Drogue/Sea anchor

Roy Smith · 07 December 2008, 17:50

Whilst sorting out the broken consul i found i had a sed anchor
my question is should i ever need to use it
a. would i need to clip it to one or both of the towing eyes
b. how much rope would you need from stern to the drouge
There was a tread about twin engines that stalled ? and it got me thinking

Tim M · 07 December 2008, 17:55

I've just sold one of these. It must have about 25/30ft of rope on it. Make sure the rope is quite heavy and doesn't float. I would tie it to one of the eyes on the transom - I wouldn't imagine it would make much/any difference being slightly over to one side.

chewy · 07 December 2008, 17:58

Can't see why you would want to have it leading out of the stern on a RIB.
Uses are to keep head into sea when changing props or after a capsize etc. Suppose you can use it if you fish to as it'll slow you down when drifting.

Roy Smith · 07 December 2008, 18:03

Right then that 3mt length wont br much good
I also thought that its not much good having kit like this and in the event of an emergecy not being able to get to it. mine was stored under the center consul where the electrics are. along with the fire extingusher
i have moved both now to under the pods

chewy · 07 December 2008, 18:08

In an emergency you don't want to throw it off the stern, this will hold the stern to weather and you'll end up in the pooh with waves coming over the stern.

Tim M · 07 December 2008, 18:12

Having thought about it I would agree. It's only ability is to reduce the effects of the wind. Tie it to the bow!

Alan Priddy · 07 December 2008, 18:19

Better still, dont use it. We worked a long time on establish if a sea anchor would work in big seas and the boat ended up being safer without. I would always advocate filling the boat with water if you cannot make headway in big seas or are drifting on to a lee shore.
Not quite the "RYA" way but then again, have they ever had to survive in bad conditions

Alan P

The Garfish · 07 December 2008, 18:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Priddy

I would always advocate filling the boat with water

wee noe dat

wee orl red de storey

garF

chewy · 07 December 2008, 19:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Priddy

Better still, dont use it. We worked a long time on establish if a sea anchor would work in big seas and the boat ended up being safer without. I would always advocate filling the boat with water if you cannot make headway in big seas or are drifting on to a lee shore.
Not quite the "RYA" way but then again, have they ever had to survive in bad conditions

Alan P

A boat that is held head to sea will always ride better than a boat thats just left to its own devices. If a wave hits the boat on its beam then it can capsize, surely its better to have a sea anchor out and not capsize?
You can see on the "Both engines down" thread that before the sea anchor is in use the boat surfs towards the beach, once the slack on the warpd has been taken up it sits nicely and rides the waves out. Would love to see someone trying to sort an outboard surfing down waves.

Jono Garton · 07 December 2008, 19:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Priddy

Better still, dont use it. We worked a long time on establish if a sea anchor would work in big seas and the boat ended up being safer without. I would always advocate filling the boat with water if you cannot make headway in big seas or are drifting on to a lee shore.
Not quite the "RYA" way but then again, have they ever had to survive in bad conditions

Alan P

Alan

Are you saying an 8m RIB in 3m Breaking Surf would be better beam on to the waves rather than bow in to the waves?

Jono

SeaSkills · 07 December 2008, 21:32

I think there is a case for a sea anchor on board a RIB, particularly as it doesn't take up very much storage space. It does offer you options that you wouldn't have otherwise

We regularly want to stop in deep water (for us it might be to debrief students, but it could be for any reason), and it's simple and effective to deploy our sea anchor. We tend to use a fairly short line of about 10m - I've even used the painter fairly effective on a couple of occasions - to hold us head to sea for a few minutes while we chat.

We've also used sea anchors to stabilise the boat when working with a helicopter in a "broken-down" exercise scenario. The chopper was happier with us head-to-wind than rolling in a beam sea and it apparently made their own approach easier for them.

