My DIY sandbar spike anchor

[kgower]

I ordered my dock augers. Before I purchase all the other components, are there any other new thoughts or enhancements to consider?

 

[drewkaree]

I ordered my dock augers. Before I purchase all the other components, are there any other new thoughts or enhancements to consider?

Been awhile since I did this, but I wouldn't do the 2-piece design for your boat. If I were making these again, I would go with less than 5' tall, and I would altogether skip any hardware other than the bolts for the auger. Get a 4-pack of these and some 5' dock/fender lines with an eye.

Fancy Amazon clickety click link - $40/4 quick-release line clips

If that listing goes belly up, here's a pic of what product should be at that link - this is what I use now, and you don't have to worry about someone not tying off properly, or with a proper knot:



However you use the eye of the dock line and those quick release line clips is perfectly fine, you'll figure out the way you prefer them. This will keep your boat rock solid, and those quick-release clips are dead simple to use, and quickly adjust, if need be.

I use 3, one in front of the bow eye, connected the same way, and 2 in the rear, 1 off each corner. I tighten each line up until the boat doesn't move and the lines are tight, and then adjust as needed due to wave action or jetski douchenozzles

There's no need for hardware other than the auger bolts if using those clips and lines, and you've got a T-fitting for screwing these in.

I had a neighbor who drilled holes for a D-fitting, too close to the top of the spike, and using a cheap bungee line, it ended up splitting upwards, and it turned out he didn't glue the handle (T-fitting), so that fell somewhere, never to be found. Glue at least the T-fitting on, if you're gonna try doing a slip-handle, where it's smaller than the fitting to allow it to break down easily. Lemme know if that explanation isn't clear, and I'll try to explain it better, if need be, hopefully that all makes sense.

 

[kgower]

Been awhile since I did this, but I wouldn't do the 2-piece design for your boat. If I were making these again, I would go with less than 5' tall, and I would altogether skip any hardware other than the bolts for the auger. Get a 4-pack of these and some 5' dock/fender lines with an eye.

Fancy Amazon clickety click link - $40/4 quick-release line clips

If that listing goes belly up, here's a pic of what product should be at that link - this is what I use now, and you don't have to worry about someone not tying off properly, or with a proper knot:

View attachment 233962

However you use the eye of the dock line and those quick release line clips is perfectly fine, you'll figure out the way you prefer them. This will keep your boat rock solid, and those quick-release clips are dead simple to use, and quickly adjust, if need be.

I use 3, one in front of the bow eye, connected the same way, and 2 in the rear, 1 off each corner. I tighten each line up until the boat doesn't move and the lines are tight, and then adjust as needed due to wave action or jetski douchenozzles

There's no need for hardware other than the auger bolts if using those clips and lines, and you've got a T-fitting for screwing these in.

I had a neighbor who drilled holes for a D-fitting, too close to the top of the spike, and using a cheap bungee line, it ended up splitting upwards, and it turned out he didn't glue the handle (T-fitting), so that fell somewhere, never to be found. Glue at least the T-fitting on, if you're gonna try doing a slip-handle, where it's smaller than the fitting to allow it to break down easily. Lemme know if that explanation isn't clear, and I'll try to explain it better, if need be, hopefully that all makes sense.

Thanks for the detailed update. Much appreciated.

 

[kgower]

I was talking to a guy two weekends ago, he made similar sand spikes, but instead of the auger, he cut the bottom of the pvc tube to make it into a sharp point and, because the pipe is hollow, just pushed it into the sand. He put two on my boat, one at the back cleat, one on the bow, worked perfect the entire afternoon. The sandbar was on a channel too so lots of boats going by to test it. I'm going to try his version as 1) less money on augers, and 2) less length to store.

A friend @ATXScarab gave me a pair without the augers while we were at JetSet last year. They work really well. I am going to fabricate a pair in the next week or two with the augers as I feel it will be better with certain bottoms.

