Anchor retrieval

[Belzelbub]

Bringing stuff up in the ocean with waves and especially current and depths over 80 or 100 feet makes some of those ideas impractical.

True. Where I dive, returning to the shore line is just not practical. Shore was a long way away in the original example. Best I could do was to try to bring the anchor up to a slightly shallower spot. In the end, we left it where it was as it was in an open sandy spot.

Also if the anchor is lost in deep water, the rope is usually equal or more than the depth and may have some significant value - so to cut it off and discard it on the bottom would not be my choice if I can avoid it. If you are going to keep the anchor line, it is best to lay it out neatly or possibly to bundle it up, but this does present some entanglement possibilities.

This would depend on a couple factors. If the line has been down for a while, it's likely going to be fairly encrusted with barnacles and other marine organisms. Plus, with all the anchors I've pulled up, the line was too short to be good for anything other than a couple dock lines. Quite often, the line is also wrapped around the bottom structure pretty well. It's often significantly easier to cut it free and just recover the chain and anchor. Another good reason to carry a dive knife with you. A trilobite will not work on anchor rode. A serrated knife usually works best.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Unless you have large anchor that has only chain for rode..........then you'll need a wrench to get that shackle off..

 

[Jared0425]

Here's a 1200lbs we pulled out of Lake St. Clair. Came off the steamer Annie Laura

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

WOW.... Nice work! Now that's an anchor!

 

[PBcatfish]

For anchors in the size range that is not crazy oversized for the boat you dive from, I would just tie a line to the anchor that is attached to a marker buoy and then pull the anchor up from the boat after I'm back aboard. Lift bags are an unnecessary complication unless the anchor is really big.

 

[Fred Tagge]

If the mooring line is still attached, free the anchor from the bottom and attach your lifting device to the end of the of the mooring line with a spool line. Shoot the mooring line lift to the surface. The anchor should stay in place as folks who cut the mooring line to free themselves from the hook will generally pull up as close as possible to right above it before cutting the line. Once surfaced take the boat to the lift bag and raise the anchor, splicing in a heavier line with a sheet-shank if the main mooring line is not to the surface yet.

For a direct lift I carry a carter bag i asked him to make with 110 pounds lift.

Lift Bags

Carter Lift Bag, Inc. manufactures a variety of sophisticated, durable, underwater air lift bags for all of your diving and lifting needs. All Carter Bags have one or more handles and tie-off points to make them easy to grasp and secure both in and out of water. All Carter Bags are designed to...

www.carterbag.com

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Here's a 1200lbs we pulled out of Lake St. Clair. Came off the steamer Annie Laura
View attachment 737840
View attachment 737841

That anchor could come in handy over in this thread: Making an anchor for a mooring line

 

[Belzelbub]

If the mooring line is still attached, free the anchor from the bottom and attach your lifting device to the end of the of the mooring line with a spool line. Shoot the mooring line lift to the surface. The anchor should stay in place as folks who cut the mooring line to free themselves from the hook will generally pull up as close as possible to right above it before cutting the line. Once surfaced take the boat to the lift bag and raise the anchor, splicing in a heavier line with a sheet-shank if the main mooring line is not to the surface yet.

Thanks. Will keep in mind. I don’t intend to take my lift bag with me as I don’t run across them every dive, so I was planning to tie the end to a DSMB that I would shoot to the surface. I’ve run across a few anchors, where the rode stopped well clear of the surface. One had clearly frayed and snapped. This one ended some 40’ below the surface.

Another was puzzling. Line was definitely cut, and stopped about 15’ from the surface. My buddy did an extended safety stop while I retrieved a line from the boat to tie off. The only thing I can think is that this one may have dropped a bit too close to divers, so they cut him free. We don’t have anywhere near 15’ tidal swings in the area.

 

[SlugLife]

Thanks. Will keep in mind. I don’t intend to take my lift bag with me as I don’t run across them every dive, so I was planning to tie the end to a DSMB that I would shoot to the surface. I’ve run across a few anchors, where the rode stopped well clear of the surface. One had clearly frayed and snapped. This one ended some 40’ below the surface.

Another was puzzling. Line was definitely cut, and stopped about 15’ from the surface. My buddy did an extended safety stop while I retrieved a line from the boat to tie off. The only thing I can think is that this one may have dropped a bit too close to divers, so they cut him free. We don’t have anywhere near 15’ tidal swings in the area.

Water levels may have changed or the rope may have shrunk.

My most recent anchor-retrieval (end of last season), I did effectively what you described. Tie the DSMB to the anchor, return to the boat, dive back down with stronger line, tie that, have my buddy pull it up as I guided it up from underwater.

 

[Belzelbub]

Water levels may have changed or the rope may have shrunk.

While that can happen, in this case, I don't think it would be likely. I live near the coast in FL. That amount of water level change would have been a huge story. My house would have been on dry ground, but I may have needed to use the boat, not the truck, to get to the ramp.

If I remember correctly, the anchor was relatively clean, so wasn't down too long. The cut looked pretty clean as well, if it were down long enough to shrink, I would have expected the end to fray more.

My most recent anchor-retrieval (end of last season), I did effectively what you described. Tie the DSMB to the anchor, return to the boat, dive back down with stronger line, tie that, have my buddy pull it up as I guided it up from underwater.

I'm certain I had my DSMB with us, but didn't use it for this one. In this case, I surfaced pretty much right under the boat, so it was simple to just grab a line and take it down. Otherwise, the marker would have been used.