That guy standing on the bow while the boat is being towed is making me nervous. Odds are low, but if that towline were to part, he is in the danger zone for a snap back. A line under tension that breaks and snaps back can do real damage to a person in the way.
Hi Robert, you are 100% right about the danger! In the video I’m pulling up the anchor using the foot switches for the windless and clearing weeds from the anchor chain. Once the anchor was retrieved I got back in boat. I also should have been wearing a life jacket. Thanks for explaining the dangers of towing.
@@EdK-pe8vb You might be raising the anchor, but the tow boat is already pulling. That tow line is under tension. Ideally you would raise anchor before the tow boat takes up the slack and starts pulling you. And, yes - 100% agree you should have been wearing a PFD. With the boat under tow, unexpected jerks and movements are a real possibility. The USCG data is pretty stark - people who go overboard not wearing a life jacket tend to have bad outcomes. People with lifejackets tend to have good outcomes. - Robert
@@EdK-pe8vb Were you barefoot? After re-watching the video I can't tell. I would not want to be barefoot and raising the anchor chain like that. I had a close-call when I activated the anchor windlass by accident while I was up working on the bow. My hand was too close for comfort to the anchor chain, but not actually in the path. That experience has made me really cautious. - Robert
@@robertrice8121 In this case, with 30 knot winds blowing us into shore, we could not raise the anchor first. We needed the tow boat to keep the wind from grounding us harder into shore while we raised the anchor. This was discussed with and planned with the tow boat captain.
I’m downloading this app! I feel like the one on Aqua Map doesn’t always work and I hate keeping our Humminbird powered up. When I bought I Chris Craft 381 and came from Holland, MI to St. Joseph, MI it was all new since we are from Indiana. I hit muck in the river trying to avoide another boater who was coming by docks coming out wider than most. I got lucky since it was soft but went to neutral and hard to my port side. At hall out this fall, props looks great!
Glad to hear you didn't have any damage. We were lucky too. The anchor alarm lets me sleep like a baby. It has gone while we were sleeping due to some strong winds moving us a little further out of the circle then it had during the day. It's a little "alarming" when it goes off, but better to know you might be dragging anchor a little then find yourself in a bad situation. You do have to have a GPS enabled iPad or tablet for it to work without internet. Thanks for watching!
Hey Brett, thanks for sharing your story - glad you didn’t have any damage. Seems a number of groundings happen in narrow channels trying to avoid collision.
Yea, we lived and boated in Florida in the 80s and 90s where Sea Tow was prevalent. The last 15 years we’ve used TowBoat US on the lakes and rivers but my brain still gets it wrong,😑
I wouldn't brag about being unable to operate your boat and needing to be saved twice.. take a coast guard course. you're putting other peoples lives in danger.
Our intention is to help others discover the anchor alarm and to show what we have learned and now practice. Since then we have travelled from Chattanooga up all the rivers to the top of Michigan and back with no incidents.
@@FreebirdonTheGreatLoop I am sorry, you clearly have multi million dollar boat. I am beyond sure, there is an anchor alarm on one of your navigation devices. Yes the ones on the phone (there are multiple apps for iOS and Android) are nowhere near close in the accuracy to even most basic GPS units this vessel surely have on board. Please take a course, I am sure you can find couple hundred bucks for it, before you kill yourself or somebody else.
