Making a New Anchor

Living in a float cabin requires some special attention. Our cabin is surrounded by a floating log boom. It designates our water lease from the BC government, protects us from wind waves and boat wakes, and holds my garden in place.

John's dog Bro supervises as usual.

The southeast corner of the boom is held in place by a heavy anchor connected to the end of the main log by a very long steel cable.

The anchor has been in place for fifteen years. It may last another fifteen, but you never know. One thing I do know, if it gives, it will be in the dead of winter during a massive wind storm. Not good, definitely not good!

This week John helped us make a new anchor. It started with a 55-gallon plastic barrel, a bag of cement, and a heavy boom chain.

We used the tin boat to take our raft to Sandy Beach to get sand (check out the previous post to come along on the ride.) And of course, Powell Lake provided the water to mix the cement.

It was a slow process. Wayne dug a bucket of sand. Sandy Beach is a rare spot on Powell Lake that isn't solid rock. Good thing it's nearby.

A smaller bucket of cement, a few scoops of water, and John did the mixing. Dump the mix into the barrel and start all over again.

In between the cement mix we added medium sized rocks. That was my job, to collect the rocks from along the shore and stack them near the gangplank.

The large boom chain was suspended in the middle of the barrel so it would be held firmly in place once the cement set. It'll be the connection point for the new anchor connection.

The barrel is positioned on the edge of the raft. When the time comes to drop it near the log boom, it will only take a strong shove to get it going. Stay tuned to see that next step in the process. -- Margy