flat line anchoring

[stonemarker]

Have any of you Albin 25 owners ever felt confidant using the flat line anchoring system? The Europeans all seem to like it, but I never see anyone using it here. Hull #794.

[NickScheuer]

Not familiar with this at all. Can you post a link?

[DesertAlbin736]

First I've heard it mentioned, but an interesting concept. Not to be confused with dropping dead from exertion while trying to haul in anchor & rode by hand.

Concept:

http://myboatsgear.com/2017/01/24/flat-rope/

Video demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzb6JBDVsPo

Worth considering for a stern anchor at least. Would solve the problem of stowing anchor line for a secondary stern anchor. There are times we like to anchor bow & stern on the lake where swinging on just the bow anchor leads to fouling the chain & rode on submerged rocks & trees. The Lake Pleasant water level was raised back in the 1990s with construction of a new dam which left numerous mesquite trees & creosote bushes submerged in 20 to 30 ft of water in the coves we like to anchor in. If the rode takes a couple wraps around those it's a real bear getting the anchor up. We've come very close to losing anchors that way. We keep the stern anchor rode in a gym bag stowed in the side compartment where refrigerators or coolers go. Then we have to schlep it back to the stern to deploy.

One of the major drawbacks to flat lines is they don't work with windlasses.

[DCatSea]

Did I see, on one of the Swedish Albin video sites, a set up where flat lines were stowed in a reel on the pulpit and wound in by a handle sort of thing? They may have been for mooring lines, but maybe not.

[Dieselram94]

Did I see, on one of the Swedish Albin video sites, a set up where flat lines were stowed in a reel on the pulpit and wound in by a handle sort of thing? They may have been for mooring lines, but maybe not.

I’ve seen that on several videos from Europe and Canada. Seems they are exclusively used for stern tying and anchoring. I think that they definitely have times that it would be appropriate to have that set up.

[ssrig]

Stern tying is prevalent in the Gulf islands and north like Desolation sound and the Discovery islands and having a flat line reel is pretty nice to have. But normally here we anchor from the bow and use whatever line to stern tie be it the reel loaded with the flat line or webbing or a reel of rope. Seems in Europe they do the reverse and will bow tie into shore and with the shape of the hull and little tide they can keep their bows right on shore with the bow ladders right onto land, here the tide swings are too great so that form of anchoring isn’t practiced.
From the little bit of information I found most of those reels are very expensive and might not be practical here because we need typically 5-600 feet of line to tie up but with the low tidal swings in the Swedish cruising areas they would need significantly less webbing on the reel.

[stonemarker]

Thanks a bunch for the info. I have the "Quickline " reel with 200 feet of flat line, It came with the boat however I have never dared to try anchoring with it. If I ever get up the nerve to try using it I will post the results.

Thanks again.

[DesertAlbin736]

Stern tying is prevalent in the Gulf islands and north like Desolation sound and the Discovery islands and having a flat line reel is pretty nice to have. But normally here we anchor from the bow and use whatever line to stern tie be it the reel loaded with the flat line or webbing or a reel of rope.

Like this:

DSCN4274 (1280x960).jpg

or this:

DSCN4226R (800x600).jpg

With flat line or floating poly rope on a reel, like this:

DSCN4604 (1280x960).jpg

[ssrig]

Unless the flat line is a heavy duty one I wouldn’t be using it as a main anchor line myself but as a stern tie for sure if it was affordable. I did see one on Craigs List for $300 but missed it, otherwise $1000+.
The reason for the flat line is its compactness, one skinny reel on the back instead of a big pile of rope on a reel like most of us have like the last picture DA posted.
Length is the biggest challenge though, I have 600’ on mine and have almost run out a few times so a short reel of the flat line might not work in our area. Keep in mind that we will take the line and run it through or around something on shore then loop it back to the boat so that when you need to get going loosen the end on the boat and reel her back up, no need to go to shore and untie, this is important when the wind picks up and your anchor drags at night and you gotta get out of there!
Also note that the line should be a floating line, that way you can motor on out of there and worry about reeling in the line whenever you are in a safe location.

[DesertAlbin736]

Somewhat OT, but I recently talked to the owner of that Alden 44 pictured above. After having that boat transported from Virginia to Anacortes, WA he proceeded to sail it over to Sidney & get a permanent slip in Canoe Cove Marina north of Tsehum Harbor or one of those marinas near by. Since he's a US citizen the deal to be able to do that (and avoid Washington State taxes) he was supposed to sail it back, go through customs coming & going and make a stop a US port at least once ever 6 months. But with the pandemic and the closing of the border he hasn't been able to get to his boat at all let alone sail it since late 2019. He pays caretakers to look out after it, but otherwise there it sits, a 6 figure investment rendered unusable. Likewise I'm not sure what those all those Canadian owners who dock their boats in Blaine are able to do with their boats.