On a technical point, there is a difference between a sea anchor and a drogue. A sea anchor is designed to hold the bow into the waves, and although it may be parachute shaped or conical it is bigger than a drogue. A drogue is designed to slow the boat down in a following sea so it doesn't surf out of control or broach when overtaken by a wave (not a situation we find ourselves in very often in a RIB). A drogue is smaller, conical, and often with an open end to the cone like a wind sock. I don't see much of an argument for a drogue in a RIB. There are a couple of situations that I could come up with where a drogue might help, but they'd be pretty rare and I think a drogue wouldn't be my first choice in those situations anyway

timw · 07 December 2008, 21:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Priddy

Better still, dont use it. We worked a long time on establish if a sea anchor would work in big seas and the boat ended up being safer without. I would always advocate filling the boat with water if you cannot make headway in big seas or are drifting on to a lee shore.
Not quite the "RYA" way but then again, have they ever had to survive in bad conditions

Alan P

Very poor advice. Why on earth would anyone fill a boat with water whilst drifting towards a lee shore?

If your engine fails and you have a sea anchor...USE IT

Chris · 07 December 2008, 22:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by timw

Very poor advice. Why on earth would anyone fill a boat with water whilst drifting towards a lee shore?

If your engine fails and you have a sea anchor...USE IT

If you fill the boat up with water it becomes exteremely stable and the boat would be much less prone to being blown into the shore.

Besides your an idiot so if it comes down to the choice of listening to a man of Alan's experience or you I think the choice is a fairly simple one.

Jono Garton · 07 December 2008, 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

If you fill the boat up with water it becomes exteremely stable

Until the tubes come off, my 6.3 Ocean Pro holds 5 tonnes of water!

Personally I like the water not in the boat.

Jono

matt h · 07 December 2008, 23:00

[QUOTE=timw;274234] Very poor advice. Why on earth would anyone fill a boat with water whilst drifting towards a lee shore?

here we go!!

Avon have been producing the flooding hull for 30 years, guess what?Tim nice But.
yes you guessed right,filling a boat full of water for stability, perhaps the traffic fumes have got to you, or maybe your properties have halved in value!!

Poly · 07 December 2008, 23:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt h

Avon have been producing the flooding hull for 30 years, guess what?Tim nice But.
yes you guessed right,filling a boat full of water for stability, perhaps the traffic fumes have got to you, or maybe your properties have halved in value!!

Perhaps we can manage this without the name calling as otherwise this discussion will be heading to the bilges...

The advantages of Alan's suggestion are presumably - heavier boat, potentially more stable & sits lower in water (so less windage).

The disadvantages are that you are then "in the water" so unless dry suited are getting wet, and even with a dry suit are getting cold quicker. (The advantage of the Avon flooding hull is it keeps the water separate from the people). Also unless you planned/designed your electrics, fuel tank breathers etc properly then your are getting water where you don't want it. Presumably Alan would argue that anyone doing serious ribbing should be properly attired and in a properly constructed boat though.

Chris · 07 December 2008, 23:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Perhaps we can manage this without the name calling as otherwise this discussion will be heading to the bilges...

The advantages of Alan's suggestion are presumably - heavier boat, potentially more stable & sits lower in water (so less windage).

The disadvantages are that you are then "in the water" so unless dry suited are getting wet, and even with a dry suit are getting cold quicker. (The advantage of the Avon flooding hull is it keeps the water separate from the people). Also unless you planned/designed your electrics, fuel tank breathers etc properly then your are getting water where you don't want it. Presumably Alan would argue that anyone doing serious ribbing should be properly attired and in a properly constructed boat though.

Thats much better a sound argument rather than just a sweeping statement from a numpty.

(sorry couldn't help it)

Nos4r2 · 08 December 2008, 04:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by timw

Very poor advice. Why on earth would anyone fill a boat with water whilst drifting towards a lee shore?

If your engine fails and you have a sea anchor...USE IT

Have you ever tried using a sea anchor from a rib?

No name calling here-I just want to know why you think you know better than Alan.

chewy · 08 December 2008, 08:03

I have, Alans argument is valid in that it'll make the boat more stable but it won't stop it from surfing down waves or hold the head to sea.
Alan has a wealth of experience but it doesn't mean that everything he says is right.

At the end of the day its upto the individual but I personally would deploy the sea anchor.

Can anyone explain how filling the boat with water actually stops the boat from been beam onto the sea?

Alan Priddy · 08 December 2008, 08:56

Hey, what do I know?????????????????
AS for bad advice, Before you all knock what I am saying, wait for a really bad day and try it.
A fully water logged boat of any discripton is better than something sitting on top of the water in any conditions.
Alan P