Securing the Boat

[AnthonyC]

Could someone please help with the following questions:

- how do you secure your boat when camping on the beach?
- how do you ensure you don't drift if sleeping in your boat?
- where can you camp nearby to the southport broadwater?

I would appreciate any feedback/assistance.

[mackmauler]

Its a case of having an anchor big enough for all occcasions.

[neptune]

Two plough anchors will do the trick.

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

When you are camping on the beach, tie the boat to one of your ankles!
;D

[Daintreeboy]

With the beach I use two anchors. One large one for the front and with a decent amount of chain if possible. I then have the back anchor, also a sand pick, out a fair way up the beach. The boat is far enough out to avoid the shore dump so sits there quite well and as the back anchor is a long way in, you can pull the boat in in the morning without getting too wet. When setting the back anchor, usually I pull it tight against the front anchor which sets the boat well and bury it. There will be rocking etc overnight which will loosen the setup a bit but this helps you pull the boat closer to shore in the morning. You need to check the tides so you don't end up having to swim for your boat in the morning or worse still, have it crashing against the beach in the middle of the night. This system works very well for me but I live in an area with little surf so this setup is easy to do.
Otherwise get beach rollers and roll your boat up to above high tide mark and rest easy :)
If you're concerned about drifting in your boat while sleeping, hopefully you'd have a GPS handy that you can set an alarm to which lets you know you've travelled outside a set perimeter. A decent sounder will have a depth alarm to alert you of getting to shallow (or deep) otherwise if you have no GPS.
Can't answer the last question sorry but hope you have a good trip!!

[peterbo3]

SF,
You can camp on South Straddie at Currigee but watch out for the ranger. Lucky Phill will tell you the story. ;D ;D ;D ;D

[adrian]

lodgers creek used to have a caravan park where you could camp near the boat on a beach don't know if still there . i use two anchors one off the bow and one out the back on the beach or the other way round if not sure on the depth make sure that enough rope is let out to allow for tidal change if anchoring on a making tide . hate to here that you anchored in the broadwater and found yourself out at sea somewhere

hope this helps

anzac

[JB]

Do tell us about the ranger on Currigee, was Lucky Phill trying to pull a swifty on him :P

[landy1]

Stacey just has a problem with green ginger wine and the vocal effect it has on fisherman ;D :-X :-X
cheers
Mick

[Big_Muddie]

The following photos show the way I secure my boat overnight. The boat photo was taken at the Pin (huts at the Slipping Sands) last Thursday afternoon. Pretty calm then but a fortnight earlier at the same time, the winds were blowing from the NW at 25-30 knots on an ebb tide - that really tested the anchoring system!

The points to note are shown on the pic but I'll repeat them just in case they aren't very legible in the pic:

1. The stern is tied off on shore using 10mm nylon rope. I have a "yoke" affair to manage this. Main line has a 100mm SS snap hook spliced onto its end. The yoke has a "brunnel" knot encapsulating a SS thimble, with each arm of the yoke the same length (which depends on the beam of the boat and the size of the motor). The grab handles on the stern have short lengths of 10mm nylon rope attached (a Galv thimble one end and a simple eye at the other.

2. The bungie rope is attached to the bow with a 100mm SS snap hook. The other end of the bungie rope is attached to the beginning of the anchor chain using a SS D shackle.

3. 45 ft of anchor rope is measured out (I have coloured weaved into the rope at 45ft) and the anchor rope attached to the bow bollard.

4. Depending on the state of the tide when I want to retrieve the boat the next day, I position it and drop the anchor with bungie attached. Once I'm sure the anchor has held, I get pulled back to shore (provided I'm not much more than 45ft away), hop out of the boat and let the stretched bungie take the boat away from shore. If there is no one to pull me back to shore, I do not attached the stern ropes until I have set the anchor and reversed back to shore. It's pretty easy to just hold on to the boat, hop out and attach the stern lines. The bungie cord doesn't retract so quickly that this can't be easily managed.

5. The final thing to do is secure the main line to a firmly fixed object (tree etc) and relax until I need the boat.

Obviously this won't work if there is nothing that the main line can be secured to although a buried anchor would do the job.

Cost of the Bungie (Anchor Buddy) was around $72, and the hardware for the stern securing setup about $36.

To some it may seem a lot of trouble. After about 3 times using this system it took me around 5 mins from go to whoa to have a securely anchored boat, capable of coping with roughish conditions at the Pin, and NEVER being left high and dry. In addition, the flexibility of the bungie rope takes away the worry of being swamped as the tide rises (provided the proper actions have been taken).

I sleep well and once my confidence was built up - 2 nights was all that took, I simply don't need to worry about my boat security.

A few of my mates now use this system (at least the anchor buddy part) and are extremely happy with it. Some others have found the yoke system useful and I've made a few of those.

Just another method of anchoring out.

[Big_Muddie]

The Yoke.

[Big_Muddie]

The stern securing line.

[Big_Muddie]

The bungie rope.

[dazza]

i got one of those anchor buddies and it is fantastic, use it heaps, don't have to worry about the boat being high and dry, and don't have to worry too much about front and rear anchors. i throw the anchor buddy out in deeper water, beach my tinney, tie a rope from the bow to shore and let the anchor buddy spring back- your boat will be safe and sound in deep water.
great for places like mission point, where there is a bit of rock and good in country where snapping handbags live
unfortunatley i forget where i got it from, but it was on the net
cheers
dazza

[ANYFISH]

i go fishin in the dams and tie my boat to a tree. it looks heaps easier than all that stuff ;D ;D