I have approx 600' of anchor line on my primary anchor, and 20' of chain
ahead of the anchor. The anchor, chain, and line are all stowed in a bow
compartment on my 18' center console boat.

Not surprisingly, I have tangling problems when we attempt to anchor down.
I always start out taking all the line out, at the house, and then putting
it neatly back into the anchor locker. Doesn't matter. Next time the line
comes out, for whatever reason, there's invariably several snarls in the
line.

Any tricks anyone knows of that might help me keep the line organized to
where it will pay out reliably without fouling?

"RB" wrote in message
. ..
I have approx 600' of anchor line on my primary anchor, and 20' of chain
ahead of the anchor. The anchor, chain, and line are all stowed in a bow
compartment on my 18' center console boat.

Not surprisingly, I have tangling problems when we attempt to anchor down.
I always start out taking all the line out, at the house, and then putting
it neatly back into the anchor locker. Doesn't matter. Next time the
line comes out, for whatever reason, there's invariably several snarls in
the line.

Any tricks anyone knows of that might help me keep the line organized to
where it will pay out reliably without fouling?


How deep or fast of water are you anchoring in? Lot of excess rode from
what I see. I have 100' on my anchor + 10' of chain and extra 100' lengths
of line I can snap on to the first 100' if needed. 21' boat.

"Not surprisingly, I have tangling problems when we attempt to anchor
down.
I always start out taking all the line out, at the house, and then
putting
it neatly back into the anchor locker. Doesn't matter. Next time the
line
comes out, for whatever reason, there's invariably several snarls in
the
line. "

Actually, that may be the problem, putting it in neatly. We found that
if we just dropped the anchor line into the locker as it came up, that
the line went every which way and looked like a rat's nest, but it
didn't tangle on the way out next time. When we first started boating,
I tried laying the anchor rode in the locker all nice and neat with
coils which caused fouling, then later I tried figure "8" coils, which
still resulted in fouling. Try just stuffing it in as the line comes
to rest in its natural state. You may have to step on the line a
couple of times to keep it a little more compact. Also like the
previous person asked, is 600 feet necessary? We got by with 200' on
our last two boats with another 200 feet for a stern anchor and rarely
used more than 120' (Northern Puget Sound and Desolation Sound)

On Sat, 29 Apr 2006 15:12:32 -0500, "RB" wrote:

I have approx 600' of anchor line on my primary anchor, and 20' of chain
ahead of the anchor. The anchor, chain, and line are all stowed in a bow
compartment on my 18' center console boat.

Not surprisingly, I have tangling problems when we attempt to anchor down.
I always start out taking all the line out, at the house, and then putting
it neatly back into the anchor locker. Doesn't matter. Next time the line
comes out, for whatever reason, there's invariably several snarls in the
line.

Any tricks anyone knows of that might help me keep the line organized to
where it will pay out reliably without fouling?


I pull in the rope, letting it fall between my legs. Once I get to the
chain, I hook the chain on a cleat, pick up the bundle of rope, and put it
in the locker. Then I pull the chain in and lay it on top of the rope.
Never have had a problem with tangling.

I use 150' of rope in the Chesapeake Bay. Normally I anchor in 40' or less
depth.
--
'Til next time,

John H

******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************

A number of my fishing spots are in 150'-200' of water. Electric reels are
pretty much a "must have" thing, and if wind or current is running, 600' of
line is not excessive.

Unanchoring is fun, too, of course. We use a big flotation ball to "fly"
the anchor once it's loose, then go back along the streaming line and pick
it up and put it in the boat.

As a long time caver who did VERY long rappells, I learned to deal with
rope. DO NOT TRY to make a neat pile. I found the same methods apply
whenever I anchor.
When putting the line back in the locker, let it go in in a loose pile,
forget being neat but make sure the anchor is on top of the pile and
its flukes do not hook a loop.
When using the anchor, pull it out and set it on deck followed by its
chain and then by enough rope to anchor all put in a loose pile where
no loops hook the anchor. Cleat the rope. Then, reverse your pile on
the other side of the bow till you get to the chain. Now you know you
have no knots and you can put the anchor in the water with just enough
rope hooked around a cleat to slow your drift till you hit where you
cleated it before.

When pulling anchor. Pull it in and set it in a loose pile behind you
till you get the anchor in. Then make a pile on the other side of the
bow with teh anchor on bottom (watch the flukes). Then start dropping
coils into the locker, dont try to be neat or you will tangle it.
Finally put the anchor on top without hooking a fluke.

Yes, it seems like a lot of making coils but because it doesnt tangle
this way it is really fast. I have done this with 1200' of rope
without any problem.
However, one time someone tried to be really neat about a 600' rope and
I had to sit for an hour in a damned cold waterfall untangling rope.
Often cavers will carry rope simply by grabbing a handful and stuffing
it into a pack, followed by another handful, it never tangles that way.

Good info. Thanks. I think a hawse pipe on top of the anchor locker is
also an answer to my problem.

RB wrote:
I have approx 600' of anchor line on my primary anchor, and 20' of chain
ahead of the anchor. The anchor, chain, and line are all stowed in a bow
compartment on my 18' center console boat.

Not surprisingly, I have tangling problems when we attempt to anchor down.
I always start out taking all the line out, at the house, and then putting
it neatly back into the anchor locker. Doesn't matter. Next time the line
comes out, for whatever reason, there's invariably several snarls in the
line.

Any tricks anyone knows of that might help me keep the line organized to
where it will pay out reliably without fouling?

I'm struggling to imagine a bow compartment on an 18' center console
boat that will hold 600 feet of rode, a length of chain, and an anchor
without somebody having to virtually stuff it in. That's probably where
you tangle occurs.

Up this way, a lot of us carry stern tie lines that involve a few to
several hundred feet of rope wrapped around a drum. Some of the more
common adaptations are from garden hose reels, electrical cord reels,
etc. Lots of fishboats and work boats wrap the rode around a drum on
the foredeck. It wouldn't look as nice as stuffing everything into the
compartment, but it would probably cut down on the tanglemares. And of
course you wouldn't have to permanently affix the drum to your boat.

Good info. Thanks. I think a hawse pipe on top of the anchor locker is
also an answer to my problem.

Good info. Thanks. I think a hawse pipe on top of the anchor locker is
also an answer to my problem.