TJ, I guess it depends on where you anchor, or if you anchor at all. Some places you might just go dock to dock and rarely use an anchor. As well, many just beach their rides. If you are lake boaters, you might run out to a beach, cove, or even a houseboat. I'm not so sure it's a good application for a river. Someone else would have to chime in. Personally, I use my Anchor Buddy every weekend. Once we arrive at the cove of our choice, it is one of the first things in the water after unloading passengers and chairs. I put the anchor in out from shore so that when almost fully stretched, the stern of the boat is in water deep enough not to strike the prop, but shallow enough that I can hop off from the swim platform, and wade to shore. Another thing I do is attach a buoy ball to the hook end of the anchor line. Make sure the water is not so deep that the buoy will reach the surface otherwise, it might be the last you see of your anchor. Many, myself included use a second rope that runs from the rear grab bar or D ring to shore. This is the rope that pulls the boat in when we want to board. It's really a great setup for keeping the boat off the beach, the speakers pointed at the party, and makes for easy retrieval of the boat. Another plus is when parked bow out, the occasional large rollers are cut by the bow. When parked stern out, the rollers could swamp a low deadrise boat (rare, but possible). The bungee affect allows the boat to ride the rollers without pulling hard on the anchor, possibly dislodging it from the lake bed. When we head out to board, someone pulls the boat in so passengers can wade out. When we are ready to go, we unhook the stern line. The bungee pulls out out from shore. We unhook the bow and leave the anchor and buoy in the water. This also serves as a marker to other boats that someone anchors there. When we return, it's a simple game of water ballet. Someone on the bow grabs the buoy and clips on our anchor line. At the same time the driver is turning the boat, swinging the stern around to shore. With a small amount of reverse, the stern is momentarily pulled closer to shore. As the momentum is stretching the anchor buddy, quickly turn off the engine, and then someone steps off the stern to secure the shore line. Some people attach their shore line to the anchor buoy on their way out. This way, they have both lines already, and they can pull themselves into shore when they return.
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