Freeing a stuck anchor ...

				Reading the other thread on anchor and chain selection has prompted me to post about an event from the summer break.

( Sorry - this post has got a bit long. I'm too lazy to edit it down. )

We were anchored and fishing at Green Rock just outside Port Abercrombie, Great Barrier. A 40 ft Riviera sedan anchored close to us (no drama there) and a Haines 535 also turned up to fish the same rock (very fishy, lots of current). After an hour or two we all seemed to decide it was time to tidy up and leave as it was time to go cook dinner. The Riv was a few minutes ahead of me in the tidy up process and when they went to retrieve their anchor it was well and truly stuck. I had watched them try to drive it out from different angles etc. so I finished my tidy up, recovered my own anchor and went over to chat to them.

The sea state was a bit sloppy so I didn't want to tie alongside and risk the two boats damaging each other (his boat would be worth a fair bit more than mine ).  We needed to have time to have a chat to them and sort out kit etc. to recover their anchor so I rigged a line on my starboard stern cleat and reversed up to their starboard stern quarter and got Shelly to through the line to the Riv and asked them to tie it off on their starboard stern cleat too. This meant that we could stop for a chat without the risk of damaging boats (although my duckboard did get a good wash as we were hanging stern-to the waves).

The Riv had mum, dad and teenage son on board - seemed like good people and they admitted they had no idea what to do other than letting the anchor and 50m of chain go (an expensive end to their holiday).  We chatted and I suggested we could get some weights with a short line and loop it round the anchor chain, attach another line long enough to reach the bottom (25m) and also long enough to allow me to tie it off on my cleat and pull the short loop along the anchor chain until it (hopefully) reached the anchor and I could pull it free from the head.  

Neither of us had a line long enough to do this without a bit of jerry rigging. They had an old ski rope and another ~15m line as well as a shorter 5m line and a little foldable kayak anchor for a weight. I got them to hand everything across to me and jerry rigged things up so we had something that might work (and added a couple of dive weights to help) and explained again what the plan was.  

Meanwhile they had been talking via VHF to some other mates who sent out a pretty cool 60 hp jet tender (I think their mates had a 55 ft boat with a garage in the stern for it ... ). They wanted to try my plan but with the jet tender first. I thought it wouldn’t have enough power but figured "it’s their boat let them have a crack". 

After they had failed we hooked the line to my stern cleat and just managed to pull their anchor free although the ski rope they had broke when the weight of the boat came on it and the anchor dropped and reset - but it wasn't snagged this time.

The tricky parts were:
explaining the plan several times (to the owners and again to their mates who came out in the tender).
In the process of transferring the retrieval line from the tender to me we got blown round so I had to back my boat into the wind and sea and spin around just off their bow while the line was tethered on my stern. I had very limited space to manoeuvre and didn't want the line to wrap round my props!.
The good parts were:
the plan worked (even with jerry rigged kit)
All the other people involved remained calm and took suggestions and instructions well - once they understood the plan
I had the couples teenage son come aboard my boat to provide an extra pair of hands and eyes. He was great and did a lot better than I had hoped. Shelly and I have discussed this and I'm going to try to get hold of the Riv owners to commend their son.
It did help that we have practiced this sort of thing during my units Coastguard training (but with a full crew, equipment and a boat wrapped in a big inflatable fender) although I hadn't done it for real before this. If you are going to have a crack at this yourself best to think about your boat manoeuvrability and how confident you are in very tight situations as things can get tricky quickly.  I had to manoeuvre my 40 ft boat around another 40 ft boat, anchor chain and line. (I had a sharp knife by the stern ready to cut the line if things went pear-shaped.) 
I 

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