How to Anchor a Canoe

If you fish, bird- or wildlife-watch, sketch or take photos from a canoe, you understand the need to bring the boat to a static position on the water. This is done with an anchor. Because canoes have high draft on the water and are very susceptible to wind, drift and currents, it is important to anchor the vessel in a way that allows the boat to maintain position and stability, even in high winds or waves.

Things You'll Need

  • Marine rope
  • Two milk jugs
  • Sand
  • Funnel
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Instructions

    • 1

      Fill two empty milk jugs with sand. Sand out of sandbags from home hardware stores makes a fine filler.

    • 2

      Place the sand-jugs in the canoe, in the center-sides of the boat.

    • 3

      Determine your water depth where you wish to anchor. If in doubt, tie the rope to the handle on a milk jug and drop it into the water. Feed enough rope out to find the bottom. As a general rule, you need five to seven times as much anchor line as the water is deep for powerboats. With canoes, figure a 2-to-1 ratio.

    • 4

      Tie enough rope to follow the 2-to-1 ratio to both milk jugs. Drop one over the center of each side and tie the ends to the center thwart (metal crossbar) in the canoe. Use a slipknot so you have easy access when untying the anchors.

    • 5

      Keep both anchors in to prevent too much side-to-side weathercocking on the canoe. The milk jugs weigh the canoe down, preventing drift without getting caught on obstacles under the water, making retrieves difficult and tippy in the canoe.