 

[kgower]

@drewkaree The handles aren't cemented together yet. I want to get to the boat and double check the overall length and the width of the handles.
From the tip of the auger to the top of the handle is 59". You mentioned in your update that you wouldn't make them 5'.
Here what I did thus far;
10' 1 1/4 schedule 40 PVC cut in half (2 X 60") I then took 10" off each, leaving 50". I then cut each 10" piece in half to create the 4 5"pcs I needed for the handles. I am not sure the loops of my bungee lines will fit over the handles, so will likely have to trim them.
I finally found the hardware I needed at ACE at having gone to West Marine and Lowes.

 

[drewkaree]

@drewkaree The handles aren't cemented together yet. I want to get to the boat and double check the overall length and the width of the handles.
From the tip of the auger to the top of the handle is 59". You mentioned in your update that you wouldn't make them 5'.
Here what I did thus far;
10' 1 1/4 schedule 40 PVC cut in half (2 X 60") I then took 10" off each, leaving 50". I then cut each 10" piece in half to create the 4 5"pcs I needed for the handles. I am not sure the loops of my bungee lines will fit over the handles, so will likely have to trim them.
I finally found the hardware I needed at ACE at having gone to West Marine and Lowes.

If you have access to the boat, see how those will fit in the area you plan to store them. The only reason I'd recommend not going above 5' is that they're easier to store at or below that height, and really, if you're in waters deeper than that, an anchor is the better method at that point. It was surprising to me just how well these held, so if you made them somewhere in the 4-5' range, and the tops were below the water surface, I wouldn't worry about them pulling out. They will bend a surprising amount, and won't let go. I screw mine in until it's difficult for me to turn, but if you've got others helping, they may not run them in as deep. I always go around and check how they feel if someone else was doing the install, and you can just screw them in more to your liking. You learn quickly what you'll prefer.

I put them in the ski locker, so they ride up just a bit on the upward taper, but if they're shorter, you may get them to lie flat on the bottom - again, just preference. PVC is cheap, so if you want to modify them to your liking, it's gonna cost you less than $10 and some time. Once you buy all the cement, the absolute smallest container is 4oz, I think, and that'll do several DOZEN of these, so really, it's just new PVC and drilling/cutting - easy to mod to your liking. Test those out and see if they work and you're satisfied.

Regarding the loops fitting over the handles, your bungees should have little float sections on them. Run the loop up the post on the auger end, and you can be fairly confident that you won't have to worry about the bungees coming off around the handles, you just have to screw the augers in with the bungees pre-installed on the spikes, and placement of the spikes will be a little more important to dial in. I started with bungees, and switched to the dock lines and the quick-release clips for even easier use and deployment, without having to be as precise with the spike placement.

Use what you have, and you'll see what I mean over the first few times you use them. There's zero reason not to use what you have on hand, and if it works for you, win! If you want to dial it in and make things easier, grab those quick-release clips and dock lines, and swap out. I still use my bungees whenever we tie up when we're on the river and stop somewhere, so those won't ever be banished from my boat - they're way too easy to use, and useful.

What was the hardware that you needed? Shoulda just been stainless bolts and nylock nuts - Lowes should have had you covered, but Ace is DEFINITELY the place, if there's one nearby!

 

[drewkaree]

My suggestion to you would be to hold off on cementing the handles into place. Use them without cement for the first time, and see how they work for you. If you want to glue them up out on the water, they should be set in 20-30 minutes, and immovable within 2-3 hours. 24 hours after gluing, there will be no removing them without mechanical means. If you want smaller, just cut the 5" pieces you have, and cement them in at that point. If you want longer, you should be able to buy 2' or 5' pieces (for a ridiculous premium, however), and you can cut them to suit your wants at that point. Once you have the handle length you desire, cement everything in place.

5" handles on each side may seem like they won't be enough, but I think you'll be surprised just how little you need to screw them in sufficiently, and that'll help you in storing them. Dunno if you were gonna add caps to the end, but if you DO plan to cap those ends, I would hold off until you use them a time or two, and verify that the handle size is good for you.

If you want them shorter, you will still be able to easily cut them, and if you want to lengthen them, you can easily add a coupler to each side, and a slice of PVC. The cap will add another 1/2" or so to the length, possibly an inch. If you wanna keep them capless, for drainage, you're already set.