 Now pull the rope down the beach to your pipe pulley.  String it through the pulley and connect both ends of the rope to the caribeener. Remember each end of the rope has a braided loop so you never have to tie knots. Do not connect it to the boat yet, just lay it down.  Tie the anchor rope (left) to the loop in your 6ft rope attached to the plastic pipe. Place everything on shore except the anchor. Put the anchor in the boat and shove off.  Put the motor in reverse and back up slowly while holding the anchor in one hand. Hold on to the anchor until the rope is taunt and fully straightened out then drop the anchor in the water. This technique will ensure you are at the perfect distance from shore. If you don't use this technique it won't work.  Motor to shore, attach the caribeener to the bow and walk back to the shore rope. Stand beside the shore pulley while you pull the boat out to the buoy. If you try pulling the boat at the waterline it won't work very well and you will risk dragging the anchor. Pull the rope only from the shore rope to avoid rope friction. When the boat is out to the maximum distance from shore tie a loop in the 300ft poly rope (see left) and tie it off to the other end of the shore rope.  To help solve the rope friction problem I have recently been using a large snap or caribeener to act as a second pulley. I have found it really helps reduce friction. You can also tie the rope off on the same rope like this however sometimes it will twist. Here it is! The great thing about this system is if any rope breaks or comes loose the worst thing that will happen is your boat will drift to shore. As long as you tie the knot in the yellow rope it would take two ropes to break (or the caribeener fail) before your boat would drift away. The worst thing I've had happen was my anchor did not hold in a Gale once and my boat was blown to shore. There is no substitute for a good anchor and heavy chain. Happy boating! |
