stevemitchell
Guru
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2018
- Messages
- 542
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Aruna
- Vessel Make
- Kristen Yachts 50 Pilot House
I'm out enjoying some cruising time in Puget Sound and finishing some testing for some upcoming articles, and decided I needed to take a break and take my ROV out for a spin.
The ROV is made by OpenROV (now Sofar) and named "Rhenium" - it was one of the beta units before they went into production. I have had a ton of fun looking at things at anchorages, marinas, and even tried a river (fail). You can see pictures of the ROV and details at my Trident page.
The ROV itself has a 300' kevlar tether that I pay out from the deck, and I use an Xbox-like controller that runs Android and communicates with the tether buoy via WiFi.
I usually steer clear of my anchor and anchor chain because of the kevlar tether. The thing is amazingly strong, and I worry about getting it fouled in the chain or something else, and having a mess on my hands.
Today while diving, I ran across my anchor chain, and it just so happened my anchor was right nearby. I was having some control issues, so had to edit out some barfy video.
Bonus points for anyone who can identify the various marine life and name it. I absolutely suck at that. There's one right at the end too!
Some notes:
Rocna Vulcan 25kg (55lbs) anchor
Titan G43 galvanized chain - about 200' payed out
Mantus swivel
35,000 pound Ocean Alexander tied to the other end
Blake Island, Puget Sound, near Seattle, sandy bottom
Article on my anchor selection and resulting project: The anchor project
Here's what the anchor looks like when out of the water for those curious.
I backed down pretty good on the anchor when setting it to the point it brought the bow of the boat around, as it usually does. Every time I have set this anchor, I have to drive over it with short scope to get it to unset and come out of the bottom. Neat to see it set!
The ROV is made by OpenROV (now Sofar) and named "Rhenium" - it was one of the beta units before they went into production. I have had a ton of fun looking at things at anchorages, marinas, and even tried a river (fail). You can see pictures of the ROV and details at my Trident page.
The ROV itself has a 300' kevlar tether that I pay out from the deck, and I use an Xbox-like controller that runs Android and communicates with the tether buoy via WiFi.
I usually steer clear of my anchor and anchor chain because of the kevlar tether. The thing is amazingly strong, and I worry about getting it fouled in the chain or something else, and having a mess on my hands.
Today while diving, I ran across my anchor chain, and it just so happened my anchor was right nearby. I was having some control issues, so had to edit out some barfy video.
Bonus points for anyone who can identify the various marine life and name it. I absolutely suck at that. There's one right at the end too!
Some notes:
Rocna Vulcan 25kg (55lbs) anchor
Titan G43 galvanized chain - about 200' payed out
Mantus swivel
35,000 pound Ocean Alexander tied to the other end
Blake Island, Puget Sound, near Seattle, sandy bottom
Article on my anchor selection and resulting project: The anchor project
Here's what the anchor looks like when out of the water for those curious.
I backed down pretty good on the anchor when setting it to the point it brought the bow of the boat around, as it usually does. Every time I have set this anchor, I have to drive over it with short scope to get it to unset and come out of the bottom. Neat to see it set!
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