NewBoat Info

 Hey all,

 I have been thinking about getting a new boat, upgrading to something a little bigger. I currently have a 4.85m cuddy and have owned a 4m dinghy before, I'm thinking maybe a plate aliminium cuddy but secondhand ones don't come along all that often in the price range and size. I have seen alot of runabout style boats and also cats the questions I wanted to ask are;

Alot of the runabouts are a little older and don't seem to have an openable window/hatch in the windscreen to access the anchor (see picture), how do people with these boats go anchoring on a choppy day with a bit of swell?

The other question is about cats, I have seen what seems like some really good buys but they don't get snapped up like regular boats. What are the pro's and con's of these type of hulls? What are the service and running costs like considering most have two engines? 

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ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

You don't need to access the bow to anchor

Sat, 2017-02-11 11:13

 I am (was) in the same position, more or less, like most glass cuddy cabins, where you may have an access hatch, but to try to stand in it and pull a pick and put the rope in the hatch would be farcical, if not downright dangerous. This is how you go about it. I also used this when I had a CC.

 

Firstly, have a rope permanently attached to your bow bollard running through the fairlead. Make this rope just long enough so that it cannot reach the prop if you have it fall in the water. Have a loop on the free end, this rope will also double as a handling rope when you are taking it on/off the trailer and tying up to the jetty. Keep this laid along the side and tied back to something, either just behind your screen, or even all the way down to the rear corner bollard. Have your anchor rope and anchor in a plastic bin of some kind--whatever fits your boat best, I just used a plastic rubbish bin, to easily store 120m of 12mm silver rope , 6 m of 8mm chain and a 7kg anchor. When you anchor, throw the pick over where you want it then idle away downwind. When you are getting near where you want to finish, tie your anchor rope onto the one tied to the bow. Simple.

Now for retrieval. Only mugs pull a pick by hand, unless they are only anchoring in a few metres of water.  Get either a) the anchor ball with a ring setup, or even better (IMO) b) an anchormate clip with a float..   Some people can't get their head around putting the anchormate clip on the rope the correct way --these people also had trouble with tying their shoelaces until they were in their teens, and keep hitting the accelerator instead of the brake  Only joking, it's very easy when you know how. For this reason, some people prefer the float with sliding ring, you can buy them as a complete unit. When you need to pull the pick just steam up the rope a little,  clip the opening ring over the main rope then keep steaming parallel until you have steamed far enough past the anchor to lift it off the bottom and pull the chain through the ring so that it hangs down. You then just idle back down the rope and pull it in with no effort, with the anchor hopefully hanging in the ring. My issues with using this are twofold--firstly, it is possible for the anchor to fall back to the bottom, which can't happen with an easylifter clip. And secondly, I attach the float( my personal preference is an inflatable 300mm job) and clip to the main rope as I am anchoring, just before I finally tie off. This means that, if you need to drop your anchor rope and chase a big fast running fish that is rapidly emptying a spool, you just need to untie and and your anchor rope is already marked for picking it up later. This also has a secondary effect of reducing the amount your boat will "sail" on the pick when it is windy, due to the drag of the float . 

So don't worry at all about having bow access.  I have recently fitted an anchor winch, because I fish by myself a lot and find it easier to do if the wind is strong, and also make small adjustments to length. But that's an expensive exercise, I used the above method for years with no real problems.

Wilzee's picture

Posts: 93

Date Joined: 10/12/14

some good info there, Ranmar 

Sat, 2017-02-11 13:06

some good info there, Ranmar 

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"My greatest problem lies in reconciling my net income with my gross habits"

rtomkyns78's picture

Posts: 80

Date Joined: 13/09/13

 Cheers Ranmar850,

Sat, 2017-02-11 13:53

 Cheers Ranmar850, considering the amount of boats I have seen with this set up there had to be an easier way than leaning over the windscreen or whatever else.

z00m's picture

Posts: 1086

Date Joined: 10/05/14

Anchor Bridle

Sat, 2017-02-11 14:58

Like Ranmar says, I keep my anchor and rope in a bucket in the cockpit and instead of the loop mentioned I use an anchor bridle I bought from whitworths. Very easy to use and also you can adjust the way the boat sits against the wind/tide.

 

Posts: 908

Date Joined: 06/05/12

 Yeah I wouldnt advise a half

Sat, 2017-02-11 15:49

 Yeah I wouldnt advise a half cabin , like my last boat. Walk through is definitely the go. As someone who can suffer the dreaded sea sickness, climbing through a cab is a sure way to set it off. But also after having a glass boat , I would never go back to tinnys.

Ashen's picture

Posts: 1042

Date Joined: 22/03/13

Awesome tips

Sat, 2017-02-11 17:29

 Some great anchoring tips from Ranmarrrrrrr and Zoom. 

 

 

 

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A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

I like zOOms idea

Sat, 2017-02-11 19:03

 I've seen it before, but never used it. Certainly useful being able to angle yourself across the tide and wind if they are light and contrary, and you can fish more along the side and less over the transom.

Posts: 926

Date Joined: 22/01/10

anchor winch

Sun, 2017-02-12 22:22

why not just get a anchor winch 

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Winch is not a cheap exercise

Mon, 2017-02-13 06:35

 The economics of putting one on a cheaper boat don't really stack up. Setting up the float/clip or anchor ball and ring setup will only cost about $200 tops, starting from scratch with new rope, chain, clip, float, etc. For a winch, try $2000. And more. I have just been through the exercise myself. Buy a drum winch, they are expensive, and you need very expensive thin dyneema rope on it if you want any real capacity. Buy a good windlass type, and you need very expensive 8 strand plait if you want them to keep working properly. Then there is the self-launching anchor type, new fairlead so it will launch and not hit the hull when it comes up, swivel--it really adds up. Yes, I'm sure someone will chip in saying they did it for less, but it's hard, and not much  chance if you need any welding/glass work done to mount the winch.I've seen people spend over 4 grand, seemed to be a commonly accepted figure to fit something like a stressfree or lone Star drum on a glass boat in Melbourne. 

rtomkyns78's picture

Posts: 80

Date Joined: 13/09/13

Any cat (boat) owners or former owners around?

Mon, 2017-02-13 13:22

 Any cat (boat) owners or former owners around?