G'day,
Anyone got any ideas of what I could use as low cost anchor kellet/buddy/sentinel whichever you like to call it.
I have a crappy silver rope rode that floats & just want to sink the floating line so it doesn't tangle the keel & rudder etc.
I have tried dropping the spare anchor (danforth) but don't like the pointy sharp bits bouncing under the boat, any other ideas?
cheers

Big old shackle slid down over the anchor rope attached by thin cordage to adjust depth.

I've used divers weights (lead) with a similar setup to what Romona has suggested

I got an scrap section of 120mm dia PVC pipe, about 300mm long. Fitted an end cap, dropped in a load of scrap steel and threaded a loop of sprectra 8mm through the top cap with the ends tied off on the scrap in the tube.

Pour some concrete into the tube. Drop the lid on, make sure the rope is hanging down inside the concreter OK. Paint yellow.

If I had some divers weights it would have been much easier.

We have used it when anchoring overrnight to keep everything settled through the tide changes.

So far we have woken up in more or less the same place as we started.

This is what I did BlueMoon...

Empty can of BEANS,

Put it on a gas stove and fulled it with lead with an SS eye bolt.

Cooled.. cut the tin off and coated with gel coat

[I just happened to have some that was getting old, but any coating will do, it's to stop the lead marking everything]

Rigged it like this.

what would be the average ideal weight for one of these kelletts ? say for 4 ton yacht ?......... 10 kg ???? for convenience handling factors ???

If that's a 420g baked beans can, it would weigh about 5kg filled with lead. (Specific gravity: Lead = 11.35, Water = 1.0)

Select to expand quote

nswsailor said...
This is what I did BlueMoon...

Empty can of BEANS,

Put it on a gas stove and fulled it with lead with an SS eye bolt.

Cooled.. cut the tin off and coated with gel coat

[I just happened to have some that was getting old, but any coating will do, it's to stop the lead marking everything]

Rigged it like this.

That is a top piece of kit. Well done.

Works well too,

Once spent three days sheltering in 40+ knots behind Curlew Island and without that gear I think I may have ended up on that sandbar!

Hello SandS, I use to have a 33ft cat, 4 tonnes with 50 ft of 3/8 chain then nylon rope. I had a small milo tin of lead (10kg)which I used as a Kellet. Only used the Kellet if we were in an anchorage that was a bit deep of weather condition dictated. We never dragged.

Had to replace the gal chain after a while as it rusted out (the can was long gone) and to see gal chain floating around on top of a liquid makes you look twice. In the end I has to make the kellet in two pours after getting the chain to grip on to the first pour which only filled the bottom third of the can. I let it cool right down and then poured the next layer of lead. (Melted the lead on the kitchen stove when the misses wasn't home)

thanks Crusoe , sounds like it did the job for you . ........ you were lucky the cook didn't catch you out using the stove !!!!!!!