Anchoring a SIB

bartdog · 11 July 2015, 23:12

As I intend to use my SIB for fishing, I wandered what is the best way to attach the anchor to the front of the boat. My boat is a mercury 340 air deck with 2 D rings either side of the main front handle and a couple of attachments on top where the grab rope goes through.
Pic attached

willk · 11 July 2015, 23:20

I have the baby brother of this one. I have a bridle running between the D rings with a long loop in the middle. I have a carabiner on the loop that I attach an anchor line to. When not deployed, the long loop runs up via the center pull handle and doubles as a "rodeo" handhold when underway.

bartdog · 11 July 2015, 23:51

Cheers for that, to clarify looks like each end of the rope is fastened to a D ring and not looped through?
When deployed does the end of the loop with the caribiner still go through the higher main handle at the front?

willk · 12 July 2015, 00:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by bartdog

Cheers for that, to clarify looks like each end of the rope is fastened to a D ring and not looped through?
When deployed does the end of the loop with the caribiner still go through the higher main handle at the front?

Correct - fastened to a D-ring. When deployed in anger, I remove the loop from the main handle as the handle is not designed to deal with sideways forces. For simple tie-ups and sheltered mooring, I leave the loop running through the handle for easy recovery.

bartdog · 12 July 2015, 00:31

Thanks for the reply, seems pretty straight forward. So I take if the aim is to spread the load in the right places/directions.

claretcass · 13 July 2015, 15:26

Yes, thanks for that... i have not been anchoring properly and will use this set up to distribute the stresses and strains..
Many thanks

2Paratrooper · 02 September 2015, 23:38

Hi

Mine is pretty much the same. The only difference is, instead of rope, I use 10-12mm bungee and this seems to make the boat sit a lot smoother especially in choppy water. I also have, to go along with the carabiner, a small bouy. The ones with a handle in it, it gives you something to grab rather than trying to bend right over to grab the rope. I attach the anchor line to the carabiner with a highway man's hitch.

works a treat.

Regards

Nige.

bartdog · 02 September 2015, 23:48

Haven't set mine up yet but was thinking about using something similar to act as a shock absorber.Dont suppose you have any pics of.set up including bouy?

willk · 03 September 2015, 13:09

You can build a bit of "give" into the anchor line if you coil a bit and wrap a bungee tightly around it. The chain will give a bit of softening too, if it's heavy and long enough. You shouldn't be out there if there's THAT much of a chop!

Mikefule · 03 September 2015, 15:32

Put one length of line between the two D rings. Use an anchor bend to attach it to each D ring. Then put a butterfly knot (loop) in the middle.

Attach a painter to the butterfly knot with a double sheetbend. This should be a permanent set up, or at least something that you set up each time you launch the boat, regardless of whether you intend to anchor.

Then you drop the anchor and allow plenty of line out. If you have enough line out, it will hang in a curve and take up the shock without the need for a bungee.

Make a bight in the anchor line and attach the painter to it using a double sheetbend. (A single will do if you are not leaving the boat unattended.)

Then keep the loose end of the anchor line on board, with no tension on it.

The tension will then go anchor>chain>anchor line>painter>loop between the two D rings.

Why use carabiners when knots are free, and you need a knot to tie the carabiner on anyway?

Rope Knots - Best Knots Animated and Illustrated

2Paratrooper · 03 September 2015, 22:15

Sorry don't have any. But next time I'll take some and send to you. But basically I have some 12mm bungee roughly 10ft long and on each end I have a small 316 carrabiner and in the middle I have an eyed carrabiner that runs between the both of them. Both of these small carrabiners go through the front bow ring or handle and then clipped to the smaller D-rings on either side. The bouy is attached to the eyed carrabiner. The main anchor rope is then attached to the carrrabiner with a highmans hitch but instead of leaving the loop loose, I clip the carrabiner to this loop and then no way can this come loose. It is still a quick release knot.

bartdog · 07 September 2015, 16:22

Thanks for the replies gents. Think I need to learn some different knots !!!!!!
Being new to inflatable boats I was unsure how much load the glued on bits would take hence the thoughts of reducing the shock on them.I have now got a few ways to consider that are proven by your good selves so thanks.

Mikefule · 07 September 2015, 18:38

The 2 D rings are designed to cope with the boat being towed, possibly at fairly high speed, maybe into the wind and sea. Subject to common sense limits, the D rings should stand up to anything - including anchoring in a heavy sea.

The plastic handle in the middle of the bow is designed to take light loads with no sudden shocks such as wheeling the boat around on shore.

When anchoring, a loop between the 2 D rings will halve the load on each and also tend to keep the boat facing the right way. Think of a standard bridle on a kite - a simple traditional kite usually has a triangular (2 legged) bridle between the line and the kite, for similar reasons.

If you anchor with plenty of line out, the line should hang down in a curve, partly under its own weight, and partly because of any current dragging on it. This curve in the line will then act as a shock absorber. Thus, the longer the anchor line, the softer the ride at anchor. Advice about how much line to use varies from about 4 times the depth of water to about 7 or 8 times the depth of water, depending on the weight of the boat, its windage, how rough the sea is and so on.

As for knots, when you look at them closely, they are often the same few moves in a slightly different context. For example, the common "round turn and 2 half hitches" is just passing the line twice around a post before tying a clove hitch around the line itself. An anchor bend is a round turn and two half hitches with the first part of the first half hitch going behind instead of in front. (You can't learn from this description, but I'm trying to say it's easy once you know how.) There are a few animated knot tying sites on the web.

Apart from anything else, tying knots is a satisfying skill.