Anchor Buoy with Pics

Finally made an anchor buoy / line holder. I borrowed some ideas from Duane's crab pot buoy. The cut out in the buoy will hold 100' of 1/4" line. The dowel handle is 7/8" and is held in place with Gorrilla Glue and a SS flat head screw. At this point I caulked, primed and painted everything. The bungie is looped through a SS eyelet and secured over a SS carriage bolt with a nice big flat head. These were pre-drilled and epoxied in place. On the nub at the front I attached a 3" piece of 1" heavy duty plastic pipe with a 1/4" wide spiral slot cut in it. This 'pig-tail' works great to keep the line centered on the point of the buoy. I'm not sure how long the plastic will hold up though. I'm trying out a folding anchor and a 5' piece of 3/8" chain (weighs 6 lbs), to see which one works best for me and the kind of fishing I do. Just clip one or the other to the main anchor line. The whole mess goes in an old cat litter container with a molded in handle. This set-up has worked well so far. I have an anchor trolly from bow to stern and a cleat just behind the seat.

Very clean looking setup.  Is that gray thing on the front end of your float your line stop?  Do you have close-up pic?

ChuckE - Here's a close-up of the 'pigtail'. It guides the line off the center point of the buoy. I cut the spiral slot in it with a hacksaw. It's a 3" long piece of heavy duty plastic pipe - 3/4" isd - 1" osd. It also doubles as another handle when rewinding the line on the buoy. It seems pretty tough, we'll see how long it lasts. I think this part should probably be made from metal - alum. or something. It's attached with a SS screw.

Extremely well done.  FWIW-I use that same anchor in the bay constantly w/o any extra weight and it holds beautifully.

Nice looking setup.  My only concern is that there may not be enough flotation left after you carved it out.  I've had a buoy dive under when I released it.  Although that particular buoy was an 18" boat bumper, which arguably doesn't have much flotation to begin with.  Good thing the current eased up allowing it to pop back up after a while.

-Allen

Pelican... thanks for the close-ups.  I'm gonna try something similar with a few modifications:

1)  I plan to use a single piece of 3/4" or 1" PVC instead of the wood dowel and just pigtail the one end.
2)  I'll use much thinner nylon line to allow me to cut away less float material and still wind on ample line.

Some good thoughts guys. This rig does float well though - it all floats, the wood dowel and the poly line as well. On a big outgoing San Pablo Bay winter tide it may not get the job done - I had a basketball size buoy submerge after chasing down a dino years ago in my PB. Tom

i like it it should work good.

The PVC pig tail is a good idea
I think I will barrow it from you for my crab traps,
But you are right it could break when this system is used in the anchor buoy setup.

As for my anchor buoy I plan for it to spin so you can drop the anchor 
fast, with A stainless steel spool with double pointed float ends.

your rig looks good I dig it 



 

Pelican - you can also get away without using the chain. Just add some "balls" to it and it will hold your kayak in place. Got that tip from EK 

Mooch - I'm using the chain all by itself as an anchor. It holds well and won't snag as much as the regular anchor.

Mooch - I'm using the chain all by itself as an anchor. It holds well and won't snag as much as the regular anchor.

really? 

Yes Sir! Five feet of 3/8" chain weighs in at around 6 lbs. A guy who fishes the Delta often ( snaggy place ), gave me the idea.

Yes Sir! Five feet of 3/8" chain weighs in at around 6 lbs. A guy who fishes the Delta often ( snaggy place ), gave me the idea.

Good to know! Thanks for the info 

Very nice work Pelican.. especially the hacksaw job on the pvc!! Insaneduane's given us all something to shoot for.

BTW Duane, copyright is misspelled and could possibly void it. I don't wanna sound like a weenie but would hate to see someone steal your freakin' awesome idea because of a typo.

Z

Too late...I saw the typo and seized the moment.  25,000 copies are arriving from China on Tuesday. They will retail for $1.75

Seriously, it is a GREAT idea, you should