I saw one boat hook his anchor ball on the anchor line, Then he nailed the throttle and took off...............and kept on going. he never stopped to pull the line in or the anchor, just cruised off at about 30 MPH with the anchor ball surfing

I assume when he got to the next stop he was going to anchor again

I never knew you could do it like that

Good post, I have seen something similar and was going to post questions about using an anchor ball.  I looking for an answer also.

Danno

"Scars are tatoos with a story"

http://www.forumpictureprocessor.com/gallery.asp?gallery=1841

PS, Incidently I have superior quality anchor float assemblies FOR SALE 

Ron 850-712-2603

The spin stops here
"I'm Sealark and I approve this message"

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to Earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free."
-Jacques Yves Cousteau,

 Ron..it might just of been one of your's... Do you now have a NEW and IMPROVED one?

Nice meeting you last Sunday. Sam came by last night and was totally satisified with the churn. I told him what you had done to it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I'm a Sagittarius...If you don't want to hear the truth then don't ask my opinion!
Then again I'm a "Vacuous Asshat"  

Political Correctness:
A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rapidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end. 

“Tell me who your friends are and I will tell who you are.”

 Century 25' Mirada 350/260HP "ISLAND LADY" >>>> Calera, Alabama    My Pictures

Nice meeting you last Sunday. Sam came by last night and was totally satisified with the churn. I told him what you had done to it.[/quote]

Ron Thanks, Nice meeting you. How could I improve on one that took 30 years to make perfect in the first place. Nope same old float assemblies!!!

The spin stops here
"I'm Sealark and I approve this message"

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to Earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free."
-Jacques Yves Cousteau,

I've been using an anchor "Ball" since before tha plastic balls were invented.  We used Freon canisters for several years.  This probably goes back to the late 50's or early 60's.  The ball is faster than any windlass and a lot cheaper too. 

Life is too short to catch little fish.

 http://www.panhandlefishingbooks.com/

The line going through the weedeater handle is the anchorline, not a lanyard.  My anchor , line, and ball hangs on a rod holder in the stbd stern corner.

Life is too short to catch little fish.

 http://www.panhandlefishingbooks.com/

Am I understanding this right ( its a little after 4 AM and I hadn't had my coffee, ).  That's it?

Danno

"Scars are tatoos with a story"

http://www.forumpictureprocessor.com/gallery.asp?gallery=1841

Anchoring Using an Anchor Ball (The Easy Way)

I’ve been using an anchor ball since before the red plastic balls were invented.  At first, I used an empty Freon can.  When the plastic balls were invented, everybody switched to them and eliminated a lot of rust stains on their boat. 

For single hand operation, nothing is as fast, convenient, or safe as anchoring with an anchor ball.  Frankly, I think I can haul anchor faster than two guys hauling in the conventional manner.  When I drop anchor, I can watch my depth finder as the boat drifts back and tie off precisely on top of the fish. 

Here is how my boat and anchor ball system is rigged.

Here is how I anchor.  The first step after finding a rock is to determine where the anchor should be hooked to allow the boat to be positioned over the fish.  I drop anchor from the cockpit as shown below.  The engine is in reverse at idle speed.  The anchor ball is not released.  The anchor line slides out through the anchor ball ring.

Continue adding scope until you are about 2 boat lengths from your buoy and then release the anchor ball.

Secure the anchor line at the spring line cleat when you are close to your buoy.  You can haul or release more line as needed.

I always rig my anchor system on the side of the boat closest to the helm.  This gives me a better view of the anchor line while I haul anchor.  Turn the wheel to port and pull ahead.  The anchor ball will begin to track down the Stbd side of the boat as shown in figure 1.

Continue forward and slightly to port until the ball comes along side.  Reach over and grab the anchor line as the ball passes and secure the anchor line with one wrap around the stern cleat.  No way to foul up now.  See drawing 2.

Continue pulling ahead until the anchor catches in the anchor ball ring.  The anchor ball will start following the boat, creating a large wake.  The chain will sink when the boat stops and the anchor will stay in the ring as you haul.

 Stop the boat and haul the anchor and ball back to the boat while flaking the line on the deck. 

Use a ball for a day and you’ll never go back to the old hand over hand method.

Danno

"Scars are tatoos with a story"

http://www.forumpictureprocessor.com/gallery.asp?gallery=1841

No,, the float always stays on the surface of the water. When you run the boat around the float in the direction of the anchor the line slides down the line and lifts the anchor out of the sand then the line, chain and anchor go through the surfaced ring and float and get hung. Then you take your boat out of gear and retrieve the line,and float. Then remove ring and float assembly and you are ready to do it again. It saves you from pulling the anchor from the bottom!!! the weed eater thing guy is saying that he leaves his assembly over the line all the time and has a way to put it over his roller so he can re deploy it without taking it off the anchor line ever. In most cases the assembly can get into the way of anchoring operations. That's why 99% of the people that use the float assembly method like it to be removable for convenience.

The spin stops here
"I'm Sealark and I approve this message"

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to Earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free."
-Jacques Yves Cousteau,

He was still tied off on the bow cleat, and I suppose that cleat had a fair amount of extra stress on it

I have a sealark rig but havn't used it yet, But I will soon. Trying to hold over a spot in the wind is a pain in the arse

When I am at anchor, the ball is usually right under my bow pulpit with the line out ahead of the boat.  As you pull forward, the ball slides back down the anchor line until it pulls the anchor out then the anchor comes up and locks into the ring.  The chain falls down and the anchor cannot go back down.

I saw a similar rig when I was about 15. (over 50 years ago) I haven't pulled an anchor by hand many times since.  I even hava a ball on my bass boat.

By the way, a weed eater handle will probably out last a recreational fisherman.

Somebody mentioned an anchor puncturing a ball.  It has never happened to me.  I use a home made SS. Grapnell anchor.  I haven't used a Danforth type in years.  Lots of chain is the key to good anchoring.  Dragging an anchor and ball at 30 knots would probably cause problems after a while.  Kinda hard on fuel too.

I'm sure guys with balls enjoy them as much as I've enjoyed mine.:

Life is too short to catch little fish.

 http://www.panhandlefishingbooks.com/

I'm guessing that the conversation on that boat you saw Sunday went something like this:

" Son, we are at are next spot. Deploy the anchor.   But Dad, the anchor is already out!  Holy crap, son, when did you do that?  Dad, I haven't touched the anchor since we were at that last spot.   Holy Crap, son........."

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to Earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free."
-Jacques Yves Cousteau,

Your knowledge is alive and well on the world-wide-web.  Thanks for making the post.

Danno

"Scars are tatoos with a story"

http://www.forumpictureprocessor.com/gallery.asp?gallery=1841