Hey Capt. Jimmy, Tog on your mind already? I like that. The sandy hook reef is one of the few places where I like to use a grapling anchor as my main anchor. I wound not want to donate one of my mains to that evil bottom. I like to use a 6' length of chain. As far as scope, it depends on how much current/wind you have. If calm, you can get by with a small amount of scope. If alot of current, which seems to be the case most of the time, I go with a 3 to 1 scope. There is usually a big fleet of boats over there during tog season and the last thing you want to happen is have the grapple pull out in a crowd. When its time to go home, if the grapple won't come out when trying straight up and down, I will try to force (bend) it out by going in reverse with the line tied off to my foward cleat (my strongest cleat). Depending on your boat, if you have a strong cleat amidships, you can try to bend out the anchor by going foward too (not the preferred method for my boat). For the guys who have pulpits, I would not want to put a big strain on that, as you can cause damage from the strain. Another thing not to do is try to pull the anchor out with the line tied to a stern cleat. This could pull the stern down and possibly sink/swamp a small boat. Not a bad idea to bring 2 grappling anchor set ups when going to the SH reef especially if you have to take a ride to get there. Even the wreck anchors won't come out sometimes.
Good Luck,
Capt. Rick
Good Luck,
Capt. Rick
