No Drill Anchor Mount

When I switched from my Coosa HD to my Coosa FD it was like moving into a familiar upgraded home. There was a few challenges though. One of them was the mounting of my anchoring system. I use an Kayak Anchor kit Wizard with a claw anchor. On the Coosa HD I ran it off the back stringing the line through the guides and to the spool up near the seat. With the FD this was near being the same.
The Coosa FD and HD Have similar backs with predrilled mounting spots. So assumed since I ran the Anchor Wizard chute off the back of the HD just by bolting it down it would be an easy go. The Coosa FD does not have the pre placed guides. Figured fine, just run it back over the lid top and so I did. It has just enough room to veer around my JKrate without rubbing but you will lose the use of the rear hatch on the water pretty much which was good with me as I rarely need to go that far back to retrieve equipment.
Bolted the chute down and spool to the left side of the seat and went for a spin. First attempt at deployment the anchor did not drop it just sat. So pushed it off with a paddle. On the retrieval it did not want to go up into the chute and just dangled off the back.

Ok, so that did not go as foreseen. Well went to my D.Y.I drawing board. I took and bough a cheap plastic cutting board about a quarter inch thick and planned to boost the chute a bit higher up and line up more with the spool. Measured and cut the board to side into the back, drilled pilot holds for where the pre drilled holes are and with some longer screws bolted them it all down.

Next test run was better. I say better as there was still a bit of a gravity issue to where it would deploy correctly then other times it would need some assistance. Back the drawing board with a quick fix. I took washers and used them a shims to prop up the back of the plate closet to the kayak. This took some time to figure out how many washers does it take to get the anchor to drop correctly. Was a bit timely as you have to take the entire plate off and on. I believe it took four but maybe could use one or two more. Also I had to make another run to the hardware store for longer screws.
I also mounted my visibility flag to the plate and painted it black to match the kayak. Also with loading and unloading putting the plate there I lost a good gripping area and remedy that with para cord and a piece of one inch PVC for a handle. All put back together and dropping like it should in my garage back to the water. Nailed it this time, no new holes drilled and no snagging on the rudder which was a fear but the chute sticks out far enough not to catch it.
So this is a no drill option for mounting your Anchor Wizard to your kayak. I’m sure this will work on most other models as well if you so choose. This also allowed me to put my visibility flag as far back as possible for the less likely rod hit from casting and a modified handle point.

– Adam Judge