Anchor Rigging

[the_kegs]

I've pretty much exhausted the search function on the forum and have come up with a little but not much information regarding Anchors. The problem is, I am so new to this, the threads about anchors were over my head. From what I gather it's desirable to be able to anchor from the front or rear. It also seems common for some guys to rig a float on their anchor in case they hook up with something big and have to ditch it. Is it as simple as just hooking up one carabiner on the front and another on the back to thread your anchor rope through? Is there some sort of clever rigging that would allow me to switch between front and back without getting up and unhooking the carabiner? Do I just keep 100 ft of anchor rope on the boat and tie a float at the very end? I tried to find some good pictures of anchor rigging but when I did, they were either so close up or far away that I didn't understand what I looking at.

[mmanolis2001]

You can use a trolley system to move the anchor line om bow to aft. I rigged up a quick one and it works well.





Pulleys are installed at the front and rear of the kayak. You run a line thru the pulleys and bring it back to the center. At the junction tie in a large plastic/metal ring. This ring is where you run your anchor line thru and cleat/clip it on the boat. Then you can pull the trolley line to the front or back of the boat moving the anchor line with it. The float is tied to the anchor line to allow you to quickly un-cleat the line and free your self of the anchor.

[DOGFISH]

You can buy an anchor trolley kit by harken. It has all that you will need. You can replace the ring with a carbiner. If you don't want to buy the whole kit, you can use the Harken carbo 350 small block. They are sold at West Marine stores. Get some line and you have an anchor trolley. YouTube probably also has some video. You can order the kit from most of the kayak shops online or Spring River, in Annapolis, has them. You can get the blocks and other parts at West Marine. I don't remember where you are from, but if you come to the West Marine near Eastport, I will give you some help.

Good Luck.

[the_kegs]

Ah man, I finally get it! Feel dumb now. That description and your pics put it all together for me. Thank you.... One pulley at each end of the boat that a loop of rope runs around. A ring or something similar in the middle that you can feed your anchor line through. Think...raising and lowering a flag but the flag is your anchor and the pole is your boat. This is how you switch it from front to back. Either run it up the flag pole(front on the kayak) or down the flag pole(back of the kayak). Pretty darn simple. Don't know why I couldn't grasp the concept. Do you need to secure the trolley rope or does the pull of the anchor keep it on the end it needs to be on? Most of the setups I have seen don't seem to have the trolley points at the very ends of the boat. How close to the ends do you need to get them to keep from being anchored all cock-eyed? I know the current can really rip in the bay and it's tributaries.

[mmanolis2001]

The trolley line does not move while anchored. The force of the anchor line pulling away from the trolley seems to keep it in place. My lines are about 2 ft from the front and back of the Kayak. It does cause a little angle in the anchoring but not to bad. I think that might be an issue in deeper water if you don't have enough scope out. I will have to test that this year.

I only anchored once last year at the Bridge in shallower water and it held fine there. I mostly used it with a drift sock in an attempt to slow down my drifts and position my boat better. Worked great for that.

[the_kegs]

Where do you get those little line stays you have riveted into the hull?

[mmanolis2001]

I got all the items minus the pulleys on the web from Austin Kayak. They also sell complete kits with pulleys and all. If you use the line stays make sure only to add them to the top line. They are not needed but it helps keep the line down lower on the side of the yak and away from the top deck. Without the line stays there were no holes drilled in the Kayak.

I got some cheap pulleys from Home Depot and they sized up in 2 weeks. The trolley still works because the line still slides over the pulleys but its not as smooth. I think i will replace them with the better SS marine versions to avoid any more headaches. You really don't even need pulleys, a pair of D rings will also work well and save some coin.

[the_kegs]

Austin Kayak, got it... I think I'm going to skip the pulleys all together and go with some carabiners.

Dogfish, I appreciate your offer on the assist. If you work on Sat I may take you up on helping me put together some/all of the items I need.

[the_kegs]

Stopped by the Kent Island West Marine this weekend and "got sold" an anchor and trolley kit. Should have just waited and put together my own system. The rope they give you for the anchor is only 50' which I don't think is long enough for many places in the bay. The other rope they give you for the trolley is not nearly long enough to run the trolley from bow to stern. Basically I paid $30+ for a bunch of rope I can't use an anchor and a couple aluminum carabiners.

[DOGFISH]

Stopped by the Kent Island West Marine this weekend and "got sold" an anchor and trolley kit. Should have just waited and put together my own system. The rope they give you for the anchor is only 50' which I don't think is long enough for many places in the bay. The other rope they give you for the trolley is not nearly long enough to run the trolley from bow to stern. Basically I paid $30+ for a bunch of rope I can't use an anchor and a couple aluminum carabiners.

You should return the trolly kit. You can take it back to any West Marine. You can put your own together for just a little more. A custom rig is best. There are several types of cheek blocks that will mount right on the side of the kayak. You can then run a couple of eyelets along the upper line for control and a gripper. Nothing is better than one that you have put together yourself. May cost a bit more, but it will fit all your needs. If I recall, the Trident comes with a clam shell type gripper already on one side.

[the_kegs]

I think I am going to try and return it. The only problem is the nearest West Marine is over an hour away from me so I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to make it out that way again. I don't think my Trident came with a clam shell gripper but I bought one when I was at West Marine. $20 just for that little thing. I can't imagine having to rig an entire sailboat...these little bits are expensive.

[the_kegs]

Was also wondering how you guys recommend mounting things such as clam shell grippers to the kayak. The guy at the store was trying to tell me to use screws and simply screw it into the kayak. I couldn't see that being a reliable mount so i went with washers and nuts on the back side.

[DOGFISH]

Was also wondering how you guys recommend mounting things such as clam shell grippers to the kayak. The guy at the store was trying to tell me to use screws and simply screw it into the kayak. I couldn't see that being a reliable mount so i went with washers and nuts on the back side.

Nuts and washers are the way to go. For a water tight fit, drill the holes just large enough for the screw to thread its way through the plastic hole. Then also use some silcone or goop. That makes for a water tight installation. When mounting things into plastic kayaks, I like to use larger washers to absorb or spread out alot of pressure. This really applies to things like rod holders.

[Tucked In]

I agree with you Kegs, the Kent Island West marine has a fairly nice fishing section but every thing else there I think is for folks from Annapolis and there sailing boats. I also went there once to get rigging for a anchor trolley and was shell shocked at the price they wanted for a polley and carabener. thank good for Hook1.

[moc]

Nuts and washers are the way to go. For a water tight fit, drill the holes just large enough for the screw to thread its way through the plastic hole. Then also use some silcone or goop. That makes for a water tight installation. When mounting things into plastic kayaks, I like to use larger washers to absorb or spread out alot of pressure. This really applies to things like rod holders.

Great tip Dogfish. I will be sure to do that when I outfit my new Revo this summer.