anchoring your boat

just want to know if anyone anchors their boats overnight and if so have any anchors slipped

You need an anchor that bites into the surface at your regular ride spot. I have one of those spider anchors (i think it's called). So far it works in anything. It's all about the 'right' anchor.

WakeGuy,

As J-Rod said depends on where your ride / bottom surface... Mud / Sand / Rock / River ~ they make anchors specifically for the bottom / land.

Anchor buddy is a great accessory as well.


Lzy

I anchor my houseboat all the time.

Yes, anchors slip.

If you intend to leave the boat on an anchor unattended (like overnight) you should make sure that the anchor has taken a good set before you leave.

When you have the anchor set, pull on it HARD! If you can make it move by pulling in the same direction the boat will then it isn't going to hold the boat.

Just use a nice size mushroom anchor and anchor buddy, it'll stay put for good.

I would not use the anchor buddy to overnight or unattended anchoring if your lake gets windy. The constant stretch and slacking will loose'n the anchor. But, thats at Lake Mead where the wind can come up fast and blow hard.

I always had good luck with fluke style anchors. Works great on sandy bottoms like Mead. I have one rated for a much larger boat that I use for overnight anchoring. Because at Mead it is almost guaranteed your anchor will pull loose at least once.

Research the box anchor. It is expensive but one of the best out there for many types of bottom conditions. Danforths are the most common anchors. Mushroom type anchors are meant for muddy bottoms. Also you need a good heavy chain right at the anchor and there is a formula of how much rope for every foot of depth. An anchor rope at 45 degrees will not hold well at all, it needs to be more like 30 something degrees.

Anchor buddies: They have a large following, and have a place on the boat, but personally I never left my boat tied up with one. I have seen mine stretch all the way out and had to fend it offshore and keep it from hitting the houseboat in certain rough/windy conditions. Anchor rope is designed to stretch and absorb shock so it is not transfered to the anchor, and help prevent the anchor from slipping.

There is another method, which it seems like we are the only one to use, but it works well. We brought an old tire, and parked the bow right on the tire. Then someone would keep the boat idling in gear while the stakes were driven in and three ropes were setup. one straight off the bow, and two at 45 degree angles, run off the stern of the boat (Very similar to tieing off a houseboat, except we used a third middle line). We used this method, at lakes, routinely for years and never had a problem. The boat rode out many wind storms and wakes from other boats, without any problems. It only takes a minute to tie off the boat using anchor rope and a truckers knot so tension can be added.

(Also you need a good heavy chain right at the anchor and there is a formula of how much rope for every foot of depth.)

Six or seven feet of rope for every foot of water and four feet of chain is about the minimum I'd use.

I like the box anchor.
It uses less rope and no chain.
2ft of rope for ever foot of water ( box Anchor Only)