Solving our Anchor Buoy Problem

by Nancy Knudsen on 25 Feb 2007 Anchor buoys are very handy guys, and serve a number of purposes,

First, they tell other boats (particularly French boats, who are very friendly and like to anchor VERY close) just where your anchor is. This usually, but not always, has the effect of encouraging them not to drop their anchor between the anchor buoy and your boat.

Second, they can, if necessary (and we hope it’s NEVER necessary) act as a trip line, so that if your anchor is caught on something and you can’t pull it up, you can try pulling from another direction with the trip/anchor buoy line.

Finally, they can often tell you how hard you are pulling back on your anchor rode – if the anchor buoy is NOT in a straight line from your bow, you know that you are not pulled back tightly on your anchor, and it is lying securely where you put it – it means the SCOPE of chain is long enough so that the weight of the chain is holding your boat, and there is no pressure on the anchor.

There’s only one disadvantage to putting out an anchor buoy, and that is that we’ve heard reports that other yachts sometimes try to pick them up as a buoy. (I kid you not) This hasn’t happened to us, but it’s become a family joke – there’s no doubt that it’s the charter boats we have to watch, and we wait and watch with growing amusement any new arrival in an anchorage who seems to be paying too much attention to any of the anchor buoys in the anchorage.

However, the problem that we have always had is knowing just how long to make the line to the anchor buoy – too long and it doesn’t give you much indication as to where your anchor actually is, and too short, and it’s dragged underwater, thus losing its effectiveness.

The answer, for which we have to thank John and Susan Roberts, from their excellent treatise ‘Why Didn’t I Think of That’, is simple.

Simply attach a loop to the bottom of your anchor buoy, thread the anchor buoy line through the loop, and then hang a small weight at the end of the line. This means that the weight will drag the line as far as it can, so that the buoy will sit on top of the water nicely. There are SOME limitations of course. The length of the anchor buoy line cannot be more than double your shallowest anchoring position, and must be a little longer than your deepest proposed anchoring position.

A little experimentation will soon sort that out!