Trip line or tie wrap?

[Dougcole]

We use zip ties (3 or 4 ties rated at 75 lbs) on a breakaway rigging for bottom fishing in a 26 ft. boat. I haven't bent an anchor since I started using that system. It works great and rarely breaks unintentionally.

But I couldn't sleep with zip ties on the anchor.

This.


When my brothers and I used to commercial grouper fish with my dad we used the zip tie method on our anchors and it worked great. I don't recall a zip tie ever failing, but we generally weren't anchored for more than a couple of hours in one place and there was always someone awake and alert if we dragged. We looked for rocks to anchor in/near as that was where the fish were, so we hung pretty often. The zip tie method worked great in those situation.



We also used to anchor in 75 to 100 feet of water with no windlass and would reset as many as 10 or 15 times in a day. That's why my dad brought his three teen aged sons with him. Anchor pullers.


We had a big orange fender ball that had a large shackle on it. If we were really deep we would put the shackle around the anchor rode and run the boat in a wide circle around the anchor. Eventually the anchor would pop up just below the floating fender. It wasn't as effective as it sounds though, so mostly my dad just made us pull.


I still have zip ties on the anchor on my fishing boat and also on the tender anchor that we use for spearfishing. I haven't had to use them in a while though.

 

[O C Diver]

Besides local knowledge what presents to make you think to use a trip line?
What conditions are present if local knowledge suggests the use of trip line?

I'm at Melbourne, FL this afternoon. National Weather Service has posted Small Craft Advisories from 4pm till early AM. They are forecasting an event with SE and SW winds in excess of 20 knots and rain. So I'm anchored on the NE side of the Melbourne Causeway. I expect the boat to remain Northish of the anchor until I pull it in the morning. Have no idea (other than lost crab pots) what's on the bottom from the making of this causeway. Adding the trip line took a couple of minutes and will involve a little more clean up when recovering the anchor in the morning.

Cheap insurance.







Ted

 

[boomerang]

I bought an inexpensive rubber slalom water ski course marker buoy. It's small enough to easily store but big and bright enough to hopefully be easy to see. I also marked it so an inexperienced or curious boater would know what it was and to who it belonged.
I'm hoping it'll never be needed but the small inconvenience of deploying it will outweigh the fear of having to abandon our ground tackle in the event of a major snag.

 

[lwarden]

I've been considering adding one of these.
https://anchorsaver.com/
For $140 seems like a decent deal.

I've known a few folks who had success with them. We have some pretty nasty rocks around the reefs I fish. Nearly lost an anchor on the Farnsworth bank on the backside of Catalina one year, that area is littered with anchors as the rocky crags are very easy to get snagged in. I've seen several people cut off there. Actually, you aren't supposed to anchor there....

My boat has a nice shiny SS anchor and all chain rode so I really don't want to get it stuck. Thought about the zip tie approach and expect that would work fine if you replaced them on a regular basis. We used to use several wraps of SS seizing wire on the sport boats and that worked pretty well.

 

[bhumphrys]

I drop a trip line every time I anchor. Never had to need it though. My setup is different: I use a bungee line (Anchormate, Seachoice, etc.) with one end on the anchor trip hole and the other end attached to a buoy. I settled on the 14' stretchable to 50' as that covered all the depths that I anchor at.

I've learned that the bonus is when it is time to lift the anchor, and I can slowly motor to exactly where the anchor is because the buoy is always directly over it.

 

[MichaelD]

an occasional trip line

I have a friend who cruised the south pac and alaska for 8 years, and said they never needed a trip line. they don't use one because of the extra complication.

But, here's a rig I have ready just in case:

50' of 1/2 nylon terminating in an eye with 3 ft of chain. In the event of a stuck anchor, I will shackle the chain in a loop around the anchor rode and lower it to the anchor, while the anchor is under lifting strain. the theory is the trip chain should lower down over the shank to near the center point of the anchor (the big arc on a Vulcan in my case). Then, ease off the strain on the rode and then lift the anchor from this forward point with the trip line.

