Sea Anchors

AnchortownJim · Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 7:07 pm Post subject: Sea Anchors

Does anyone have any input on sea anchors? Does anyone carry one and/or needed to use one? I am not a river runner. I explore the remote corners of Alaska and believe a sea anchor could be a valuable piece of safety gear.

My web research does not turn up much of a variety of sources for obtaining one.

I am looking closely at 9' PARA-TECH Sea Anchor for my 22' Cruiser. Has anyone dealt with Para-Tech or any other vendor and had a good experience.

It seems to me that a good sea anchor can save your boat and perhaps even your life if you have a loss of engine power.

Any thoughts on this subject?

Thanks,

Jim

rascal · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 11:30 pm Post subject:

jim
we have a 6 foot sea anchor aboard our 22' c-dory and 300'
extra rode which we got from west marine -have never had to deploy it and hope never will have too. we cruise lake Superior.
It is a good piece of safety gear to have.
ras

Alyssa Jean · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 1:07 am Post subject:

I guess no one else is going to ask. What dimension are you refering to when you talk about a 9 foot or 6 foot sea anchor? I always thought of a sea anchor as something that looked like a bucket with no bottom that you deployed to keep you into the wind or current. Maybe a little primer about how and when to use them would be in order for some of us neophytes.

TyBoo · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 1:26 am Post subject:

Yeah, me too on the questions (thanks, David).

I have two sea anchors that I use to hold the boat against the anchor in the river current when fishing in the wind, but they are 2' diameter at the big end.

I've read discussions of using a sea anchor to hold a boat straight when adrift. That must be what they're getting at with the big guys. I'm thinking that if I tossed a 6' or 9' sock off the stern in the Columbia River, I would be out to sea in short order on an ebb tide and on some spit or beach with an incoming. I can see how the big sock might be useful in keeping the boat pointing toward the swells or waves on the bar, but it might also tend to pull it toward the jetties or spits. Maybe that's why I don't hear much about them locally.

Now then, if out in the ocean or on big water that can get as rough as the Great Lakes, I could see it being valuable to keep from turning sideways (and over) in the waves until help gets there or the power is restored.

Beyond that, I'm ready to read the replies and learn something! Thanks.

Sea Wolf · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 1:56 am Post subject:

Mike- You've really figured it out as far as the uses of sea anchors in larger bodies of water are concerned. At sea, whem severe storms hit and boats can't maintain steerage easily, sea anchors head boats into the swells until conditions allow sails or motors to be used effectively without risk or unnecessary wear. The're more commonly used on sailboats on long passages and on smaller power boats that cannot reach safe harbors. They're a great safety device for any boat in a large body of water that loses power in really adverse conditions, especially when the danger is being swept ashore.

I believe drogues or sea anchors are measured by the diameter of the larger opening of the open end of the cone. A long elastic nylon line is used to help absorb and cushion shock. I looked at Chapman's "Piloting", in vain for a table showing the size relationship between boat length, mass and the reccommended sea anchor size and rode length, but no luck. Will search the topic out later.

Your discussion of the use of a drogue to hold the boat steady in a river current with an adverse wind is right on with standard practice. Who else is familiar with the use of these? Joe

AnchortownJim · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 4:11 am Post subject:

For good information on sea anchors please go to Para-Techs web site: http://www.seaanchor.com/ Lots of good reading there and I don't have to reproduce it here. There is also a very good web site on sea anchors by W.A. Choppins, a New Zealand company producing sea anchors. Can be easily found if you do a web search. Again, very good info there.

I have been exchanging emails with the president of Para-Tech and he has been most helpful in selecting a size of sea anchor. Basically for coastal cruising with sheltered harbors available, the chart on his web site is an accurate gage of the size of sea anchor to carry. He told me that if you are going out in the open ocean and get caught in a major storm, nothing smaller than a 12 foot sea anchor is appropriate due to wave mechanics and the interaction of the sea anchor with the waves.

So, I think I will be going with 9 foot sea anchor as I do not intend to take my 22 Cruiser out into the open ocean for days on end where I could get caught in a major storm. My need to keep the boat heading into the wind/waves until I get the engine restarted, or help arrives and to stay off the rocks is the most likely scenario.

Of course, in a perfect world one would never need to use a sea anchor.... but, better have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Jim[/img]

rascal · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 8:12 am Post subject:

Jim
According to the charts when i got mine a 6 foot should be adaquate for a 22 foot boat... this of course is relative to the conditions, --drift socks commonly used for fishing are not sea anchors and are not made for storm conditions!!!! chapmans has a good section on use and deployment of sea anchors......lots of folks on the great lakes have them aboard. they are also really helpful to keep you away from lee shores if you should lose all power.

C-Hawk · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 9:45 am Post subject:

I have a pre-chute (the pre-chute is used to deploy the main chute when the military drops equipment) that I have rigged. It is also great to slow you down when the wind picks up to much for a good drift while fishing.

Physalia · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 3:01 pm Post subject: Sea Anchors

Way back in 1960's my dad and I were sailing his 32 foot trimaran "Physalia" from Brookings, Oregon to San Francisco. We spent three days hanging on a sea anchor off Cape Mendacino , California during a spring storm. As I remember his sea anchor was a surplus military cargo parachute maybe 12 feet in diameter or so. It was a bugger to deploy but once it was out it changed a horrifying experience to merely a terrifying one!!

On another note, I would like to take this opportunity to tell all you C-Brats how much I enjoy this site and wish you all a Merry Christmas! Hope to meet you all someday.

TyBoo · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 3:17 pm Post subject:

Wow, Gary, that's a cool memory. I'll bet it's still pretty vivid. So, you just let the currents drag the boat around with the sea anchor, using it to keep you square with the seas? How far do you figured you drifted in the three days?

Physalia · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 3:56 pm Post subject: Sea Anchors

Mike-

Don't recall that we drifted very far at all though I am sure we must have.. Our navigation equipment was really limited. Way before GPS. We had Loran but the boat was new and I don't think dad knew how to use it and it's for sure I didn't. All I know is we finally pulled into Fort Bragg and I was happy that my vacation time was over and I could go home and change my shorts!!

DrBill · Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 7:02 am Post subject: sea anchors for fishing

Also useful in slowing your wind drift when drift fishing. Have seen used for this in shallow bay fishing for speckled trout here in FL; under 4 ft deep!!

Buy one with a second rope going through the mouth to the point or bottom of the sack; this allows you to deflate the sock with a few pulls and save a MAJOR workout (and time) in bringing the anchor back on board.