Driving off a reef pick - safest way

[lampuki]

Hi All.

Your reef pick often gets jammed in the reef, and the only way of retrieving it is to use the engine and a buoy. I have been told never to use the cleat at the back of the boat, always try to use the shoulder. What is the safest way to do this, and when should you give up?

[wags on the water]

Lampuki,
Have a read of these.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...d.php?t=110188

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=66223

[disorderly]

The threads wags mentions pretty much sums it up.
Never pull from the stern....and if your pick is getting caught on the reef ...well thats the whole idea really and it almost always requires using the boat to pull it off by straightening the tynes .
If, however, it seems to require excessive force to extricate it one option is too get a reef pick with smaller diameter tynes as they will bend easier.
It will generally always pull free eventually unless the chain or rope has become entangled in the coral or bottom....only happened once to me as the boat had swung around during the night....and I just kept trying from every possible angle and eventually it came loose but I was on the verge of cutting the rope..

Scott

[Noelm]

sometimes when it is snagged real good, and brute force has not worked, if you get right over it and give the rope a "jiggle" and a pull and release sort of thing, it will untangle sometimes, not always but worth a try, and indeed, tieing off to the stern is asking for excitement at the very least, now, when to give up, if conditions are OK, almost never, but if has all turned to sh!t then, safety first at all times, $50 is a lot better loss than the entire Boat,gear and lives I reckon, that said in all my years of Fishing, I have never had to cut an Anchor rope, lost a few, but never cut one off ever.

[jimbo59]

sometimes when it is snagged real good, and brute force has not worked, if you get right over it and give the rope a "jiggle" and a pull and release sort of thing, it will untangle sometimes, not always but worth a try, and indeed, tieing off to the stern is asking for excitement at the very least, now, when to give up, if conditions are OK, almost never, but if has all turned to sh!t then, safety first at all times, $50 is a lot better loss than the entire Boat,gear and lives I reckon, that said in all my years of Fishing, I have never had to cut an Anchor rope, lost a few, but never cut one off ever.

I have lost 3 anchors at curtain, they must go down and wrap around the hulks .

[Orrsum]

i have a star anchor and got it stuck in the reef of Noosa. the sea was as flat as a tack and i had it tied to the cleat on the bow ready to tow off as per usual, anyway it was that stuck that the spray chine on the front cut the silver rope and we lost it. the zippy tie didnt break?? went back three weeks later after some bait and pulled up the rope of my old anchor with the new one, and it came up when i pulled it in by hand- not sure if this was because i was right above it or because of the pressure that was released when the rope snapped, but i would have to agree with Noelm..Give i a jiggle and see..

[Noelm]

one of the main reasons that Anchors are lost is due to a Wind/Current change, you have your rope all set out, then the angle changes and the rope and chain just gets dragged under a ledge so, unless you know how it happened and do the reverse to unhook it, then usually that's where it will stay, bigger Boats with a bit of power and stability can sometimes just break away a stuck Anchor, but most smaller Boats will have some drama if there is any swell. the theory is to have an Anchor size to suit your boat (of course) and if it gets stuck, you just use some Power and straighten it out, but in reality, sometimes it is not the prongs that are stuck, it is the chain, especially if you use a very long chain, another problem, as any Diver can tell you, is the Anchor gets hooked up on a ledge, but there is a higher peak or rock in front of it, the rope will just saw away at the Rock untill it gives way (the rope that is) and you just drift away, not so bad if you are Fishing, but diving can be a bit of a pain, you surface and the Boat is a mile away!!!