled boat and smash into the bow. People would tend to try and grab the shackle before it would hit the boat and then they would get their fingers smashed or cut off.

Yes go slowly. Very very important to be going the right direction.

The ring and float method of anchor retrieval is really meant for boats that are not equipped with a windlass. The float carries the weight of the anchor to the surface and the anchor wench only has to lift it onto the boat. It’s much easier on her back.