Not a bad idea!
Ill start with anchoring since it can save your day or ruin It.
when dead in the water toss the anchor. it can save every thing.
When possible dive your anchor and make sure its set. I always do this when diving from my skiff so I can wedge the anchor in the rocks.
You can use a cannonball or second anchor at line end of chain or to make up for to little chain. it helps absorb the shock the boat puts on anchor in rough water.
If setting threw a tide swing or long periods of time (24hr) set two anchors in opposite directions so when tide comes in and then recedes you always have an anchor set in the right direction against the tide.
Between fishing, diving, hunting and sleeping on a boat in an area with 15-20' tide swings Iv had a whole hell of a lot of problems with anchors slipping. I know some say let out more scope and you get a better pull angle on the anchor, but some times at least in my area that extra scope can mean your boat runs aground on the next tide. In really deep water letting out scope isn't practical. I say go over kill on you set up, use more chain than you think you need and use an anchor rated for your boat size or even get the next size up.
Oh side note! make sure your motor is mounted properly! when I was 15 me and a buddy took my dads 14' skiff out duck hunting, it was middle of November. We had seen a small group of ducks in a small cove and when we cut the engine to drift towards the ducks ( ak regulations states the boat must not be under power when shooting) the wind picked up and put us on the rocks. my buddy stepped on a rock and held us stern out so the motor was in deeper water he pushed off and I gunned it... motor popped up and then disappeared in the water shortly fallowed by me! There was no way I was going home with out my dads motor. guess some one called us in because after about 20 min the coast guard showed up and were nice enough to help me find the motor and tow us in. They must have seen that I wasn't leaving without it! So tighten your motor mounts!!
Some one must have a story about not putting in the Plug. Not me on that one.
Had motor go out on my Brother's 33 foot sailboat in Puget Sound. We sailed it into to port and landed right in front of some restaurant with everyone watching. I remember all the large windows and everyone staring at us.
We were about 20-30 yards from our target and wind just died. I jumped off the boat and managed it from dock while the bro dropped the remaining part of the sail. We also were lucky to have a wide open area to land on the outer portion of pier.
All said and done we looked pretty good on not tearing anything up, and looking like we knew what we were doing. I think we got really lucky with wind dropping off.
On the dock and catching our breath, wind was back up some. Can't recall where that was at, might have been Everett or Anacortes.
The large dinner audience watching us probably had some stories to tell about two idiots sailing into port. Non sailboat types probably thought that's how you do it.
--------------------------
Did Google maps search, Looks like it was Everett, restaurant name was Antony's homeport right on the water. It has long pier out front of it, has to be the place.
Jake and I had one other incident about four years ago.
Like Linghunt, we had a new guy we'd never been with on the boat. He said he had boating experience and was about 28 years old. Nice guy. We were at one of the cuts and the current was kind of ripping with an outgoing tide. ……(you can see where this is going…..:confused1::D)…..so we told him we would jump in way inside and drift out. The sea was calm so keeping an eye on us wasn't hard.
After drifting out and getting near the wall, we look and there's the boat, waaaaaayyyy inside at anchor…???:@. The guy was sitting at the helm.
We start yelling and swimming south to get out of the rip but were still drifting out. He finally saw us waving our guns in the air and came out.
One slip up, or lack of communication, or knowing your crew and staff and their capabilities….shit can go wrong really fast.
Jorge, Jake, DeQuesnay….we've been out together hundreds of times so we're good. But those FNGs….:D…but it IS the captain's responsibility to make sure everyone knows what to do.
Get one of these and strap it to ya.
In case you become separated from your boat.
Oh the thing mark has? ?
What is the range? Satellite capable?
Yep its the one Mark has I believe. From what I read, when you push the emergency button, it alerts every boat within an 8-mile radius. It also sends your distress call and GPS position to the Coast Guard.
I feel like this is an often overlooked piece of safety gear, especially for us shore divers or anyone on the water really. I mean look at that guy who was diving in the Bahamas this week and got lost on a night dive.
Keep up with the electrical system in your boat, by keep up I mean have everything wired CORRECTLY and with tinned marine wiring, I cant count the amount of times I have worked on a nice big center console with triples/quads, thousands of dollars in nav and stereo and when you get under the console its a MESS, I know of one who took a trip to Cayo Sal, freshly rigged with triple Verado 300's all the bells and whistles and spent almost 2 days stranded due to a short in the harness, its just one of those things that it doesnt matter how many motors you have hanging out back, if it goes your getting towed in.
DO NOT try and power an anchor out tying it to transom or stern, you will get swamped and sink if that anchor doesn't come out
Never seen that but it looks like a life saver :thumbsup2:
Thanks for that link. Looks like a worthwhile investment. $300. Not bad.
You need to be a member to leave a comment.
