[IMAGE: Retrieval-buoy-in-water.jpg — “Deployment of retrieval line and buoy.”]
In normal conditions an anchor comes back easily on the rode. But anchors do get caught on underwater objects: rock, coral, cables, even sunken wrecks. Once fouled on something like that, the anchor can be difficult or impossible to retrieve by pulling on the rode. Trying to free it with large applications of force risks equipment failure and losing the anchor or the rode altogether.
A new generation anchor like a Rocna can present its own retrieval challenge, particularly if it’s over-sized or has been subjected to strong forces, such as being very well buried in hard clay.
The solution that all but guarantees you will get the anchor back is a buoyed retrieval line. Rig it before you drop, in any anchorage where fouling is a real possibility.
How it works
[IMAGE: Buoyed-retrieval-line.jpg — “Retrieval line and buoy ready to deploy.”]
A small buoy or other flotation device connects to the appropriate attachment point on the anchor with a light rope. If normal retrieval fails, pick the buoy up from the surface and lift the anchor out backward, clear of whatever it’s caught on.
The line
Any sinking rope of adequate strength will do.
Do not use floating rope. The slack collects at the surface near the buoy and becomes a risk to propellers. The retrieval line has to go down to the anchor anyway, so the reasoning behind floating dinghy painters doesn’t apply here.
Make the rope slightly longer than the depth of water at high tide. That keeps the buoy as close as possible to the anchor’s actual position.
[IMAGE: Rocna-buoyed-short-retrieval-line.jpg — “Short retrieval line with small submerged buoy.”]
There’s an alternative worth knowing. Use a short line with a smaller float, which leaves a suspended shackle or similar sitting just above the anchor. You must dive to reach it, and attach a second line when you need it, but the buoy stays out of other boaters’ way.
Attach the line to the anchor with a small but good quality shackle, preferably with a spliced eye in the rope. Tying the rope directly to the hole in the anchor introduces chafe problems, particularly on galvanized anchors.
The buoy
The buoy only needs to be a small floating item you can retrieve easily from the deck, with a boat-hook for example.
Attach the line to it so that it’s easy to detach without tools, so you can transfer the line quickly to a cleat or winch.
Flag the buoy to make it more visible and mark it clearly with a warning to other boaters that it is not a mooring buoy.
Dedicated systems are also available, with the line rolled into the buoy on a tensioner mechanism that keeps the line length matched to the depth.
Attaching to the anchor
[IMAGE: Attaching-retrieval-line.jpg — “Attaching a retrieval line to a Rocna.”]
Every Rocna fluke has a dedicated hole for a retrieval line in the heel. That’s the attachment point to use, on both the Rocna Original and the Rocna Mk II.
On the Original, the roll-bar can be used instead, and it can often be grappled from the surface if no line was attached before deployment. The dedicated hole is still the better attachment point.
The Vulcan has no roll-bar. Feed the line through from the top and tie a figure-of-eight knot in the end so the line is securely stopped.
Most other anchors have a dedicated attachment point somewhere obvious. Whatever you use, the point must be strong enough to take the force needed to free the anchor.
Other reasons to use one
[IMAGE: Buoyed-retrieval-line-Antarctica.jpg — “Anchored on rock with anchor at risk of fouling.”]
A surface buoy tells other mariners where your anchor is. It shows roughly where you’re set and gives some idea of your swinging circle.
That cuts both ways in some areas, where less astute boaters may assume the buoy is a mooring they’re entitled to use. This is the reason to mark it clearly.
The buoy also gives you an option in an emergency. You can abandon the anchor and rode temporarily and come back later under controlled conditions, knowing you’ll be able to find it.