"Bryan" wrote in message
. com...

" JimH" jimhUNDERSCOREosudad@yahooDOTcom wrote in message
...

"Bryan" wrote in message
y.net...

" JimH" jimhUNDERSCOREosudad@yahooDOTcom wrote in message
. ..

"Bryan" wrote in message
. com...
Picture this:
A picture-perfect day at the lake. Not a boat in sight and none
anywhere near the launch ramp. The ramp is empty, the dock is empty,
the water is empty. The sun is shining. The air is warm. Only thing
left to do is launch my boat.

Oh, one problem. While I was prepping my boat a PWC'er came to the
dock from the water and tied up on the dock near waters edge! He had
4 options that wouldn't have interfered with my solo launching plans
and he picked the one that kept me and anyone else from using the dock
for a launch.

Anyway, it forced me to perform my first water launch and solo at
that. The water launch went well. I'll be comfortable doing that from
now on when the dock isn't available.

So, the bad news: just another encounter with another knucklehead.

The good news: it caused me to learn another water skill.

Oh, and I practiced using my new anchor buddy in preparation for
teaching my wife how to use it for her upcoming boat-in camping trip
this weekend. Glad I practiced; I'll need a longer land line and I
think I'll take advantage of the suggestion to tie the anchor rode and
land line to a float for easy come easy go.

Once again, I've learned as much from this ng as I have from boating
friends; in fact, I'm finding myself more knowledgeable than most, but
less experienced/skilled.

Summer 2006: So far so good!


Glad to hear things went well with only a small bump along the way.

All you need on the stern anchor is 50 feet of line at tops as you
don't have to anchor on the beach or tie up to a tree on the
beach.........setting the anchor in the water (assuming sand or mud)
will work just fine. You also do not need a special float on either
the bow or stern anchors when anchoring near the beach. Get everyone
on board except one after running the blower for 5 minutes. Have the
person in the water lift the stern anchor and bring it to the boat,
taking in the line along the way. Let that person board the boat.
Start the engine (with someone on the bow) and slowly motor out to the
bow anchor, taking up line along the way, until you can pull it up and
into the boat.

No need for anything fancy Bryan.


Your description is a little confusing to me. I'll be dropping my
anchor about 30 feet from shore (to take advantage of my stretchy anchor
buddy) and backing to the shore as close as possible. A line will go
from the boat to land and tie around a tree. The anchor buddy will pull
the boat away from shore while the land line will hold the boat as close
to shore as I choose. The shore isn't soft (lots of rocks) so I can't
land the boat. My anchor buddy comes with a tip to use a float to
attach the anchor rode and land line to when not in use making it easy
to reconnect when returning without having to drop achor run the land
line each time.

Now if I had a nice soft mud or sand beach to land on I would just drive
up and land the boat and attach the bow line to a tree or something like
that.

Am I missing something?





Nope. Different conditions and I never heard of this anchor buddy thing.
If it has worked for you in your situation........great.


Tomorrow will be a real test of my wife. She has never anchored. She'll
also have to perform some precision driving and stopping in order to hook
up to my preset anchor buddy system. I'll be home in my comfortable house
while my wife and kids are roughing it and my wife is trying out her
boating skills.

I arranged a mother daughter boat in camping weekend; that's why I won't
be there after dark. Should be a hoot to see how much gear they want me
to bring in the boat for their weekend. I'll be patient and quiet and
will make no comment about the amount of stuff. I should take photos.
I'm imagining a boat that looks like the Joad family truck heading from
Oklahoma to California.




Who sold you on this 'anchor buddy' system? Do you have a website for the
it?