Anchors

  
 

There are many ways to hold the "Long Line Suspended Bag Culture" in place. You could choose to attach them to an existing dock structure, piling, log booms, submerged anchors, or simply anchors that rest on the surface of the bottom. Many factors need to be considered when making this decision.

  1. Current
  2. Tidal exchange
  3. Consistency of bottom
  4. Depth of water
  5. Slope of the bottom
  6. Permanency of the project
  7. Control of the property
  8. Money
 Stationary anchors are what we have decided to use to hold our "Long Line Suspended Bag Culture " in place. We decided to build our own anchors since both cost and quantity were of extreme importance in our start up venture. Also stationary anchors can be removed if the project ends or you choose to change the crop locations.

Each anchor has 3 lines attached:

  • 2 lines 18' each to attach suspended culture
  • 1 line 3 feet centered in the anchor to enable it to be picked up with a forklift or other device
We decided to have two attachable lines on each anchor so that we could daisy chain the lines together. This reduces the number of anchors while adding stability to each additional section we connect together.

We built our own anchors using plywood forms and partitioning them so each form was subdivided into 5 anchors. The line we choose was 5/8" man line which is very resistant to chafing and Ultra Violet Ray deterioration. Each anchor measures approximately 2'x1.5'x2'. We estimated the weight of each anchor at 800-850 pounds if you fill the mold to the top when pouring the concrete. A full truck of concrete makes about 50 anchors.

 
 

We needed to find a solution for distancing our anchors in the water and finally settled on a laser range finder used by hunters. We can target the buoy floating on the surface and position the anchors by this method close enough to 80 yard intervals to make the project functional. Since we use a 40 foot tether line on each end of the "Long Line Suspended Bag Culture", we have enough allowance to accommodate minor variations in distances.

  
 
Originally we contracted to barge our anchors out and set them. We loaded anchors slightly offset on the edge of the barge so they could be pushed over the side by hand at the approximate location needed. We then returned with a smaller motorized barge we constructed that had a manual hoist. We then repositioned the anchors where needed.

We were able to get by with small surface anchors in our farming site because of how protected this location is from severe currents.

We are now able to deploy our anchors using the small barges we've constructed thus reducing our dependancy on outside help.

 

"I'm Mike Marshall, the owner of The Last Place On Earth LLC. I'd like to personally answer any questions regarding this company or this web site." E-Mail: mikemarshall@whoever.com.
Copyright © 1999 TLPOE. All rights reserved.