How to anchor your freediving float
Embarking on a journey beneath the waves, freedivers immerse themselves in the captivating beauty of the ocean's depths. Yet, amidst the awe-inspiring marine landscapes lies a responsibility to tread lightly and preserve the delicate ecosystems below. In this guide, we unveil the essential steps to securely anchor your freediving float, ensuring both safety and environmental stewardship. From selecting the right anchor to deploying the system with precision, each step is to support your underwater explorations while minimising impact on the marine environment.
Selecting the Anchor: Begin by choosing a suitable anchor for your freediving float. A nylon cooper anchor is a good choice due to its durability, lightweight construction and resistance to corrosion in saltwater environments. the benefits of a cooper anchor is that it also has a self righting weight in the anchors point to alloy it to upright and dig in as soon as its deployed. GET YOUR COOPER ANCHOR
Preparing the Rope and Chain: Cut a 2-meter length of silver rope and attach it securely to the anchor. Then, attach a 1-meter length of chain to the other end of the rope using a shackle. The chain will provide additional weight to help keep anchor securely locked into to the seabed.
Connecting to the Bottom Weight: Connect the chain to the bottom weight using another shackle. Ensure that the connection is secure as the bottom weight can shift and bounce if there is a swell.
Attaching the Surface Float: Now it can be attached via your rope to the surface float, i usually let out an extra metre of rope once i have established the depth to allow for any shifting in the ocean. This rope should be long enough to allow the surface float to remain on the water's surface while keeping bottom weight on the sea floor. I always carry around 35m of silver rope in the float for most depths i may require to use this setup.
Connecting to the Freediving Float: Connect the surface float to another freediving float using a sturdy rope. This setup will help keep the float stable and prevent it from being affected by tidal currents and swell. The benefit of this is it will now allow you to stay in one location with a straight suspended line unaffected by tidal shifts.
Deploying the System: Once everything is connected, deploy the anchor system into the water i prefer to keep my anchor setup in a protective bag to prevent any accidental puncture of the float bladder. much like deploying a freediving line i run the rope through a carabineer underneath my float and tie it off with a clove hitch once it has settled on the bottom. Once the anchor setup is on the sea floor it will self right and dig in as the ocean movements pick it up.
Adjusting for Conditions: Periodically check the anchor system to ensure it remains secure and adjust as needed based on changing conditions such as tide and swell. What i have found with this setup is that it can handle most minor swell and currents, like all anchors they do have a point where too much pressure can be reached so in areas with strong tidal shifts or large king tides may result i a drift. There is a larger model of the cooper anchor you can use as well if you are diving an area with stronger water movements
Using this setup has been so far a success for me running my freediving classes in sydney as i not only can lock myself into a location for the duration of a class and also will help reduce any potential impact on the sea floor.