[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by Vezo, Part II

Thank you Denny, how are you? You nailed my question with photos!!! Thank you! Further aft of the reinforced center cleat, is the deck pipe and locking mechanism for the chain reinforced, or is that overkill? I had not considered the fact that this may not require a pulpit.

I've only been a guest aboard my buddies MANY different boats over the past 5 years grouper fishing out of Hernando Beach, but the structures appear to be very small, and if you're on it, you're on it. But anchoring has been a REAL PITA! His newest ride, a 25' Parker Pilot, hopefully his last boat (haha), has a windlass and I'M not the wench!!! Almost takes the fun out of fishing when you have to reposition four times to get on a rock only to find its holding shorts.

With only 40 gallons and the 2006 Etec 150 I'm guessing my range will be about 100 miles conservatively. To get to 50' it's approximately 50 miles from my home port. I was thinking 10 or so feet of chain and 200' of rope. But I hope to trailer to the Keys, and the Rendevous, so I'd like to be prepared. Thanks Denny.

Vezo

The original anchor lock was through the reinforced part of the deck (see pic below) but it was just a pin thru a chain link and didn't keep tension on the chain, so I had to use a bungee cord on anchor to keep it from rattling! The current lock I showed previously is adjustable and puts just enough tension on chain to keep everything from rattling but there isn't much load on it, so no reinforcement below it, except for fender washers. I also rotated that center cleat 90 deg; have to run the chain over the SS cleat now, which doesn't hurt cleat but it provides much more clearance to wrap lines on it. Original configuration in pictures was a little too close to deck pipe.

Carrying only 200' of line to anchor in 50' is only 4:1 scope, and that's pretty marginal, although maybe ok if you're not staying there long. I normally use at least 5:1 if anchoring overnight. 20' of chain will make a huge difference in how well the anchor sets and with that I can sometimes get away with 3:1 or even less scope down in the keys diving for bugs in 20-25'. However if planning a Bahamas trip where you''ll encounter 3+ kts of E or W running current in the 15' deep anchorage off West End, you'll have to do a Bahamian moor, i.e., set your bow anchor, let out 200' of line, then drop your stern anchor with chain and 100' of line, secure bitter end of stern anchor line to a bow cleat, and pull back on the bow anchor so you have 100' of line out in both directions. That way when the tide changes and starts running off the bank in the middle of the night, you won't drag anchor and end up in the Gulf Stream headed for England! I'd recommend 300' of line on the bow anchor and 100' on the stern anchor. There's plenty of room in the anchor locker for that much line - it only makes a pile of line about 6" tall. The stern anchor and 100' of line fits between/over my 2 batteries under stbd stern seat. And if you ever have to be towed in from offshore in big seas, you want a long towline to act as a shock absorber for when the towing and towee boats get out of phase on waves!

Do you have the I-Command fuel management setup on that boat? (Requires a GPS antenna and a memory module to be added to the network.) It will keep track of fuel used/remaining and display range on remaining fuel. Error on fuel used is typically about 3-5% low. I understand the need for reserve fuel on an offshore trip, but one neat feature of the E-TEC is that if you get worried about running out of gas, just drop off plane down to about 1000 rpm/5mph, where you'll get about 8-10 mpg, better than any 4-stroke! The worst mileage I ever got was 3.3 mpg when I was cruising at 4500 and 30 kts, heavily loaded, so you should be able to count on a range of at least 130 miles (or over 300 miles at trawler speed!). At my typical cruising speed of 3700-3800 and about 25 kts, I can usually count on 3.8-4.0 mpg, heavily loaded (2 average size guys, 2 coolers and gear for a 1 wk cruise), but when you factor in idle zones, etc. on a typical trip, my overall mileage is better than that. On my ~700 mile S. Fl. circumnavigation trip I averaged 4.4 mpg heavily loaded, and I've made the 90 mile run up to Sebastian 3 times, normally burning about 20 gallons each way, although I did make it on 18 gallons one time, running by myself and only 2 coolers instead of 3. Of course most of that was in flat water, so I think assuming about 3 mpg would be very conservative for planning purposes. I averaged 2.8 mpg with my old carb'd 1975 115 over 6 Bahama trips that averaged from moderate to very rough seas, so I'm sure the E-TEC will beat that by quite a bit.

What prop are you running, what is your WOT rpm, and is your AV plate above solid water? Although optimum RPM for my 2007 motor is 5300-5500, I believe it's 5500-5600 for the newer 150's. Although a SS 4B 14.5 X 15P BRP Cyclone prop turns about 5400 with a heavy load, provides a 12 mph min planing speed and is the best I've found to date for my stern heavy rig, a 3B prop might run a little faster on your boat, but I'd keep an eye on min planing speed, as that's critical for a comfortable ride if you get caught way offshore and the wind picks up! I'd also suggest joining the Owners Forum as there is a ton of valuable info on that site, very much like CSC!