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| Ellie and friends using their Anchor Buddies at Fossil Bay, Sucia Island State Park, Washington |
What is an Anchor Buddy?
Simply put, the Anchor Buddy can be
thought of as an anchor rope that stretches. It allows you to anchor
your boat about 35 feet offshore, in water deep enough to keep it
safe from rocky beaches, boat wakes and wind. Its stretchiness
allows you to pull the boat to shore (stretching the Anchor Buddy),
where you can board, depart, or load and unload gear. When you’re
finished, the Anchor Buddy retracts, automatically pulling your boat
back out to deeper water. The Anchor Buddy also allows many boats to anchor close together without bumping into each other, as you can see in the photo above.
The anchor buddy is constructed of
3/8 inch diameter surgical tubing surrounded by a woven poly outer
sleeve. The tubing stretches like a bungee cord while the outer
sleeve limits how far the cord can stretch (to prevent breakage) and
provides great strength when the Anchor Buddy is stretched to its
maximum length.
Rigging the Anchor Buddy
The Anchor Buddy connects between
your anchor chain and rode. Here you can see the setup I use on my
15’ John Welsford designed Navigator yawl.
My anchor is shackled to 10 feet of
¼ inch chain. The chain is connected to one end of the Anchor Buddy
(yellow). Additional Anchor Buddies can be connected in series if
desired, with each additional Buddy providing an additional 35 feet
of stretch. An anchor swivel is attached to the other end of the
Buddy, followed by 100 feet of 3/8 inch nylon rode. When anchoring
close to shore, I find that 100 feet of rode is nearly always
sufficient, but I also carry along an additional 100 feet of rope in case I need more, and for
use when anchoring out in deeper water.
Deploying the
Anchor Buddy
To deploy the Anchor Buddy, begin by
slowly motoring, rowing or sailing towards the shore so that you can
survey it. The ideal shoreline will be devoid of large rocks or
other dangers, but will also have a nearby tree, log, boulder or
something else to tie your anchor line to.
When you get approximately 100 feet from shore, begin lowering your anchor to the bottom, and pay out line as you slowly approach the beach. When you arrive at the shore, exit the boat taking the remaining anchor rode with you. Begin pulling on the anchor rode. As you continue pulling the rode, you will feel the Anchor Buddy stretching. Continue pulling until the Anchor Buddy is fully stretched to its limit and the anchor will begin to set. Pull as hard as you can to ensure the anchor is fully set. Release the anchor rode and allow the Anchor Buddy to fully retract. Take the bitter end of the anchor rode and tie it to a tree, log or boulder, removing all slack from the anchor line without stretching the Anchor Buddy. Finally, return to the bow of the boat. Pull the anchor rode again until the Anchor Buddy is fully stretched. Cleat the anchor rode to a bow cleat. Give the boat a gentle push off the beach and watch as the Anchor Buddy retracts and pulls the boat 35 feet offshore.
What if there’s
no tree, log or boulder to tie to?
If there’s nothing convenient to
tie to, you will need a beach anchor, sand anchor or spike anchor.
These come in a variety of styles. If you carry a secondary anchor, it will work perfectly well. A compact solution that works well in sandy beaches is this auger style called a
Tie Down Mate.
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| Tie Down Mate beach anchor |
Coming and going
After deploying the anchor, suppose
you want to do a little fishing, or participate in a sailboat race.
Once you are set up, you can easily come and go without retrieving
your anchor. Simply pull the boat to shore, climb onboard, let the
Anchor Buddy pull you out, untie the boat and off you go. When you
return, beach the boat where you anchored and get out. Pull the
anchor line in, tie to your bow cleat and let the Anchor Buddy pull
your boat out.
Dealing with tides
The areas
where I sail often have tidal ranges of 13 feet or more. They also
have shallow beaches that are less than 13 feet deep at 35 feet
offshore. That means there is a good chance that my boat could go
dry at low tide, possibly suffering damage. There are several ways
to avoid that. One way, mentioned earlier, is to daisy chain two or
more Anchor Buddies in series. Each Anchor Buddy will place the boat
an additional 35 feet offshore. Another way, if the weather, your
schedule, and the bottom conditions safely allow it, is to let the
boat go dry until the tide comes back in.
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| Only allow boat to go dry at low tide if it's safe |
Yet another way is to occasionally
move the boat closer or farther away along the anchor rode as needed.
If the tide is going out and the boat is getting too close to shore,
re-adjust it by un-cleating the rode, stretching the Anchor Buddy to
its limit, and re-cleat it. Conversely, if the tide is coming in and
the boat is getting more than 35 feet offshore, re-adjust it the same
way.
When I sleep overnight on my boat, I
always ensure that I won’t go dry at low tide during the night. To
do this, I climb onboard, untie the anchor rode from the bow cleat,
pull the boat well offshore and re-tie it there. Then I set up my
boom tent and enjoy a worry-free night’s sleep. I can pull myself back to shore whenever I need to.
Safety
According to the manufacturer, the
Anchor Buddy is intended for temporary anchoring/mooring only. It
has a 4000 pound capacity which far exceeds the weight of my cruising
dinghy. I have used it for many years and I am confident using it
overnight, especially considering how the boat is also anchored to
shore. For increased confidence, a 45 foot long line can be
connected alongside the Anchor Buddy. This will keep the anchor
attached to the boat if the Anchor Buddy were to fail, while still
allowing it to stretch and function normally.
If you’re ever in the Puget Sound
area and you see a small yawl anchored in a cozy cove, there’s a
good chance it will be me, and my “Buddy”.
