I've done stupider

[ED21]

Stopped to eat lunch and fish for a bit today. After a while I started the engine up, gunned it and took off. I had it planed off and was cruising when I heard a noise and then something caught my eye.
It was my anchor, a little dansforth, flipping up and landing in the splashwell not more than a foot from me. It just came up over the stern. I'm just glad I didn't have anymore line out or it might have cracked me in the head.
The anchor was OK, not damage to the boat & luckily it didn't touch the prop.
My only excuse was that all the other fishing I had done today was drifting and I completely forgot I was anchored.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: I've done stupider

Maybe you could patent that deal ... a self-stowing anchor.

I was out fishing on a weed flat earlier this summer. Came time to head in, and it was late in the day and I was a little tired. So, I fired up the little Johnson 6hp on my little boat and started backing out of the weeds. It didn't seem to be responding all that well, so I figured I had picked up a load of weeds on the outboard.

But then, I looked forward. A trail of muddy water was in front of the bow. That's when it dawned on me that I hadn't cranked my mushroom anchor up. Oops.

 

[cdnfthree2]

Re: I've done stupider

I'm glad I'm not the only one. Last time I did that my anchor and prop got in a fight. Ultimately, the prop won as the navy anchor spit in two but the the prop repair cost more than the new anchor.

 

[rndn]

Re: I've done stupider

I left my downrigger cable and weight in the water. The cable just ended up breaking so I was only out the $15 weight.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: I've done stupider

Dragged an anchor or 2 myself over the years !!!

 

[RollingWanderer]

Re: I've done stupider

Dragged an anchor or 2 myself over the years !!!

Yup, definately been there before. Luckily, I've never got the line or anchor into the prop.

-RW

 

[Tyme2fish]

Re: I've done stupider

I was by myself also when I noticed one heck of a spray coming from the bow of the boat when I tried to take off. It didn't take me long to discover that I had left my trolling motor down.:redface:

 

[CATransplant]

Re: I've done stupider

Here in Minnesota, they have all sorts of rules about transporting invasive weeds from lake to lake. I don't mind cleaning weeds off the boat and trailer, but a muddy, weedy mushroom anchor is a real pain to clean after you retrieve your boat.

This dragging the anchor thing prompts me to offer a tip:

If you've been anchored on a muddy, weedy bottom, you can quickly clean your anchor by pulling it up until it's about a foot deep in the water. Then, fire up the outboard and back up a ways. That'll wash the crud off any mushroom anchor. Stop and finish pulling it in. This is easier, of course, if you have an anchor mate or electric winch.

Don't do this if you anchor off the stern, though.

 

[ED21]

Re: I've done stupider

I like the patent idea. Maybe some money could come from my stupidity rather than having pay for my mistakes as it usually is.
I've pulled the anchor trick twice, but the last time was at least 30 years ago and I just lost a cheap homemade concrete in a milkjug anchor.

 

[j_martin]

Re: I've done stupider

I was up on the Canadian border in Voyagers, soon after I got my bass bote. Was fishing with one of my kids, decided to move, took off big time like a bass bote does, and when the bow came back down....... and the trolling motor dug in, it ripped the breakaway gimbal apart and started slapping the bow. Really felt foolish.

I managed to press it back together and get it working again before I was told that was impossible. It's still fine to this day.

I would like to put an alarm switch on it so if it's down when I turn the key for the main motor, it yells at me.

 

[zaroba]

Re: I've done stupider

it shouldn't be too hard to rig up a wire to an anchor to see when its down.

a waterproof float based switch on or near the ancher itself with wire running to a light near your throttle would work. but you'd need to have a wire running along the length of the anchor chain or rope. then when the anchor is in the water, it will activate the switch and light up a light for you to see.
it could be further detailed by having the float trigger a magnetic lock that locks your throttle lever in place. but then you should also put a switch to turn off the flaot switch so if needed, you could move the boat with the anchor down.

 

[Mark42]

Re: I've done stupider

A while back a member with a bigger boat, and bigger anchor posted how he forgot to pull up the anchor and took off. Once up to speeds, the danforth came over the transom, just missed his wifes head, and took out the windshield. Could have easilly killed either of them.

Forgetting to retrieve the anchor can be very dangerous. Just something to keep in mind.