But, are those days in the winter time far and few between? NOPE. The wind is always up along the inlet in the winter it seems, or at least when I'm there.
If there's one place in all of Florida that can be an anchoring nightmare, it's here in J-ville. From up in the river in deep swift currents, to out at the jetties in swells and currents. Not to forget the ever "CONSTANT" wakes from Pilot boats, Ships, US Navy contracted sea tractor tugs, and just plain other boats.
So taking into account that I sometimes don't know what I'm getting myself into when I head to
the inlets jetty rocks in the winter, I'm going back to "OLD SCHOOL" anchoring.
Yes, I remember the days in my old 1970's something AlumaCraft 14 footer. That had limited space to stow multiple anchors. But I was a jetty-guy! So the best anchor was a "BRICK".
I could carry 3-4 of them. If it got so stuck in the rocks.......SO WHAT! I'd just break it, or just loose it and tie on another one and be on my way.
Ahhh, things were so simple back then.
Well that was a 14' boat.
Today's aluminum craft
that I fish from is
substantially heftier.
And btw....that's the reason I LOVE ALUMINUM!
It was the 14' foot AlumaCraft's fault. That lil boat was 3 plies of thick aluminum, sandwiched together, and then riveted, and was tough as hell.
Today, I wouldn't even think of having a the same AlumaCraft....they ain't built like they used to be. Their thinner today, then back in the "ole days". And welded is the way to go in the saltwater world.
So as I was welding supports on my old jetty anchors, trying to beef them up, since they bend too easy. I just said "hell with all this mess!" I jumped in my truck Christmas eve afternoon, and went to the Home Depot!
They have lots of cheap jetty anchors there!
$1.50 a piece! And I left out with (5) - "1/2" blocks. Yep, a cheap, who cares jetty anchor. That given the nature of this material, I bet I can break it if I have too. With cleats WELDED to the boat, I can really get some serious tuggin' going on. If I have too. Wrap a piece of chain through the holes in the block and I can snap it like a twig. Grab another and re-anchor!
Sounds all good in theory right? We'll see. But you're saying....."where the hell do you keep these cinder blocks in your boat?
Hmmm, that's the big difference between YOU and ME. I have a monster anchor locker, with lots of room. And rubber tiles on the deck to store them on. Plus a boat, that a few weighty 10 pound blocks won't bother. Hell my ole jetty anchor weighed in at 10 pounds. My weight carrying capacity is 4600 pounds. Almost twice of a comparable sized Fiberglass boat.
I'll probably get to try it all out tomorrow, with a FULL boat. I have a family trip and there will be 5 of us on board, including me. So, I'll be carrying a lot of weight! And that's when the jetty anchor really bends out of the jetty rocks, when a swell or wake comes.
Damn, I hope this works!
