Rigging a Prowler Big Game

I've touched on a few rigging bits here and there throughout my blog, though it's quite scattered so it seems like a good idea to try and tie as much as possible together in the one article.

When the kayak arrived it was quite basic to say the least, the seat needed attaching and that was about it. There was a centre cover between your legs when it the seated position, though it actually offered very little in the way or storage, it was ok for a few smaller items. A point to note is that it's not officially watertight so I'd not recommend putting car keys or mobile phones in there.

 

The first thing I tackled was the anchor system. A trolley system was to be fitted to the left hand side (purely as I'm left handed) utilising as many of the existing fittings as possible. A lot of surfing on theinternet was done picking the brains of other folk. A couple of pulleys and carbine hooks were purchased, along with several metres of black cord and a short length of bungee cord. Time was taken, using masking tape to position the trolley, several options were tried before I finally settled on a design.

The photos below show the general layout, with a loop of bungee cord at either end to help absorb some wave action, making the 'ride' somewhat smoother. Each loop of bungee was attached to a stainless pulley. The pulleys support the actual anchor trolley which is made from strong cord of around 4mm. A carbine was fitted to the trolley to allow my anchor set to clip on and off quickly and easily, and to position the anchor as required, i.e fore or aft.

A zigzag cleat was also fitted to allow the trolley to be locked inposition when anchored, in order to prevent potential slippage of the trolley which could be dangerous. Towards the front of the trolley, though still reachable from a seated position, a standard cleat was fitted to allow recovery of the anchor, a plastic one was originally fitted, though this was later updated to an alloy item.

Anchor Trolley System 

  
 
 
 

The anchor itself is a simple affair, a 1.5kg grapnel anchor with a metre of chain attached to the main line of a 'ratchet type' dive reel with a buoy threaded onto the main line. A short length of rope attaches the reel to the anchor trolley system with the use of another carbine. This is clipped to the carbine that already exists on the anchor trolley. The chain is permanently attached to the bottom of the anchor, whereas a weak link is used at the top. Should the anchor get stuck, a firm pull causes the weak link link to snap and the anchor to be recovered inverted. Sometimes the anchor is so badly fouled you wont get it back despite the use of a weak link!.

Should there be a requirement, the anchor can be un-clipped from the trolley and left in the water, thebuoy will always float enabling the dive reel and attached rope to be easily recovered and re-clipped onto the trolley. This is a valuable feature should you wish to pop back to shore for a moment, retrieve something that you've dropped and is floating away, or to assist another kayak fisher for one reason or another.