Ultimate Anchoring Package

[Jasongalbavy]

Hello Folks,

I'm going to be upgrading my anchoring assembly shortly and want to order the final few pieces to finish the kit.

I want a set-up to use for halibut fishing in 200+ feet of water with current, the ability to have a sound sleep in our mostly rocky/weedy anchorages AND the ability to free-fall/deploy from the helm, without having to go forward to push/pull/fiddle with the set-up...

I will be installing a Maxwell HRCFF-8 windlass, 350' of 8-plait & 50' 1/4" chain attached to a Rocna 22lb anchor.

The question I have is "what bow roller assembly to use with the Rocna anchor"????

I've looked at the Rocna templates and think that a Lewmar pivotting model # 66840007 would best best.

Does anyone have any experience with the Rocna anchor/bow roller combo?

Again I really want the anchor to self launch with no-fuss.

Thanks in advance,

Jason

[Will-C]

Someone once told me that the scope on your anchor line ought to be at least 5 times your depth. For example 10' of water 50' of your chain or combination of chain and line. 200' x 5= 1000'.
D.D.

[thataway]

Jason,
I don't have an answer, since I don't own a Ronca. But they are very similar to the Masons Supreme, which I have used. They were self launching from a single roller--in some ways the pivoting self launching seem better. But the Lewmar 66840007 seems to be designed more for fluke anchors--like the Danforth/Fortress, which are not as weighted at the fluke ends.

Our Boss is +/- self launching, depending how hard I have pulled it into the bale.

Generally the Supreme/Ronca tend to easily self launch. The one area I would have would be if the bale on the 007 was high enough to have the wide shank of the Ronca.

Other things I would consider with super deep anchoring with short scope, is if you might want a slotted shank, so that if the anchor gets hung up, you can reverse it out. The Ronca can be set up with a trip line, or the electrical tie/break away setup with the final shackle to the crown, but when at short scopes, that does not work as well, as longer scopes. (there are negatives of both that set up and the slotted shank also) I doubt that you would want to use a trip line with your setup.

We do keep a safety line/or cable on the anchor, even with the windlass and chain engaged. So we do go forward, most of the time, to release that before anchoring. That is probably even more important, with a larger anchor and articulating pulpit/roller setup. Of course there could be a remote release, or even taking the safety line to a side cleat.

I see that you are going with the 5/16" chain, and 9/16" 8 plait rode. Generally this is used with larger boats--and I wonder if there will be room in the anchor locker of the 22, for the 50 feet of 5/16" chain, and 350 feet of 9/16 8 plait rode? You have to have enough space under the windlass for the rope and chain, to work properly, We are fairly close or at that volume limit with ~ 35' 1/4" HT chain, and 300' of 1/2" 8 plait rode. I don't know how much more volume the 9/16 8 plait uses over the 1/2". Do you need the increased working load (3900# over the 2600# of the 1/4")? Same for the line: As you probably know the HRCFF-6 is basically the same Maxwell Windlass, but with a gypsy sized for the 1/2" rode--1/4 G4 Chain.

Dave, most of us want at least 5:1--I prefer 7:1. But when fishing during the daytime, it is not unusual to anchor in these much deeper depths and use a scope of 2 or 3: 1. Some anchors claim to work better with scopes of 3:1... On occasion we anchored in over 100 feet overnight in AK and BC--especially with the larger boats and their deeper drafts.

[Jasongalbavy]

Dr.Bob,

As always you are on the ball.

Correction-I meant HRCFF-6 not 8, sorry for the confusion-I don't know why I thought it was an 8.

Its 1/2" 8-plait rode; I bought 350' with the intention of cutting it to fit the locker.

Yes, I will have to pop up from the hatch to engage the free fall feature and release the safety cable on the chain, but i want to avoid the boat hook send-off method and minimize time spent on the bow.

