Giggitoni
Guru
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 2,094
- Location
- United States
- Vessel Name
- Mahalo Moi
- Vessel Make
- 1986 Grand Banks 42 Classic
We took our boat for an over-night trip on a remote spot on the Napa River in California. We pulled to the side of a channel in shallow water. The tides were negative at the time of anchoring; only about six feet below our keel. We laid out about a 6:1 chain rode and set it in reverse.
The next morning we decided to depart, started the engines and pulled up the anchor. We were surprised to find a section of 1 1/2” braided steel cable looped over the flukes of the anchor. We could not lift the cable off the anchor. Too heavy. Who knows how much cable we pulled up.
We tied off the cable to a cleat with a rope and lowered the anchor enough to untangle it with the help of our boat hook. After stowing the anchor on the pulpit, we lowered the cable back to the bottom, retrieved the rope and went on our way.
We got lucky! Two things were in our favor. The first was shallow water. We were able to pull the anchor and cable above the water to enable us to work on it. Can’t imagine snagging a cable in deeper water and not being able to pull the mess to the surface. The second was our bow pulpit. This gave us room to tie off the cable and free the anchor without damage to the stem.
We’re thinking of buying a lottery ticket! One thing for sure, we won’t anchor East of day marker #9 on the Napa River again.
The next morning we decided to depart, started the engines and pulled up the anchor. We were surprised to find a section of 1 1/2” braided steel cable looped over the flukes of the anchor. We could not lift the cable off the anchor. Too heavy. Who knows how much cable we pulled up.
We tied off the cable to a cleat with a rope and lowered the anchor enough to untangle it with the help of our boat hook. After stowing the anchor on the pulpit, we lowered the cable back to the bottom, retrieved the rope and went on our way.
We got lucky! Two things were in our favor. The first was shallow water. We were able to pull the anchor and cable above the water to enable us to work on it. Can’t imagine snagging a cable in deeper water and not being able to pull the mess to the surface. The second was our bow pulpit. This gave us room to tie off the cable and free the anchor without damage to the stem.
We’re thinking of buying a lottery ticket! One thing for sure, we won’t anchor East of day marker #9 on the Napa River again.
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