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Anchors Away! How to Drop Anchor in Your Boat
For the fancy yacht owner, dropping anchor can be an incredibly easy thing – some anchors will operate at the push of a button. For the rest of us in speed boats, pontoon boats, or fishing boats, dropping anchor is a little bit more work to say the least. So if you’re taking out a boat for the first time and decided you need to drop anchor, how do you make sure you do it without embarrassing yourself or doing some damage to the boat? Here is a quick guide to dropping anchor.
First, choose your spot. You’ll want to go somewhere where you have an idea of the water’s depth: this will help you know how far the anchor needs to go. It’s one thing to drop your anchor in shallows, it’s another to drop it deep. You can also choose a spot based on where the fishing is. You don’t necessarily need to know the water depth, but if you have a good idea, it helps.
Next, prepare the boat. Slow down to your spot, stopping momentum so that you don’t drift away while you’re preparing the anchor. You’ll also want to consider any currents or tides so that you know where your boat will end up after you’ve dropped anchor. Make a mental note of where your anchor is so that you can position your boat accordingly. Remember that anchor ropes will generally become taut when there is a current present, and that your boat will likely drift in a certain direction.Once you’ve prepared your boat and have slowed down, it’s time to get your anchor ready. Most anchors will be tied to ropes; make sure both ends are secure. The rope should be adequately attached to both your boat and your anchor. You’ll also want to check the rope itself: is it knotted? Is it attached to anything that might go overboard if the rope dragged it over? Make sure the rope is clear of these things before you drop anchor.
Next, hold the rope over the anchor over the side of the boat and begin gently sliding it into the water. Once you have a bunch of rope cleared, you’ll be able to let it slide faster. Don’t simply throw it over. Don’t let the rope slide over your hands – you don’t want to get rope burn.
Once you’ve dropped the anchor and you feel it hit the bottom, it’s up to you to decide how much give it gets. You can tie the rope around a safe notch in your boat – many boats have a place on the side where you can do this. Or you can throw the rest of the rope overboard and let the current take you a bit further.
Photo Credits: FourthFloor
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Three Essential Camping Safety Tips for Families
Depending on just how daring you are, your camping trip with your family might or might not fraught with potential hazards. These hazards don’t necessarily refer to the minor inconveniences that come with bug bites or sleeping on a harder surface – instead, the more recklessly you camp, the more you expose your family to real danger. That’s why you’ll want to make sure you camp the right way from the first time on. These three camping safety tips will help you be prepared for camping hazards, hopefully leading to a safe and enjoyable camping trip for you and yours.
- Tip #1: Set clear rules for the campfire.
- One of the most obvious hazards involved with campfires. If you have smaller children who are in the stage of their life when their legspeed far exceeds their common sense and they feel like they have to explore, you’ll have to make it explicitly clear that the fire pit is not the place to explore. The campfire serves both practical and aesthetic purposes -it doesn’t need to be played with.
Once you’ve established clear boundaries for your children, give them viable alternatives to enjoy when it’s time to light the fire. Toys, stories, and even a portable video game can help them keep their mind occupied – and away from the fire. Remember to be acutely aware of where your children are once you light the fire.
- Tip #2: Scout out water yourself first.
If you’re near a new lake, pond, or river and aren’t exactly sure about issues like water depth, temperature, or potential hazards like animals or insects, you’ll want to take a dip yourself to make sure that everything will work well for your children. In destinations with higher traffic, this won’t typically be an issue. If you’re a little further out into the American frontier, however, you’ll want to make sure to act as the scout for your family.
- Tip #3: Make sure your children are aware of the dangers of provoking animals.
Even seemingly harmless creatures might carry diseases, so it’s important to make sure your children know how to react when they come across an animal. Larger mammals like raccoons can be potentially deadly – don’t just leave these situations to nature. Even if animals are generally scared away when they detect human activity, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t let your children know about animals. Don’t send them into situations where they might confront a dangerous animal.
Photo Credits: Joi