That's my plan and I'm sticking with it. So far, untested.

 

[Bigsfish]

I’ve used a grappling anchor on my 34 boat fishing on the various Bahamian reefs in 50 to 200 feet and have used fir wraps hundreds of times over night. Once the anchor is hung I shortened the rode. Most of the time I would use 3 or more tie wraps. Never had a problem and slept great.

 

[Austinsailor]

Sounds like one of the worst ideas I ever heard. In a hard blow, just when you need it most, it automatically lets loose. This must have been a joke, right?

 

[Bigsfish]

Actually the pull is from the crown of the anchor along the shank to the boat. I’ve been in a 40 mph blow and the tie wraps held, now the boat never reversed itself so there was no strain on the wraps

 

[Capt Dan]

I would never use the zip-tie method suggested by the OP.

My method is similar to OC Diver except very simple. The float I use is white and only enuf buoyancy to hold up the trip line, (which also floats),

AND, I strive to keep the buoy always well submerged. It is only to be needed in emergency. If I need it, I only have to reach or swim down a few feet.

Reason: Who am I to clog up an anchorage by prohibiting others from swinging over the spot where my anchor rests. I’m going to assume that the boats in general all swing in unison. The chances of another boat being on top of my anchor when I want to retrieve are slight.

Another point already made is when you swing over a floating retrieval buoy there is good chance it gets into your (or someone else’s) running gear, and what a mess that is.

 

[RustyPBucket]

I have a friend who cruised the south pac and alaska for 8 years, and said they never needed a trip line. they don't use one because of the extra complication.

But, here's a rig I have ready just in case:

50' of 1/2 nylon terminating in an eye with 3 ft of chain. In the event of a stuck anchor, I will shackle the chain in a loop around the anchor rode and lower it to the anchor, while the anchor is under lifting strain. the theory is the trip chain should lower down over the shank to near the center point of the anchor (the big arc on a Vulcan in my case). Then, ease off the strain on the rode and then lift the anchor from this forward point with the trip line.

That's my plan and I'm sticking with it. So far, untested.

I have a trip line very similar to the fellow that uses a weight on a pulley on my Vulcan. Put it on because of to many people losing their ground tackle around where I live and don’t really want to lose my ground tackle.
Didn’t feel very comfortable one morning when I couldn’t see my anchor ball and then spotted it at the back of my swim grid wondering if I would be fouled. Boat drifted away and to my relief the ball stayed put.
I like your idea and am going to try it out to see how it works. Won’t be until next summer though. If your test yours in the mean time give us an update.
An absolute no to zip ties.

 

[Seevee]

I would never use the zip-tie method suggested by the OP.

My method is similar to OC Diver except very simple. The float I use is white and only enuf buoyancy to hold up the trip line, (which also floats),

AND, I strive to keep the buoy always well submerged. It is only to be needed in emergency. If I need it, I only have to reach or swim down a few feet.

Reason: Who am I to clog up an anchorage by prohibiting others from swinging over the spot where my anchor rests. I’m going to assume that the boats in general all swing in unison. The chances of another boat being on top of my anchor when I want to retrieve are slight.

Another point already made is when you swing over a floating retrieval buoy there is good chance it gets into your (or someone else’s) running gear, and what a mess that is.

I really don't want someone over my anchor. If it's that crowded, I'd go else where. Worse, is that he fouled his gear on my anchor line.


Now, if it's that crowded, I'd rather raft up that get too close, however, need calm water for that.

 

[bowball]

Anyone have an experience or thoughts on these Ultra Anchor Retrieval Rings?

Description and Video of use.

https://ultramarinewest.com/ultra-anchor-ring/

 

[DWJensen]

If I had a trip line (or had used the rock slot) when I got fouled at Cayo Costa, I'm sure that retrieval would have been much easier... Was finally able to get a line through the hoop with a boat hook and then once it was cleated off I eased the chain and was able to work the cable off the point with the boat hook. No idea how much more cable was hanging below but it was way too heavy to lift by hand.

(that's a 60# Manson Supreme and we weren't going anywhere that night...)