I don't usually sleep during halibut fishing (but it has happened before:) and have used 300' of rode and 25' chain successfully to anchor up and catch fish on my favorite hole in the past over 200' deep. I have retrieved this set up with a scotchman/ring combo previously and only purchased the windlass this fall.

800' of scope would make staying on my hole impossible and interesting when the side swings. I realize that 5:1 is by the book and I follow this where I can when in overnight anchorage.

I was giving the Mason Supreme alot of thought especially since it had the slotted shank, but due to exchange rates and access the Ronca was selected. I can still change my mind though and get the Mason instead. I believe they are fairly similar and the bow roller should be compatible with either.

I don't have the ability to touch and feel any of these options and everything is mail order only up here.

I'll wait to hear back from anyone who have used either the Rocna or Manson on their boat and specifically which roller set up they used.

Thanks again everyone for the feedback,

Jason

[Will-C]

I guess the ultimate part through me off. We put a 25 pound Manson Supreme when we owned a C-Dory. Took the standard anchor roller set up and drilled a new pivot point a couple inches back so the tip of then anchor would stay clear of the bow of the boat when fully retracted and the shank was against the roller. Used same pivot bolt. Depending on the bail (the U shaped piece) on your anchor roller going with a Manson required us to buy a larger bail when we switched to a 35 Manson Supreme from the stock 17 pound Lewmar anchor on our current boat. So check your existing roller and see if you can tweak it to work with the heavier hook. Defender sells heavier anchor rollers but we wanted to avoid any mods to our fiberglass.
D.D.

[Chester]

I fabricated a new bail from 1/8" X 1" aluminum stock. Cheap and easy.

[NewMoon]

FWIW,

On New Moon we have a 10kg Rocna, 42 feet of 1/4" HT chain, spliced to 300 feet of 1/2" nylon. Bow roller is a Windline BRM-2, with a hefty bail added, mounted on a bow pulpit. The Rocna self-launches wonderfully. Not sure how comparable that setup is to the C-Dory though - the up angle of the C-Dory's foredeck might make some difference.

Don't know what the bottom is in your halibut hole. We've tried anchor fishing with the Rocna in some rather rocky spots with a fair bit of current, and had one heck of a time getting it released from the bottom. If I were going to keep trying that, I'd shackle the chain to the forward hole on the Rocna and zip-tie it to the normal chain attachment point. Many of the charter fishers in SE AK seem to use a Bruce shackled that way. Not sure I'd trust those zip ties for overnight anchoring in any significant wind, however. Since we're more concerned with anchoring securely overnight, we pretty much gave up on anchor fishing other than overnight.

Instead, when halibut fishing with bait rather than jigs, we drift with a bottom rig with a torpedo-shaped 1lb sinker at its lowest point, attached to a relatively light snap swivel. Two circle hooks come off the 130lb main leader via a 100lb swivel on a dropper loop two or three feet above the sinker, on their own 130lb leader 18-24" long. With any current the bait swings out away from the vertical main line, and usually does not get snarled up. Much better than one of the L-shaped wire gizmos.

On the rare occasion that the sinker gets snagged in the rocks, most often we can pull it loose (with 50 lb braided line). If not, pull harder, sometimes cleating to the boat, and if the sinker doesn't come loose the snap swivel will pop open and we get all but the sinker back. We've been doing pretty well on halibut since we started fishing this way, using mostly herring, preferably the big ones like those we catch out in front of the fish processors at Petersburg. Seems to have a lot to do with being at the right place at the right time.

Ou experience with overnight anchoring scope: in 20+ years of cruising and hundreds of nights in BC and SE AK coves with 25-65 feet of water, we are content with 3.5 to 1 scope unless the wind is going to be fairly strong. If 20-25 or more is expected we go to 4:1 or 5:1, or on rare occasions more. We check carefully that we have a good set, but after that have never once dragged, not even with our earlier 7.5kg Bruce.

[Phil Barnes]

Some good discussion on the topic here:

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=23815

[hardee]