Surf Boarding from AI

I wanted to use the AI to find new surf breaks here in Kodiak and I was wondering what size anchor you would recommend for parking outside a prospective break for a few runs on my short board? I do not want that anchor to slip. I was thinking a 5 lb might be right. Any thoughts? Any body experienced at surf boarding from the AI? Any advice would be helpful.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCdYa-od4Rc[/youtube]?

Hello
(a bit late in coming because I had logging in troubles)
Well I spent some time thinking about a good anchoring system, not for surfing reasons but spear fishing and even spending the night on board (cf the sleeping on board thread).
Last summer I witnessed in a number of occasions the poor capacities of a 2.5kg / 5lbs grapnel I already use, especially on rocky and sandy bottoms : not reliable (better with sea weed beds).
What I've taken in consideration :
- multi hulls need require better anchoring strenght as compared to same lenght mono hulls
- the best of anchors without some reasonable lenght of chain will never have a good hold (you need a good horizontal angle for it to keep catching)
- as for anchoring, lighter does exist but it comes at a price (poor catching at first)
- the AI can take some more weight (as we all witnessed taking kids on board I guess) without much of a problem
- *all* kind of anchors are criticized one day, so one should choose the one that gets relatively less criticisms, or one whose flaws one can easily live with.

What I ended up with : Lewmar Delta 4 kg + 8 meters of chain (6kg) + 30 m of nylon rope. Not as pricey as say a Rocna or a Spade but good reliable all round performance. Only real drawback is that it does take some space in the front hatch.
With that I'm OK now, up to 5m of depth without any after thought (think about ideal rode scope of more 8 to 1 than 5 to 1 !)

as long as you have three times the length of rope as the depth you will be ankoring in i can't see using a grapnel being a problem as long as there is some weed or rocks on the bottom, not sand. If you can dive, just go down and hook it in!

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Well the thing is that rope can get easily snagged by rocks, and cut in the worst cases. And as it doesn't really rest on the sea bottom, the angle of pull to the anchor isn't very good. Actually before buying a new anchor, I had first tried my grapnel with the 8 meters of chain : better but not good enough in my opinion : it still clearly slips. I spent some time looking at it under the water surface, as I was spear fishing, but having to dive everytime you want to drop the anchor in the winter is not desirable or feasible : I don't know how my Musto wetsuit would cope with pressure.

have you thought of a plough anchor?

Plough Anchors
Plough anchors are based on a single fluke design which has better holding power in changing currents and tides. This is because it is easier to maintain grip with a single fluke as it follows a changing direction of pull. Plough anchors are very effective in sand and mud. They can be used on rocky bottoms, especially if the cable tie method (explained later) is used. The one big disadvantage of the plough anchor is that they are bulky and difficult to stow once on board. To counter this many boats using a plough anchor will stow the anchor on a bow roller. There are many variations of the plough type anchor but they are all based on the same single fluke design.

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The Delta is actually a plough anchor too, but not articulated as the CQR.

Thought this might be relevant
http://www.gizmag.com/worlds-first-plas ... hor/14618/
http://www.cooperanchors.com.au/
Quite a lot of us have ordered or are now using it

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Mickey
2016 AI Hibiscus
purchased NEW Nov 2021 - My 5th
Adventure Island Sailing since 2008